Goodreads Choice Awards: Have I Read Them All? Part 1

Hi all my Bookworms!

My name is Chiara and I am a Bookworm.

How are you all?

I’ve had what is probably a stupid insane idea but I am going to do it anyway.

Every year Goodreads does an award for their favourite books of the year. It is publicly voted, meaning that we, the readers, are able to vote on it for our favourite books of the year. There are 20 categories and 20 books nominated for each category. The book with the most votes wins.

I thought since it was half way through the year we should see what big books from last year I had actually read and which ones need to be added to my TBR … stat! (I’ve been watching a lot of medical dramas at the moment, forgive me!)

I’ve picked out nine categories that I read most and I am going to split them across this week and next week. Five this week and four next week, plus some honourable mentions.

But without further ado …. let’s dig in!

Disclaimer: The Waterstones links below are affiliate links meaning that, at no extra cost to you, I will earn a small commission.

Best Fiction

1^st Place: The Testaments by Margaret Atwood

Goodreads | Waterstones

I haven’t read this book. And I haven’t read the Handmaid’s Tale either I should probably read book 1 before I read book 2. I don’t know if I want to read this series. It looks interesting and I’ve read YA books that seem to have a similar premise and I didn’t all out enjoy them. Long explanation, short … will I be adding both books to my TBR? Maybe.

2^nd Place: Normal People by Sally Rooney

Goodreads | Waterstones

This looks like an interesting read. The blurb gives very little away about what the story and the characters and I have a feeling that this book would be very unpredictable. Part of me thinks that I won’t know whether I want to read the book until I have picked the book up and I’m reading it. Which means it could be a very likely contender for DNF if I don’t get into it.

3^rd Place: Where the Forest Meets the Stars by Glendy Vanderah

Goodreads | Waterstones

This book looks super cute. This is a definite addition to my TBR. There aren’t many books that even from reading just the blurb that I want to know how the story concludes, like I’m sat on the edge on my seat just reading the blurb. Expect to see this on a haul list in the next few months.

Best Romance

1st Place: Red White and Royal Blue by Casey McQuinston

Goodreads | Review

I loved Red White and Royal Blue. In fact I am think I am due a re-read sometime soon. Every second of it was amazing and it really is a must read.

2nd Place: Verity by Colleen Hoover

Goodreads

I haven’t read this book but I’m not sure if I will. In my notes I made before I typed this up I just put a huge question mark which is extremely helpful but not what I can put when writing this. I wish I could though.

3rd Place: The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren

Goodreads | Waterstones

Again this is a book I wish I had read sooner. It looks like an amazing story and I can’t wait to dive into it when my reading pile thins out a bit.

Or maybe I’ll just sneak it somewhere in the middle just to read it sooner.

Best Middle Grade

1st Place: The Tyrants Tomb (Trails of Apollo #4) by Rick Riordan

Goodreads | Waterstones

Shock horror, but I’ve not read this Rick Riordan book. I got slightly behind with the series and I need to catch up. I still have to read book three, but that’s only one book behind so that’s not too bad. You know I’ll read them soon. I hope I’ll be up to date by the time book 5 comes out this autumn.

2nd Place: Tunnel of Bones (Cassidy Blake # 2) by Victoria Schwab

Goodreads | Waterstones

Again this is part of a series were I haven’t began. I am reasonably certain that I have book 1 and it’s on my TBR shelf but I just haven’t read it yet. Some of you may be shouting at me now but I have never read a Victoria Schwab book. I fully intend to but I have never found the right moment.

3rd Place: Guts (Smile #3) by Raina Telgemeier

Goodreads | Waterstones

Were there no new series last year in middle grade that were in the top 3? Apparently not. But this is a series I haven’t heard of. I don’t read a huge amount of middle grade fiction, mostly Rick Riordan and a few other childhood favourites but I haven’t even heard of this one in passing. From reading the blurb I’m not sure it would be one that I would read.

Best Young Adult Fantasy and Sci Fi

1st Place: The Wicked King by Holly Black

Goodreads | Waterstones

I have The Cruel Prince on my TBR at the moment so I will eventually get to this book but it has been on my shelf for a while so it may still yet be while before I pick it up.

2nd Place: Wayward Son by Rainbow Rowell

Goodreads | Waterstones

I’ve heard mixed things about these books. Some people like them and some don’t I know eventually I will have to make my own decision on the matter. However I do like the titles in the series which are all lyrics from 80’s songs.

3rd Place: Queen of Air and Darkness by Cassandra Clare

Goodreads | Waterstones

Does anyone else feel lost with the Shadowhunter books? I have read the first three in the mortal instruments series and I have read some of the infernal devices but I lost interest in my late teens and now I’m so lost with all the different books there are and the different series. If I was going to get into them it would be hard to know where to begin again.

Best Debut Novel

1st Place: Red White and Royal Blue by Casey Mcquinston

Goodreads | Review

I loved every second of Red White and Royal blue, as I said earlier and it definitely deserved 1st place in both categories.

2nd Place: The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides

Goodreads | Waterstones

I suppose when you’ve been reading a long time you begin to know what you will like and what you won’t even if you can’t express a reason. This is one of those books. I can’t tell you a specific reason why I don’t want to read it but from the blurb, it just doesn’t seem like my sort of a book.

3rd Place: My Sister, The Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite

Goodreads | Waterstones

Why had I not heard of this book before? It looks so interesting I will have to read it some time soon. This whole post has just been adding more books to my never ending TBR list.

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And that’s it for today. I hope you’re looking forward to the second part of this post next week. Maybe there’ll even be more books that I’ve actually read on that one.

Until next time, happy reading!