Here you go – this is my list of the Best of 2011 in a number of categories.

Best Business Book:  The 3rd Alternative by Stephen Covey (New York:  Free Press) – this book explains and promotes a tired “win-win” philosophy in a fresh way, opening up applications in multiple contexts for many people who give lip service to the concept likely have never thought of before.  It didn’t stay on the best-seller lists long enough.

Best Non-Fiction Book:  The Greater Journey:  Americans in Paris by David McCullough (New York: Simon & Schuster) – I didn’t think he could ever top the biography he wrote called Truman, but this is a highly readable, novel-like approach of an important segment of American history, as played out overseas.

A close second:  Jack Kennedy: Elusive Hero by Chris Matthews (New York:  Simon & Schuster) – I’ve read a lot of books about JFK, and many a lot longer than this one, but I have never learned so much as I did with this account.  Lots of inside information from an outside perspective by this MSNBC giant.

Best Fiction Book:  11-22-63 by Stephen King (New York: Scribner) – A fantasy about a high school teacher who travels back in time, attempting to change history, with the first stop in 1958.  Quite a story!  The picture of the author on the inside cover makes him look so intense!

Best Movie:  Shame starring Michael Fassbender and Carey Mulligan. directed by Steve McQueen (Fox Searchlight films) – this is not entertaining, and a very difficult movie to watch, but it demonstrates the challenges that 3-5 million Americans with sex addictions face better than any documentary ever has or could.

Best Sporting News:  Paterno and Penn State Fall – this is not a happy story, but time unravels strange tales, and a giant in a successful program faces the music, and we cannot ignore it; at the Ticket City Bowl on Monday, I saw two t-shirts:  one said, “Joe Knows Football,” and another, “What Does Joe Know?”  Unfortunately, with his diminishing physical condition, we may never find out.

Best Entertainer:  Taylor Swift – a 22-year old captivates audiences and the music world with original songs from the heart, and she bonds with her listeners of all ages at concerts in ways that we have not seen since the Beatles; the song Story of Us will resonate with many people who have had heartbreaking relationships

Best Television Program:  Friday Night Lights – when its final episode aired this spring, I realized how good it was, and how much I will miss it; if you never saw it, purchase the series on DVD’s.

Best News Story:  Japanese Earthquake and Tsunami in May – riveting images of horror and sorrow followed by amazing stories of international and personal help and relief show the greatest contrast in bad and good that you could ask to see, and there still remains a lot of work to do.

What do you think?  Let’s talk about it.