In all this excitement about being on it for the first time ever, I forgot to add, I used to play a game with the Locus Recommended Reading List. In the early noughties, I would make my own copy of the list and then go through, highlighting and counting how many I had read. (it would usually be a small number, low teens including short fic) Then, over the next year, I would work my way through, trying to read as many items off the list as possible. The delay helped accessibility, as often books would appear in my library the year after they had been released in the US. I discovered many new favourite writers this way, and found others that – really, I just didn’t want to read ever again.

Eventually, the more I read blogs, the more I started reading books I wanted to read before they came out, and getting my recommendations that way. The game changed, and became: how many have I read when the list comes out? rather than using it as a reading guide for the year. I eventually discovered that I had a better hit rate from reading books by bloggers I liked, and those recced by said bloggers.

Writing reviews for ASiF and for my own blog, and reading so much short fiction for Last Short Story, I became my own gatekeeper, and worked on filtering the good stuff for others, rather than reading purely for myself.

Looking at my old docs, I haven’t played the Locus Recommended Reading List game for some time. So out of curiosity, I did some counting…

I have read 71 items from the list. Of which, 13 are books and 58 are shorts. I also have 4 books on my To Read shelf, or part-read, which I didn’t count. Also I may not have a completely accurate count on the short stories, because I do often blank out stories I have read if I didn’t like them much.

Still. Not bad at all, really. I like this game!

is here.

I am on it, under Novelette, for Siren Beat. This makes me happy. One of those major career goals ticked off the list, then.

Other people I like are on there too. I am happy for them. Especially for Alisa of Twelfth Planet Press (aka  girliejones who has worked so hard to bring Australian authors to an international audience.

I have been a tragic Locus Recommended Reading List fangirl for many years. Among other authors, it is responsible for me discovering the works of Kage Baker, Dan Simmons, Lucius Shepherd, Gwyneth Jones, Michael Chabon, Karen Joy Fowler, Ian R MacLeod, Cornelia Funke, Jeff VanderMeer, Charles Stross, Sean Stewart, Jennifer Stevenson, Leslie What, Holly Black and Kelly Link.

I am quite stupidly pleased with myself right now. That is all. Carry on.