The year 2011 has made certain things clear to us that once were up for grabs:  for one thing, people still love to read, and secondly, the hunger and anticipation avid readers have for that next great book is still an important concern. It was a great year for excellence in literature, from books written primarily for adult readers to children’s and young adult novels.  Some truly excellent titles debuted, while sequels to books in popular series continued their upward trend.  Many readers grew their at home libraries with hard back purchases, for which it’s good to have a home security team in place, while others amassed their digital libraries instead of going for “analogs.”

Here is some of what went down in the world of books during 2011, by the numbers.  You’ll see the start of some promising trends in self publishing, particularly as it applies to e books.  The Steve Jobs biography by Walter Isaacson was phenomenal in terms of sales as it recounted the life of one of the world’s greatest geniuses and was released shortly after his death in October, 2011.  You can use the infographic to help you navigate through the best books of the year.  Maybe you’ll find something new that escaped your attention.