Readers Weight in on the Most Iconic Speculative Fiction Books of the 21st Century via Reactor and How to Use the Results to Help Your Readers

It is time for a palate cleanser from all of the "Best of the Year" talk. I have post I have been saving since before Thanksgiving and it is a great example of interactive service to leisure readers.

Reactor (formerly Tor.com) had the results of their polling of readers asking them to pick their most iconic Speculative Fiction books of the 21st Century. 

From the intro to their results:

A few weeks ago, we asked dozens of authors about the speculative books they considered The Most Iconic SFF Books of the 21st Century. We loved their responses, from modern classics to translated works to graphic novels to hidden gems. 

But of course, readers had opinions! What about this book? How could that author not be in the top 10? It’s part of what we love about this community: a group of people who share a love for science fiction, fantasy, and horror from thousands of different angles, and who feel passionate enough about declaring their love for those books to come together to debate them from across the globe. We anticipated that people might want an outlet for these thoughts outside of social media, so we opened a poll asking for your input. And readers, you delivered!

We received well over 500 responses in the short time the poll was open. While the selections below are just a slice of that enthusiasm, we hope they show the diversity and fervor of SFF fans. Maybe you spot some favorites here. Maybe you get a new stack of recommendations for your shelves. Maybe you just take a minute to think about what the word “iconic” means to you. Either way… we hope you enjoy.

Please click through to see all the categories and titles. Also at the end they have some fun facts. Their lists include all speculative genres which is also nice.

Now while posting this list is fun for all of you, I am doing it to help you use it to help readers in a few different ways.

1. Obviously, this is a great list to use to double check your collections. Do you have all of these titles? They were popular enough to rise to the top ten on this poll from one of the most trusted spaces to talk about speculative fiction on the internet. Don't only check to see if you own them, though, because you own most. Rather, use this list as a chance to check those popular titles to see if you need to order some replacements. They get beat up over time and books like The Fifth Season probably need a refreshed copy or two
2. Post this list on your websites and social media yes, but also, why not put up a QR code in the stacks near your SF/F books. In fact, I love this idea in general and will be talking about it more next year, but here specifically, if you have a SF/F or even Horror section, you can post a QR code in the stacks near the books that says, "Scan Me for a list of the most iconic Speculative Fiction of the 2000s." Nothing says that you want to help your readers find their next great read better than by meeting them where they are....literally as they stand in front of the books trying to make a choice. This is also an example of bridging the physical virtual divide. [I will have a lot more on this very soon.]
3. Use this as a conversation starter but not just this topic-- any topic. You could do it for all of the genres at your library. Make it a 2025 year long conversation. Ask people to pick their favorite books in each genre-- from the 2000s. You can do it in all age levels and even for movies. Then crowdsource the answers to not only make interesting displays [in building and online]-- ones that your patrons will want to come in to see if their books made the displays-- but also to make sure your collections reflect their tastes. When you see what titles have resonated enough for your readers to mention them to you when asked, you get a much better sense of what types of books you should have more of. It is way more accurate than circulation statistics. You can click here to read my Conversation Starter to Display post for more details on how to do this.
4. At the very least you can make a display of all of these titles after the New Year. It is an evergreen topic and nice to have in your back pocket. 

Maybe this list will inspire you to do something else as well. Or maybe you did one of these things and want to share your success with others. If so, please contact me. I would love to feature how you are using my ideas in your library here on the blog in 2025.  It doesn't have to be from this specific post either. Anything you have learned from me that you used to help your readers....I want to showcase you. Please put "RA for All Success" in the subject heading in case it goes to junk.