The Reading List
The Reading List seeks to highlight outstanding genre fiction that merit special attention by general adult readers and the librarians who work with them.
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| Title | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Last Days
2014 - Winner(s) |
2014 - Winner(s) | |
| Murder as a Fine Art
2014 - Winner(s) |
2014 - Winner(s) | |
| Any Duchess Will Do
2014 - Winner(s) |
2014 - Winner(s) | |
| Love Minus Eighty
2014 - Winner(s) |
2014 - Winner(s) | |
| Me Before You
2014 - Winner(s) |
2014 - Winner(s) | |
| Red Sparrow
2014 - Winner(s) |
2014 - Winner(s) | |
| Vicious
2014 - Winner(s) |
2014 - Winner(s) | |
| The Outcasts by Kathleen Kent
2014 - Winner(s) |
2014 - Winner(s) |
| Title | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| The Rook
2013 - Winner(s)
When Myfanwy wakes up with no memory, surrounded by corpses, she must immediately impersonate herself in order to unravel the conspiracy at the heart... |
2013 - Winner(s) | |
| Bring Up the Bodies
2013 - Winner(s)
Ambitious royal advisor Thomas Cromwell is at the pinnacle of his power and uses it to subtly engineer the downfall of his enemies, including... |
2013 - Winner(s) | |
| The Ritual
2013 - Winner(s)
In the remote forests of Sweden, the friendship between four men disintegrates when they wander off the hiking trail and find themselves stalked by... |
2013 - Winner(s) | |
| Firelight
2013 - Winner(s)
Bartered as a bride to the masked nobleman Benjamin Archer, Miranda Ellis – a woman with a supernatural secret – becomes his only defender... |
2013 - Winner(s) | |
| Caliban’s War
2013 - Winner(s)
One wants control; one wants vindication; one wants his daughter back; and one wants revenge (and maybe a new suit). The shifting points of... |
2013 - Winner(s) | |
| The Care and Handling of Roses with Thorns
2013 - Winner(s)
Galilee Garner’s carefully managed routine of teaching, rose breeding, and kidney dialysis is disrupted when her teenage niece moves in. Readers will root for... |
2013 - Winner(s) | |
| The Gods of Gotham
2013 - Winner(s)
The discovery of a mass grave of child prostitutes spurs “copper star” Timothy Wilde to hunt a killer through the seamy underbelly of 1840s... |
2013 - Winner(s) | |
| Gone Girl
2013 - Selection(s) It’s her fifth wedding anniversary: where’s Amy? Assumptions are dangerous in this chilling psychological thriller. The dark and twisty plot, unbearable levels of tension, and... |
2013 - Selection(s) |
| Title | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Sherlock
2012 - Selection(s) |
2012 - Selection(s) | |
|
The Ridge
2012 - Selection(s) The unexplained death of an eccentric lighthouse keeper in the isolated Kentucky woods, followed by a mysterious threat to a nearby large cat sanctuary prompt... |
2012 - Selection(s) |
| White Oleander
2012 - Selection(s) |
2012 - Selection(s) | |
| Zoo City
2012 - Selection(s) |
2012 - Selection(s) | |
| Shadow of the Wind
2012 - Selection(s) |
2012 - Selection(s) | |
|
Silk is for Seduction
2012 - Selection(s) Ambitious dressmaker Marcelline Noirot will do almost anything to secure the patronage of the Duke of Clevendon’s intended bride. Neither her calculated business plan nor... |
2012 - Selection(s) |
| Prestige
2012 - Selection(s) |
2012 - Selection(s) | |
| The Last Werewolf
2012 - Selection(s) |
2012 - Selection(s) | |
|
The Language of Flowers
