The 2010 RUSA Reading List Winners Announced

As I  mentioned last year here, I love that The Reference and User Services Association, a division of the ALA, has begun to release an adult reading lists each year at the Midwinter meeting (this year in Boston).

This meeting is already a well known awards event, as it is the place where all of the major children's awards are announced, (Newbery Medal, Caldecott, etc...) each year.

My friend and colleague, Joyce Saricks, was the chair of the Readling List committee this year and she sent me the press relase last night after the awards were announced.  It is now up on the RUSA Blog and ready to be shared with the world.

Below you can find the official press release.  But first, I want to comment on the way these awards are presented.  The committee not only selects winners and four "honor" books for each of the eight genres, but they also work very hard to write useful, appeal based annotations for each winner. They also provide a list of read-alikes for the winners.  The result is a list of great genre books for adult readers and a useful RA tool to use this year, and many years into the future.  In fact, here is the link to the past lists which I refer to often when helping patrons.

Enough from me, here is the press release...

--------------------------------------------------------------------

-->

Winners of 2010 RUSA Award Announced

BOSTON—The Reference and User Services Association (RUSA) has announced its selection for the 2010 Reading List.

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.

The winning titles were selected by the Reading List Council, whose members include:

Joyce Saricks, Chair, Downers Grove, IL

Jennifer Baker, Seattle Public Library

Kathleen Collins, University of Washington Libraries, Seattle

Mari Miller-Lamb, Long Island University, Brooklyn

Jacqueline Sasaki, Vice-Chair, Ann Arbor District Library

Sharron Smith, Kitchener Public Library

Tapley Trudell, San Antonio Public Library

Kimberly Wells, Denton Public Library

Neal Wyatt, Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA

Alan Ziebarth, Chicago Public Library

-->

The 2010 winners are:

Adrenaline

Gone Tomorrow by Lee Child, Delacorte Press, 9780385340571

Lone wolf Jack Reacher takes on terrorism and Homeland Security as he stumbles onto the tail end of an Al Qaeda sting. Crossing politics, police departments, and an alphabet soup of federal agencies, Reacher cleans house. The non-stop tension, atmosphere of menace, and Reacher’s matter-of-fact narration create an immediate and believable thriller.

           

Read-Alikes: 

The John Rain series by Barry Eisler

The Bourne Identity by Robert Ludlum

Below Zero by C. J. Box

Short List:

Beat the Reaper by Josh Bazell, Little, Brown, 9780316032223

The Neighbor by Lisa Gardner, Bantam, 9780553807233

Shatter by Michael Robotham, Doubleday, 9780385517911

The Tourist by Olen Steinhauer, Minotaur, 9780312369729

Fantasy

Lamentation by Ken Scholes, Tor, 9780765321275

When the city of Windwir is destroyed by an ancient weapon, tribes of the Named Lands flock to the desolation to battle an unknown foe. Elegiac in tone this compelling High Fantasy introduces readers to a complex new world.

Read-Alikes:

Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin

Wizards First Rule by Terry Goodkind

Acacia. Book One, The War With the Mein by David Anthony Durham

Short List:

The Red Wolf Conspiracy by Robert V. S. Redick, Del Rey, 9780345508836

Turn Coat by Jim Butcher, Roc, 9780451462565

Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson, Tom Doherty, 9780765320308

The Warded Man by Peter V. Brett, Del Rey, 9780345503800

Historical Fiction

Agincourt by Bernard Cornwell, Harper, 9780061578915

Vividly recreating the pageantry and violence of the 1400s, Cornwell takes readers into the heart of the soldiering class in this intimate retelling of the Battle of Agincourt. With a brisk pace and brilliant evocation of everyday life, he details the brutality of war and the lives of the men who fought.

Read-Alikes:

The Templar Trilogy by Jack Whyte

The Religion by Tim Willocks

Gates of Fire by Stephen Pressfield

Short List:

Cleopatra’s Daughter by Michelle Moran, Crown, 9780307409126

Etta by Gerald Kolpan, Ballantine, 9780345503688

Grace Hammer by Sara Stockbridge, W. W. Norton, 9780393067187

The Owl Killers by Karen Maitland, Delacorte Press, 9780385341707

Horror

Last Days by Brian Evenson, Underland Press, 9780980226003

In this deeply disturbing novel, the Brotherhood of Mutilation, a cult which gains wisdom through amputation, kidnaps a maimed detective and forces him to investigate the murder of a cult leader. Through spare language, a noir sensibility, and macabre humor, Evenson crafts a compulsively readable nightmare which asks, “How do you know the moment when you cease to be human?”
           

