Now that it's summer, my reading lists will be dominated by books published in 2011. Here's a list of 10 books published in 2011 that caught my eye.

*** Updated - summer: done. Reading list: complete -> Favorite Reads of Summer 2011 (plus the Books That Let Me Down) ***

10 Books From 2011 On My Summer To Be Read Bookshelf

1. Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children, Ransom Riggs.
A horrific family tragedy sets sixteen-year-old Jacob journeying to a remote island off the coast of Wales, where he discovers the crumbling ruins of Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children. As Jacob explores its abandoned bedrooms and hallways, it becomes clear that the children who once lived here - one of whom was his own grandfather - were more than just peculiar. They may have been dangerous. They may have been quarantined on a desolate island for good reason. And somehow--impossible though it seems - they may still be alive

2. The Tiger's Wife, Téa Obreht
In a Balkan country mending from years of conflict, Natalia, a young doctor, arrives on a mission of mercy at an orphanage by the sea. By the time she and her lifelong friend Zóra begin to inoculate the children there, she feels age-old superstitions and secrets gathering everywhere around her. Secrets her outwardly cheerful hosts have chosen not to tell her. Secrets involving the strange family digging for something in the surrounding vineyards. Secrets hidden in the landscape itself.

3. The Evolution of Bruno Littlemore, Benjamin Hale
Bruno, you see, is a chimpanzee who was born in captivity in the Lincoln Park Zoo, in Chicago. His life really begins when his savior, in the form of research scientist Lydia Littlemore, chooses him for further study in language development and behavioral science conducted at a prestigious local university. He far transcends rudimentary sign language exchanges. In fact, this robust primate not only speaks English; he frequently articulates deep thoughts on art and philosophy. His mastery of speech is only the beginning; he falls in love with human Dr. Lydia Littlemore, who somewhat later returns the favor

4. Don't Breathe a Word, Jennifer McMahon
On a soft summer night in Vermont, 12 year-old Lisa went into the woods behind her house and never came out again. Before she disappeared, she told her little brother, Sam, about a door that led to a magical place where she would meet the King of the Fairies and become his queen. Fifteen years later, Phoebe is in love with Sam, a practical, sensible man who doesn't fear the dark and doesn't have bad dreams--who, in fact, helps Phoebe ignore her own. But suddenly the couple is faced with a series of eerie, unexplained occurrences that challenge Sam's hardheaded, realistic view of the world.

5. A Discovery of Witches, Deborah E. Harkness
Deep in the stacks of Oxford's Bodleian Library, young scholar Diana Bishop unwittingly calls up a bewitched alchemical manuscript in the course of her research. Descended from an old and distinguished line of witches, Diana wants nothing to do with sorcery; so after a furtive glance and a few notes, she banishes the book to the stacks. But her discovery sets a fantastical underworld stirring, and a horde of daemons, witches, and vampires soon descends upon the library. Diana has stumbled upon a coveted treasure lost for centuries-and she is the only creature who can break its spell.

6. The Two Deaths of Daniel Hayes, Marcus Sakey
A man wakes up naked and cold, half-drowned on an abandoned beach. The only sign of life for miles is an empty BMW. Inside the expensive car he finds clothes that fit perfectly, shoes for his tattered feet, a Rolex, and a bank envelope stuffed with cash and an auto registration in the name of Daniel Hayes, resident of Malibu, California. None of it is familiar. While he searches for answers, the world searches for him-beginning with the police that kick in the door of his dingy motel, with guns drawn. Lost, alone, and on the run, the man who might be Daniel Hayes flees into the night.

7. Eleven Scandals to Start to Win a Duke's Heart, Sara MacLean
Scandal is the last thing Simon Pearson has room for in his well-ordered world. The Duke of Disdain is too focused on keeping his title untainted and his secrets unknown. But when he discovers Juliana hiding in his carriage late one evening--risking everything he holds dear--he swears to teach the reckless beauty a lesson in propriety. She has other plans, however; she wants two weeks to prove that even an unflappable duke is not above passion.

8. The Empty Family: Stories, Colm Tóibín
A young woman returning to the small island of her childhood summers; a nephew caring for his dying aunt; two men cautiously discovering love amid a community shrouded in tradition - these are the delicately rendered characters inhabiting Colm Toibin's remarkable collection of short stories. The stories, set in Dublin, Barcelona, and America, all capture moments of difficult intimacy: the desire, pain, and loss between men and women, men and men, men and their mothers and grandmothers, and women and their families.

9. Orientation: And Other Stories, Daniel Orozco
Daniel Orozco leads the reader through the secret lives and moral philosophies of bridge painters, men housebound by obesity, office temps, and warehouse workers. Orozco reveals the secret pleasures of late-night supermarket trips for cookie binges, exceptional data entry, and an exiled dictator's occasional piss on the U.S. embassy. The stories are formally inventive and has a gut-punch impact, softened only by lyricism and black humor.

10. The Map of Time, Félix J. Palma, Nick Caistor (Translator)
In The Map of Time, Andrew Harrington is desperate to save Marie Kelly, his lover who has been killed by Jack the Ripper. Claire Haggerty wants to escape her Victorian restraints and falls for a man who lives in the future. Others want to see what life is like in the year 2000. Set in Victorian London, this historical fantasy novel uses real and fictional characters to investigate time travel and the ability to change the history. It also questions what would happen if we do so. Leading the way is H.G. Wells, who because of his novel The Time Machine, is seen as the authority on the subject.

(Although I mentioned it at the beginning - again - here's an update with my Favorite Reads of Summer 2011 (plus the Books That Let Me Down))