2012 - Selection(s) |
2012 - Selection(s) |
| The Wise Man’s Fear
2012 - Selection(s) |
2012 - Selection(s) | |
| When Beauty Tamed the Beast
2012 - Selection(s) |
2012 - Selection(s) | |
| Memento
2012 - Selection(s) |
2012 - Selection(s) | |
| The Night Strangers
2012 - Selection(s) |
2012 - Selection(s) | |
|
Leviathan Wakes
2012 - Selection(s) The missions of a jaded cop and a dedicated ice hauler officer collide as the fate of humanity hangs in the balance. A mystery adds... |
2012 - Selection(s) |
| Daughter of Smoke and Bone
2012 - Selection(s) |
2012 - Selection(s) | |
| Deadwood
2012 - Selection(s) |
2012 - Selection(s) | |
| My One And Only
2012 - Selection(s) |
2012 - Selection(s) | |
| Dangerous in Diamonds
2012 - Selection(s) |
2012 - Selection(s) | |
| Raising Stony Mayhall
2012 - Selection(s) |
2012 - Selection(s) | |
| What Alice Forgot
2012 - Selection(s) |
2012 - Selection(s) | |
|
Before I Go To Sleep
2012 - Selection(s) Each morning, Christine wakes with no memory. From the clues she left herself, she tries to piece together her identity and sort lies from the... |
2012 - Selection(s) |
| Etta
2012 - Selection(s) |
2012 - Selection(s) | |
| A Lady’s Lesson in Scandal
2012 - Selection(s) |
2012 - Selection(s) | |
| The Raven Prince
2012 - Selection(s) |
2012 - Selection(s) | |
| The White Devil
2012 - Selection(s) |
2012 - Selection(s) | |
| Joy for Beginners
2012 - Selection(s) |
2012 - Selection(s) | |
| You’re Next
2012 - Selection(s) |
2012 - Selection(s) | |
| Gunman’s Rhapsody
2012 - Selection(s) |
2012 - Selection(s) | |
| Dragon Bound
2012 - Selection(s) |
2012 - Selection(s) | |
| Untie My Heart
2012 - Selection(s) |
2012 - Selection(s) | |
|
Doc
2012 - Selection(s) In the early days of Dodge City, a genteel, tubercular Southern dentist forges a friendship with the infamous Earp brothers. Combining historical details and lyrical... |
2012 - Selection(s) |
| Deep Down True
2012 - Selection(s) |
2012 - Selection(s) | |
| The Woodcutter
2012 - Selection(s) |
2012 - Selection(s) | |
| The Dead Path
2012 - Selection(s) |
2012 - Selection(s) | |
|
The Devotion of Suspect X
2012 - Selection(s) An introverted mathematician matches wits with a brilliant former colleague to protect the neighbor he secretly adores from a murder charge. Although the reader knows... |
2012 - Selection(s) |
| Up Against It
2012 - Selection(s) |
2012 - Selection(s) | |
| The Sea Captain’s Wife
2012 - Selection(s) |
2012 - Selection(s) | |
| The Weird Sisters
2012 - Selection(s) |
2012 - Selection(s) | |
| Spiral
2012 - Selection(s) |
2012 - Selection(s) | |
| Those Across the River
2012 - Selection(s) |
2012 - Selection(s) | |
| A Trick of the Light
2012 - Selection(s) |
2012 - Selection(s) | |
| Pandora’s Star
2012 - Selection(s) |
2012 - Selection(s) | |
| Rules of Civility
2012 - Selection(s) |
2012 - Selection(s) | |
| When She Woke
2012 - Selection(s) |
2012 - Selection(s) | |
| Now You See Me
2012 - Selection(s) |
2012 - Selection(s) | |
| Harbor
2012 - Selection(s) |
2012 - Selection(s) | |
| The Snowman
2012 - Selection(s) |
2012 - Selection(s) | |
| The Quiet War
2012 - Selection(s) |
2012 - Selection(s) | |
| Lionheart
2012 - Selection(s) |
2012 - Selection(s) | |
| The Likeness
2012 - Selection(s) |
2012 - Selection(s) | |
| Ready Player One
2012 - Selection(s) |
2012 - Selection(s) | |
| Magician King
2012 - Selection(s) |
2012 - Selection(s) | |