Read-Alikes:

Pilo Family Circus by Will Elliott

Misery by Stephen King

Crash by J. G. Ballard

Short List:

The House of Lost Souls by F. G. Cottam, St. Martin’s Press, 9780312544324

The Little Stranger by Sara Waters,  Riverhead Press, 9781594488801

The Séance by John Harwood, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 9780151012039

The Unseen by Alexandra Sokoloff, St. Martin’s Press, 9780312384708

Mystery

A Beautiful Place to Die by Malla Nunn, Atria, 9781416586203

During the early years of Apartheid Detective Emmanuel Cooper straddles the racial divide while investigating the murder a small town police captain. Set against the cinematic backdrop of the harsh South African landscape, Cooper’s inquiries uncover a web of secrets and lies. The spare prose and the intricate plot belie the novel’s emotional impact.

Read-Alikes:

A Carrion Death by Michael Stanley

Salamander Cotton by James McClure

Heat of the Sun, Distributed by PBS

Short List:

The Brutal Telling by Louise Penny, St. Martin’s Press, 9780312377038

The Dark Horse by Craig Johnson, Viking, 9780670020874

Dog On it by Spencer Quinn, Atria, 9781416585831

Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, by Alan Bradley, Delacorte Press, 9780385342308

Romance

What Happens in London by Julia Quinn, Avon, 9780061491887

Lady Olivia Bevelstoke and Sir Harry Valentine’s unconventional courtship begins when she is caught spying on him. Endearingly quirky characters, a windowsill romance, and laugh-out-loud scenes make this witty and charming story the perfect Regency romp.

Read-Alikes:

Goddess of the Hunt by Tessa Dare

The Winning Hand by Nora Roberts

Love Letters from a Duke by Elizabeth Boyle

Short List:

Chemistry for Beginners by Anthony Strong, Simon & Schuster, 9781439108475

Goddess of the Hunt by Tessa Dare, Ballantine, 9780345506863

The Temptation of the Night Jasmine by Lauren Willig, Dutton, 9780525950967

Vision in White by Nora Roberts, Berkley, 9780425227510

Science Fiction

The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi, Night Shade Books, 9781597801577

Bacigalupi constructs a sobering and nuanced of future Bangkok teetering on the edge of disaster. In this inhospitable environment, a disparate group of characters calculates how to survive. The novel’s gritty tone, provocative story line, and sympathetic characters evoke a world that is frightening real.

Read-Alikes: 

Distraction  by Bruce Sterling             

Brasyl  by Ian McDonald        

Accelerando by Charles Stross

Short List:

The Empress of Mars by Kage Baker, Tor, 9780765318909

Flood by Stephen Baxter, Penguin, 9780451462718

The Quiet War by Paul J. McAuley, Pyr, 9781591017810

Steal across the Skies by Nancy Kress, Tor, 9780765319869

Women’s Fiction

Very Valentine by Adriana Trigiani, Harper, 9780061257056

Thirty-something Valentine Roncalli seeks her future in the family=s exclusive hand-crafted wedding shoe company while juggling work and romance. Trigiani vividly captures both New York and Italy and infuses this novel with humor, warmth, and hope.

           

Read-Alikes:

Good in Bed by Jennifer Weiner

Bread Alone by Judith Ryan Hendricks

Greetings from Somewhere Else by Monica McInerney

Short List:

After You by Julie Buxbaum, Dial Press, 9780385341240

The Beach Street Knitting Society and Yarn Club by Gil McNeil, Hyperion, 9781401340803

Prayers for Sale by Sandra Dallas, St. Martin’s Press, 9780312385187

Shelter Me by Juliet Fay, Avon, 9780061673399

The Reference and User Services Association, a division of the American Library Association, represents librarians and library staff in the fields of reference, specialized reference, collection development, readers advisory and resource sharing. RUSA is the foremost organization of reference and information professionals who make the connections between people and the information sources, services, and collection materials they need.  Not a member, but  interested in discounted registration rates on conference, preconferences and other events? Join, renew or add RUSA to your ALA membership at www.ala.org/membership. Learn more about the
-->association at www.ala.org/rusa.