Locus' Annual SF and FSY Reading List

Each February, Locus Magazine has a "Year in Review" issue.  One of the best parts of this issue is their annual "Recommend Reading List" which you can access online for free here.  As they say about the list:

"This recommended reading list, published in Locus Magazine’s February 2012 issue, is a consensus by Locus editors and reviewers — Liza Groen Trombi, Gary K. Wolfe, Jonathan Strahan, Faren C. Miller, Russell Letson, Paul Witcover, Graham Sleight, Carolyn Cushman, Adrienne Martini, Tim Pratt, and Karen Haber, and, for short fiction, Jonathan Strahan, Ellen Datlow, Gardner Dozois, David G. Hartwell, Rich Horton, Lois Tilton, and others."

As the premier periodical in the world of Science Fiction and Fantasy literature, Locus knows what they are talking about.  The list is broken up into the following categories:  Science Fiction, Fantasy, Young Adult, First Novels, Collections, Anthologies (Original), Anthologies (Reprint), Nonfiction, Art Books, Novellas, Novelettes, and Short Stories.

They look at these categories with a very wide lens, considering any book with a large speculative element even if most people consider it, for example, literary fiction (The Tiger's Wife by Tea Obreht).

I consult this list every February from a collection development standpoint.  At least in the general SF and FSY novel categories, these are books I should consider having in my general interest SF and FSY collection.

The list is also good as a training tool.  Do you or your staff need a refresher course in today's speculative fiction? Well, here is a list of the best books from 2011, all laid out for you by the experts .  Since you know the list is solid, you can pick at random and know you are in for a representative read.

So click on over and take a look for yourself at the Locus Magazine 2011 Recommended Reading List.