| Out
2012 - Selection(s) |
2012 - Selection(s) | |
| Killed at the Whim of a Hat
2012 - Selection(s) |
2012 - Selection(s) | |
| Like Family
2012 - Selection(s) |
2012 - Selection(s) | |
| Bright and Distant Shores
2012 - Selection(s) |
2012 - Selection(s) | |
| Shutter Island
2012 - Selection(s) |
2012 - Selection(s) | |
| The Quantum Thief
2012 - Selection(s) |
2012 - Selection(s) | |
| Think of a Number
2012 - Selection(s) |
2012 - Selection(s) | |
| Claire DeWitt and the City of the Dead
2012 - Selection(s) |
2012 - Selection(s) | |
| The Lost Garden
2012 - Selection(s) |
2012 - Selection(s) | |
|
The Night Circus
2012 - Selection(s) Le Cirque des Rêves is utterly unique, disappearing at dawn in one town only to mysteriously reappear in another. At the heart of the circus... |
2012 - Selection(s) |
| Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell
2012 - Selection(s) |
2012 - Selection(s) | |
| Embassytown
2012 - Selection(s) |
2012 - Selection(s) |
| Title | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| The Magician King
2011 - Honorable Mention(s) |
2011 - Honorable Mention(s) | |
| 2011 The REading list
2011 - Selection(s) Adrenaline Burned-out spy Milo Weaver confronts layers of deceit as his career collides with his desire... |
2011 - Selection(s) |
| Title | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Goddess of the Hunt
2010 - Honorable Mention(s) |
2010 - Honorable Mention(s) | |
| Turn Coat
2010 - Honorable Mention(s) |
2010 - Honorable Mention(s) | |
| Last Days
2010 - Winner(s) 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... |
2010 - Winner(s) | |
| Good in Bed
2010 - Selection(s) |
2010 - Selection(s) | |
| Heat of the Sun
2010 - Selection(s) |
2010 - Selection(s) | |
| Below Zero
2010 - Selection(s) |
2010 - Selection(s) | |
| The Temptation of the Night Jasmine
2010 - Honorable Mention(s) |
2010 - Honorable Mention(s) | |
| Warbreaker
2010 - Honorable Mention(s) |
2010 - Honorable Mention(s) | |
| Pilo Family Circus
2010 - Selection(s) |
2010 - Selection(s) | |
| Bread Alone
2010 - Selection(s) |
2010 - Selection(s) | |
| The Brutal Telling
2010 - Honorable Mention(s) |
2010 - Honorable Mention(s) | |
| Beat the Reaper
2010 - Honorable Mention(s) |
2010 - Honorable Mention(s) | |
| Vision in White
2010 - Honorable Mention(s) |
2010 - Honorable Mention(s) | |
| The Warded Man
2010 - Honorable Mention(s) |
2010 - Honorable Mention(s) | |
| Misery
2010 - Selection(s) |
2010 - Selection(s) | |
| Greetings from Somewhere Else
2010 - Selection(s) |
2010 - Selection(s) | |
| The Dark Horse
2010 - Honorable Mention(s) |
2010 - Honorable Mention(s) | |
| The Neighbor
2010 - Honorable Mention(s) |
2010 - Honorable Mention(s) | |
| The Windup Girl
2010 - Winner(s) 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... |
2010 - Winner(s) | |
| Agincourt
2010 - Winner(s) 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... |
2010 - Winner(s) | |
| Crash
2010 - Selection(s) |
2010 - Selection(s) | |
| After You
2010 - Honorable Mention(s) |
2010 - Honorable Mention(s) | |
| Dog On It
2010 - Honorable Mention(s) |
2010 - Honorable Mention(s) | |
| Shatter
2010 - Honorable Mention(s) |
2010 - Honorable Mention(s) | |
| Distraction
2010 - Selection(s) |
2010 - Selection(s) | |
| The Templar Trilogy
2010 - Selection(s) |
2010 - Selection(s) | |
| The House of Lost Souls
2010 - Honorable Mention(s) |
