20 Essentials.

Over at Vector, they've been talking about the 20 Essential SF books of the past twenty years and the 20 Essential Fantasy books of the past twenty years.

My friend HBS Steve (who sent me the first link) asked what my picks would be for YA.  Which, of course, got me thinking.  Feed, definitely.  No doubts on that one.  It would be on the list for sure.  Inexcusable, How I Live Now, Dead Girls Don't Write Letters.  Peeps, Magic and Madness, Story of a Girl, Sabriel, The Book Thief, Ironman.  The Giver, The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, The White Darkness, a John Green title but I can't decide which one.  Boy Meets Boy, Saving Francesca, What My Mother Doesn't Know.  Sorcery and Cecelia.  The Golden Compass and Hard Love.

Also, I'm tempted to stick Graceling in there somewhere even though it isn't out yet...  I loved it THAT MUCH.  When, oh when, will October be here so that I can nominate it for the Cybils?

Looking at this list (which I made off the top of my head, so I'm sure there are some major omissions), I notice that it is heavy on recent titles and heavy on fantasy, which I seem to have read a lot of over the last few years.  Also, while I started with good intentions, it might have just turned into a list of my favorites. 

Which titles would you remove and what would you replace them with?  Or, if you disagree with all of 'em, what would your picks be?  And how would this sort of list differ from a list of iconic YA books from the past twenty years?  I mean, if we were making that sort of list, I'd put Weetzie Bat on it in a second even though I (to put it mildly) have never been a fan.

Lists are so much fun.  Have at it.