Genre Fiction Awards from ALA

The Reference and Users Services Association division of the American Library Association announced their "Reading List" at ALA Midwinter in Denver last week.

From the press release: "The Reading List annually recognizes the best books in eight genres: adrenaline (which includes suspense, thriller and adventure), fantasy, historical fiction, horror, mystery, romance, science fiction and women’s fiction. This year’s list includes novels that will please die-hard fans as well as introduce new readers to the pleasures of genre fiction."

Here is this year's list complete with readalikes for the winners and honor books in each category.

As a reader and as one who helps readers, this is one of my favorite "awards." It is not often that genre fiction is recognized on such a large scale. Generally, genre awards are given out by the writer's association for that genre. Kudos to Neal Wyatt, who as President of RUSA, has led the charge to recognize these wonderful titles.