2010 - Honorable Mention(s) | |
| The Beach Street Knitting Society and Yarn Club
2010 - Honorable Mention(s) |
2010 - Honorable Mention(s) | |
| Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie
2010 - Honorable Mention(s) |
2010 - Honorable Mention(s) | |
| The Tourist
2010 - Honorable Mention(s) |
2010 - Honorable Mention(s) | |
| Brasyl
2010 - Selection(s) |
2010 - Selection(s) | |
| The Religion
2010 - Selection(s) |
2010 - Selection(s) | |
| The Little Stranger
2010 - Honorable Mention(s) |
2010 - Honorable Mention(s) | |
| Prayers for Sale
2010 - Honorable Mention(s) |
2010 - Honorable Mention(s) | |
| What Happens in London
2010 - Winner(s) 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... |
2010 - Winner(s) | |
| Lamentation
2010 - Winner(s) 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... |
2010 - Winner(s) | |
| Accelerando
2010 - Selection(s) |
2010 - Selection(s) | |
| Gates of Fire
2010 - Selection(s) |
2010 - Selection(s) | |
| The Séance
2010 - Honorable Mention(s) |
2010 - Honorable Mention(s) | |
| Shelter Me
2010 - Honorable Mention(s) |
2010 - Honorable Mention(s) | |
| Goddess of the Hunt
2010 - Selection(s) |
2010 - Selection(s) | |
| Game of Thrones
2010 - Selection(s) |
2010 - Selection(s) | |
| The Empress of Mars
2010 - Honorable Mention(s) |
2010 - Honorable Mention(s) | |
| Cleopatra's Daughter
2010 - Honorable Mention(s) |
2010 - Honorable Mention(s) | |
| The Unseen
2010 - Honorable Mention(s) |
2010 - Honorable Mention(s) | |
| Very Valentine
2010 - Winner(s) 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... |
2010 - Winner(s) | |
| The Winning Hand
2010 - Selection(s) |
2010 - Selection(s) | |
| Wizards First Rule
2010 - Selection(s) |
2010 - Selection(s) | |
| Flood
2010 - Honorable Mention(s) |
2010 - Honorable Mention(s) | |
| Etta
2010 - Honorable Mention(s) |
2010 - Honorable Mention(s) | |
| A Beautiful Place to Die
2010 - Winner(s) 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... |
2010 - Winner(s) | |
| Gone Tomorrow
2010 - Winner(s) 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... |
2010 - Winner(s) | |
| Love Letters from a Duke
2010 - Selection(s) |
2010 - Selection(s) | |
| Acacia. Book One, The War With the Mein
2010 - Selection(s) |
2010 - Selection(s) | |
| The Quiet War
2010 - Honorable Mention(s) |
2010 - Honorable Mention(s) | |
| Grace Hammer
2010 - Honorable Mention(s) |
2010 - Honorable Mention(s) | |
| A Carrion Death
2010 - Selection(s) |
2010 - Selection(s) | |
| The John Rain series
2010 - Selection(s) |
2010 - Selection(s) | |
| Chemistry for Beginners
2010 - Honorable Mention(s) |
2010 - Honorable Mention(s) | |
| Red Wolf Conspiracy
2010 - Honorable Mention(s) |
2010 - Honorable Mention(s) | |
| Steal Across the Skies
2010 - Honorable Mention(s) |
2010 - Honorable Mention(s) | |
| The Owl Killers
2010 - Honorable Mention(s) |
2010 - Honorable Mention(s) | |
| Salamander Cotton
2010 - Selection(s) |
2010 - Selection(s) | |
| The Bourne Identity
2010 - Selection(s) |
2010 - Selection(s) |
| Title | Year | |
|---|---|---|
| Ink and Steel
2009 - Honorable Mention(s) |
2009 - Honorable Mention(s) | |
| Private Arrangements
2009 - Selection(s) |
2009 - Selection(s) | |
| Sharp Teeth
2009 - Winner(s) The insiders’ perspective and lyrical language of this haunting free verse novel offer a sympathetic glimpse into the lives of urban werewolves, a nightmarish noir... |
