Enlarge Fiction: Jonathan Franzen's Freedom was on numerous year's-best lists, including USA TODAY's. Enlarge A Non-fiction: Anne Frank: The Anne Frank House Authorized Biography brings a harrowing chapter of history to life. USA TODAY's book critics share their favorite books of the year: FICTION Freedom by Jonathan Franzen The most buzzed-about book of the year — a sprawling, addictive yarn about the way we live now — lived up to the hype. Matterhorn: A Novel of the Vietnam War by Karl Marlantes This startlingly vivid account of U.S. Marines fighting in Vietnam makes a reader feel as if he's experiencing boots on the ground. So Much for That by Lionel Shriver This delicious black comedy about cancer and health-insurance woes (tough sell!) nabbed a well-deserved National Book Award fiction nomination. Fall of Giants by Ken Follett A sweeping and fascinating epic that follows five families at the outbreak of World War I, the first installment of a planned trilogy. The Imperfectionists by Tom Rachman A delightfully smart debut novel, filled with humor and heartbreak, about the likable misfits who work at a struggling newspaper. NON-FICTION Anne Frank: The Anne Frank House Authorized Graphic Biography by Sid Jacobson and Ernie Colon Anne Frank's struggle to endure under the Nazis is brought to harrowing, powerful life through the graphic-novel format. The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson An epic job of reporting tells the history, in novelistic detail, of the great migration of blacks from the South and how it changed the entire nation. Let's Take the Long Way Home by Gail Caldwell A moving yet unsentimental memoir of Caldwell's friendship with writer Caroline Knapp, who was dying of cancer. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot Oprah Winfrey (who has bought the rights) is among the fans of this moving true story about a black woman whose cells were used extensively in research after her death — without her family's knowledge. Just Kids by Patti Smith In this lovely memoir (winner of the National Book Award for non-fiction), rocker Patti Smith celebrates the time when she and photographer Robert Mapplethorpe were young, art-obsessed bohemians. Guidelines: You share in the USA TODAY community, so please keep your comments smart and civil. Don't attack other readers personally, and keep your language decent. Use the "Report Abuse" button to make a difference. You share in the USA TODAY community, so please keep your comments smart and civil. Don't attack other readers personally, and keep your language decent. Use the "Report Abuse" button to make a difference. Read more