I searched on several other sites and tried to consolidate all the suggestions I could find for works first published in 1942, either personal recommendations or annotations from multiple anthologies. Probably a better shot at picking the nominees here than in the regular Hugos.
Novel:
After an Age, by Eando Binder (Amazing Stories, Nov)
The Sorcerer’s Ship, by Hannes Bok (Unknown Worlds, Dec.)
Gods of the Jungle, by Nelson S. Bond (Amazing Stories, Jun, Jul)
Rocket to the Morgue, by Anthony Boucher
The Undesired Princess, by L. Sprague de Camp (Unknown Worlds, Feb)
Solomon’s Stone, by L. Sprague de Camp (Unknown Worlds, June)
The Stranger, by Albert Camus
The Comet Kings, by Edmond Hamilton (Captain Future, Summer)
Beyond This Horizon, by Robert A. Heinlein (Astounding, April, May)
The Screwtape Letters, by C. S. Lewis
(The Adventures of) Superman, by George Lowther
The Uninvited, by Dorothy Macardle
Lucky Bucky in Oz, by John R. Neill
Death and the Spider, by Norvell W. Page (as Grant Stockbridge)
Grand Canyon, by Vita Sackville-West
Donovan’s Brain, by Curt Siodmak
Second Stage Lensman, by E. E. Smith (Astounding, Nov ’41 – Feb ’42)
Darkness and the Light, by Olaf Stapledon (London: Methuen)
Islandia, by Austin Tappan Wright (New York: Farrar & Rinehart)
Novellas:
The Push of a Finger, by Alfred Bester (Astounding, May)
Hell Is Forever, by Alfred Bester (Unknown Worlds, Aug)
The Barrier, by Anthony Boucher (Astounding, Sept)
The Compleat Werewolf, by Anthony Boucher (Unknown Worlds, April)
Overthrow, by Cleve Cartmill (Astounding, Nov)
With Flaming Swords, by Cleve Cartmill (Astounding, Nov)
Nerves, by Lester del Rey (Astounding, Sept)
Waldo, by Robert A. Heinlein (as Anson MacDonald) (Astounding, Aug)
The Unpleasant Profession of Jonathan Hoag, by Robert A. Heinlein (as John Riverside) (Unknown Worlds, Oct)
Recruiting Station, by A. E. van Vogt (Astounding, Mar)
Asylum, by A. E. van Vogt (Astounding, May)
Novelettes:
Heritage, by Robert Abernathy (Astounding, Jun)
Runaround, by Isaac Asimov (Astounding, Mar)
Foundation, by Isaac Asimov (Astounding, May)
The Star Mouse, by Fredric Brown (Planet Stories, Spring)
Goldfish Bowl, by Robert A. Heinlein (as Anson MacDonald) (Astounding, Mar)
We Guard the Black Planet! by Henry Kuttner (Super Science Stories, Nov)
Design for Dreaming, by Henry Kuttner (Unknown Worlds, Feb)
Compliments of the Author, by Henry Kuttner (Unknown Worlds, Oct)
To Follow Knowledge, by Frank Belknap Long (Astounding, Dec)
There Shall Be Darkness, by C. L. Moore (Astounding, Feb)
Piggy Bank, by Henry Kuttner and C. L. Moore (as Lewis Padgett) (Astounding, Dec)
The Twonky, by Henry Kuttner and C. L. Moore (as Lewis Padgett) (Astounding, Sept)
The Elixir, by Jane Rice (Unknown Worlds, Dec)
Abyss of Darkness, by Ross Rocklynne (Astonishing Stories, Dec)
Jackdawn, by Ross Rocklynne (Astounding, Aug)
Mechanistria, by Eric Frank Russell (Astounding, Jan)
Tools, by Clifford Simak (Astounding, Jul)
QRM—Interplanetary, by George O. Smith (Astounding, Oct)
Medusa, by Theodore Sturgeon (Astounding, Feb)
The Hag Séleen, by Theodore Sturgeon and James H. Beard (Unknown Worlds, Dec.)
Cooperate-Or Else! by A. E. van Vogt (Astounding Apr)
The Weapon Shop, by A. E. van Vogt (Astounding Dec)
Rebirth: Earth, by A. E. van Vogt and E. Mayne Hull (as by E.M. Hull) (Astounding, Dec)
Breakdown, by Jack Williamson (Astounding, Jan)
Short Stories:
Robot AL-76 Goes Astray, by Isaac Asimov (Amazing Stories, Feb)
Victory Unintentional, by Isaac Asimov (Super Science Stories, Aug)
Letter to an Invisible Woman, by Hannes Bok (Unknown Worlds, Oct)
Jesus Shoes, by Allan R. Bosworth (Unknown Worlds, April)
Child of the Green Light, by Leigh Brackett (Super Science Stories, Feb)
Etaoin Shrdlu, by Fredric Brown (Unknown Worlds, Feb)
The Link, by Cleve Cartmill (Astounding, Aug)
Proof, by Hal Clement (Astounding, June)
The Wings of Night, by Lester del Rey (Astounding, Mar)
Crisis! by C. M. Kornbluth [as Cecil Corwin] (Science Fiction Quarterly, Spring)
Masquerade, by Henry Kuttner (Weird Tales, May)
The Sunken Land, by Fritz Leiber (Unknown Worlds, Feb)
The Hill and the Hole, by Fritz Leiber (Unknown Worlds, Aug)
The Phantom Slayer, by Fritz Leiber (Weird Tales, Jan)
The Hound, by Fritz Leiber (Weird Tales, Nov)
The Refugees, by Frank Belknap Long (Unknown Worlds, Feb)
Deadlock, by Henry Kuttner and C. L. Moore (as Lewis Padgett) (Astounding, Aug)
The Idol of the Flies, by Jane Rice (Unknown Worlds, June)
Not Only Dead Men, by A. E. van Vogt (Astounding, Nov)
Mimic, by Donald A. Wollheim (as Martin Pearson) (Astonishing Stories, Dec)
Storm Warning, by Donald A. Wollheim (Future Fantasy & SF, Oct)
The Embassy, by Donald A. Wollheim (as Martin Pearson) (Astounding, Mar)