2009 - Winner(s) | |
| Every Last Cuckoo
2009 - Winner(s) Set against the richly textured landscape of rural Vermont, Maloy’s optimistic and heartwarming novel chronicles one woman’s experience of widowhood as she remembers the pains... |
2009 - Winner(s) | |
| Hombre
2009 - Selection(s) |
2009 - Selection(s) | |
| The Death Artist
2009 - Selection(s) |
2009 - Selection(s) | |
| Shadowbridge
2009 - Honorable Mention(s) |
2009 - Honorable Mention(s) | |
| The Seduction of the Crimson Rose
2009 - Selection(s) |
2009 - Selection(s) | |
| Bitten
2009 - Selection(s) |
2009 - Selection(s) | |
| Broken for You
2009 - Selection(s) |
2009 - Selection(s) | |
| The Dirty Secrets Club
2009 - Honorable Mention(s) |
2009 - Honorable Mention(s) | |
| The Black Tower
2009 - Selection(s) |
2009 - Selection(s) | |
| Small Favor
2009 - Honorable Mention(s) |
2009 - Honorable Mention(s) | |
| Your Scandalous Ways
2009 - Selection(s) |
2009 - Selection(s) | |
| The Wolfman
2009 - Selection(s) |
2009 - Selection(s) | |
| The Lost Garden
2009 - Selection(s) |
2009 - Selection(s) | |
| Hold Tight
2009 - Honorable Mention(s) |
2009 - Honorable Mention(s) | |
| The Calling
2009 - Selection(s) |
2009 - Selection(s) | |
| The Steel Wave
2009 - Winner(s) In this riveting tale of D-Day and its aftermath, Shaara closely follows events through the lives common soldiers and generals, Allies and Axis alike. A... |
2009 - Winner(s) | |
| Hunter's Run
2009 - Winner(s) On a dangerous backwater planet, a criminal outcast stumbles across an alien race in hiding in this relentless and gritty adventure. Forced into a life-threatening... |
2009 - Winner(s) | |
| The Joe Pitt series
2009 - Selection(s) |
2009 - Selection(s) | |
| The Year of Pleasures
2009 - Selection(s) |
2009 - Selection(s) | |
| L.A. Outlaws
2009 - Honorable Mention(s) |
2009 - Honorable Mention(s) | |
| The Cruelest Month
2009 - Selection(s) |
2009 - Selection(s) | |
| Sharpe series
2009 - Selection(s) |
2009 - Selection(s) | |
| Downward to the Earth
2009 - Selection(s) |
2009 - Selection(s) | |
| Coffin County
2009 - Selection(s) |
2009 - Selection(s) | |
| Belong to Me
2009 - Selection(s) |
2009 - Selection(s) | |
| Rules of Deception
2009 - Honorable Mention(s) |
2009 - Honorable Mention(s) | |
| Vienna Blood
2009 - Selection(s) |
2009 - Selection(s) | |
| An Army at Down: The War in North Africa, 1942-1943
2009 - Selection(s) |
2009 - Selection(s) | |
| Enemy Mine
2009 - Selection(s) |
2009 - Selection(s) | |
| Infected
2009 - Selection(s) |
2009 - Selection(s) | |
| Certain Girls
2009 - Selection(s) |
2009 - Selection(s) | |
| Veil of Gold
2009 - Winner(s) The discovery of a golden bear in the walls of a derelict St. Petersburg bath house lifts the veil between the real world and that... |
2009 - Winner(s) | |
| The Spymaster's Lady
2009 - Winner(s) Take a British spymaster and a resourceful French agent, spice with clever banter, toss in a refreshing and unexpected plot, add a heaping measure of... |
2009 - Winner(s) | |
| Killing Rommel
2009 - Selection(s) |
2009 - Selection(s) | |
| Thirteen
2009 - Selection(s) |
2009 - Selection(s) | |
| The Killing Circle
2009 - Selection(s) |
2009 - Selection(s) | |
| The Sugar Queen
2009 - Selection(s) |
2009 - Selection(s) | |
| The Book of Lost Things
2009 - Selection(s) |
2009 - Selection(s) | |
| Scandal
2009 - Selection(s) |
2009 - Selection(s) | |
| Dreamers of the Day
2009 - Selection(s) |
