Holiday Shopping for Spec Heads

Tis the season for lists. With Amazon releasing its list of the best books of 2010 (so far), I thought I'd put together a list of the best stuff I've read this year. If you have a niece or a cousin or a wacky uncle or you like the literature of the fantastic yourself and you want something new to look at, here they are, in no particular order:

• The Secret History of Fantasy: This collection is simply stuffed with compelling fiction. The critical essays and the editor's foreword are icing on the cake...
• The Living Dead 2: An overall stronger collection of zombie fiction from editor John Joseph Adams. This collection features darker, more mundane tales of survival in the face of the worst possible outcome...
• He Is Legend: A wonderful take on the theme anthology, this collection allows a great stable of living legends to riff on the best tales of Richard Matheson...
• Audrey's Door: Sarah Langan's tale of a haunted apartment building and the dissolution of a good person's sanity is gripping. Part Rosemary's Baby, part The Dark Half, this book is all frightening...
• Full Dark, No Stars: Stephen King is a damned good writer...
• Harmony: I'll review this book in full soon, but it's definitely one of the best I've read in awhile. A scathing indictment of the nanny state, this is technology-laden dystopic sci-fi at its best...

And if you're looking ahead to anticipated releases, here are a few books that I plan on picking up when they are available:

• Sensation: Nick Mamatas's short fiction is keen; I'm looking forward to reading his work in the long form...
• Loathsome, Dark & Deep: I'm expecting supernatural suspense from the coastal climes of darkest Oregon. Aaron Polson's writing feels comfortable stomping all over genre boundaries...

Just a few titles of a great many quality reads out there, but this should get you started as you begin to hit the bookstores.