Tis the season for year-end best-of reading lists, and while some of them typically elicit no more than a curious glance, they can hold value for the serious reader. After all, who knows which of their titles will spark a reader’s imagination and set her on a literary path to inspired reading—and writing? For a writer, the process of following the trail of recommended books can nourish the creative process.

In this spirit, we offer Joshua Bodwell’s Baker’s Dozen 2011 [3] as a companion to his article “You Are What You Read: The Art of Inspired Reading Lists,” which appears in the January/February 2012 issue’s [4] special section on inspiration. And take a look at the best books [5] our readers read in 2011.

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