2009 - Selection(s) | |
| The Automatic Detective
2009 - Selection(s) |
2009 - Selection(s) | |
| The Wolfman
2009 - Selection(s) |
2009 - Selection(s) | |
| Thank You for All Things
2009 - Selection(s) |
2009 - Selection(s) | |
| Enchantment
2009 - Selection(s) |
2009 - Selection(s) | |
| It's in His Kiss
2009 - Selection(s) |
2009 - Selection(s) | |
| The Given Day
2009 - Selection(s) |
2009 - Selection(s) | |
| City at the End of Time
2009 - Selection(s) |
2009 - Selection(s) | |
| Blue Heaven
2009 - Winner(s) St. Martin Press In this relentlessly paced story two children witness a murder, elude crooked ex-cops, and find refuge with a taciturn rancher. The evocative... |
2009 - Winner(s) | |
| The Garden of Evil
2009 - Winner(s) In contemporary Rome an unknown lascivious painting by Caravaggio, grisly murders, and a heart-stopping chase mark series detective Nic Costa’s return. The perfidious villains can... |
2009 - Winner(s) | |
| Forests of the Heart
2009 - Selection(s) |
2009 - Selection(s) | |
| Seduced by a Spy
2009 - Selection(s) |
2009 - Selection(s) | |
| The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
2009 - Selection(s) |
2009 - Selection(s) | |
| Matter
2009 - Selection(s) |
2009 - Selection(s) | |
| Killer Weekend
2009 - Selection(s) |
2009 - Selection(s) | |
| The Flanders Panel
2009 - Selection(s) |
2009 - Selection(s) | |
| The House of the Stag
2009 - Honorable Mention(s) |
2009 - Honorable Mention(s) | |
| My Lord and Spymaster
2009 - Selection(s) |
2009 - Selection(s) | |
| The Whiskey Rebels
2009 - Selection(s) |
2009 - Selection(s) | |
| A World Too Near
2009 - Selection(s) |
2009 - Selection(s) | |
| Nothing to Lose
2009 - Selection(s) |
2009 - Selection(s) | |
| Dressed for Death
2009 - Selection(s) |
2009 - Selection(s) |
A book may be selected for The Reading List for at least one, and preferably more than one of the following reasons:
In the context of the list, genre literature is defined as works clearly intended to be read by the general public as genre literature. Each book is considered in relation to both the general adult reader and to the avid fans of the genre.
Books will not be excluded on the basis of their unsuitability for younger readers.
Books intended for a younger audience but which hold wide appeal for adults and meet the selection criteria may also be considered.
The Reading List Council compiles a monthly list of titles to consider. This list is e-mailed to the respective publishers along with a letter of instruction. Timely response to these requests is deeply appreciated by the Council.
Publishers are welcome to send additional books as they see fit if they believe they meet the criteria for consideration. Publishers should be aware that the Council reads hundreds of books each year, and while individual members do indeed read and make formal requests for non-solicited books to be added to the consideration list, this is not a typical occurrence.
Publishers who wish to send non-requested books have two options:
Authors should speak to their publishers if they wish their book to be sent to the members of the Council.
The Council announces the eight winning titles at the CODES Awards Reception. A short list of honor titles (up to four per genre) is also announced. All selected titles are published on the RUSA Web site following the event: https://www.rusaupdate.org/awards/the-reading-list/.
