It may be hard to believe, at least it is for me, but it is once again time for the annual Goodreads Choice Awards. Readers everywhere will have to make some tough decisions, choosing their favorite books across 21 different categories. And to make matters even more difficult, five additional books are added to each category for the second round of voting, but I am getting ahead of myself.
Two DSNs have made it into the Best Fiction category. Both An American Marriage by Tayari Jones and Every Note Played by Lisa Genova have made the cut, but they will be going up against such powerhouses as The Female Persuasion by Meg Wolitzer and Killing Commendatore by Haruki Murakami. Personally, I think I will have to go with Jones' An American Marriage, though both books are certainly worthy of distinction.
For Best Historical Fiction, it is actually a pretty tough decision for me. Choosing between Kristin Hannah's The Great Alone, and Ingrid Rojas Contreras' Fruit of the Drunken Tree (scheduled to appear on DSN in December) is no easy thing. Hannah is once again masterful in her descriptions and character development. But ultimately, it is Contreras' portrayal of Colombia through the eyes of two young women that will win my vote.
As someone who struggles to find science fiction books to cover that I think I will actually enjoy, I am always thrilled when even one of my choices makes it into the Best Science Fiction category, let alone two. This year, The Oracle Year by Chris Soule, and The Night Masquerade by Nnedi Okorafor have made it in, neither of which is any surprise to me. But as the third and final installment of the critically acclaimed Binti series, The Night Masquerade is the kind of imaginative science fiction that I would like to read more of. Her world-building is impressive, and Binti's adventures are incredibly creative and imaginative, especially for a book that is only a little over 200 pages.
I have to say that when it comes to this year's Best Horror category, I am both thrilled and saddened. Included is Foe by Iain Reed (scheduled to appear on DSN in mid-November), but absent from the list is The Summer Children by Dot Hutchison, the third in her The Collector series. Both The Butterfly Garden and The Roses of May managed to be nominated in 2016 and 2017 respectively. Maybe The Summer Children will make it in via write-in votes, but I was pleasantly surprised by Reid's Foe, which is why I will go ahead and give it my vote.
Springfield Confidential by Mike Reiss is everything I wanted it to be. As a long-time lover of the The Simpsons, I could not wait to read the long and fascinating history of the show, written by someone who has been so close to it for the majority of its run. Springfield Confidential was funny, insightful, and filled with the kind of comedic timing that only a true humor writer could accomplish. However, Best Humor will be a difficult category for the book to win as it has to go up against the likes of Calypso by David Sedaris, and The Last Black Unicorn by Tiffany Haddish.
Michelle McNamara's I'll Be Gone in the Dark is a thorough look into the terrifying reign of, and long search for, California's Golden State Killer. Tragically, McNamara died two years before the book's publication, and the serial killer's capture. I recommend the book to any lover of true crime. I also recommend Ijeoma Oluo's So You Want to Talk About Race to any one who...well...wants to talk about race. Short and to the point, Oluo highlights the stumbling blocks many encounter when attempting to discuss this often difficult topic. So which one gets my vote for Best Nonfiction? It's a tough choice, but I think I will go with McNamara. Her coverage of the Golden State Killer bordered on obsessive, and the results are proof of her determination.
If you are looking for a fascinating but true account of one woman's journey from a background where formal education was discouraged, and abuse had become the norm, to a future where she would obtain a PhD from Cambridge, then Educated by Tara Westover is for you. Honest and unflinching, this book was often difficult to read, but the struggle was worth it. Not at all surprising that it has been nominated for Best Memoir & Autobiography.
This may be the first time I have covered a book that has been nominated for Best History & Biography. Even if it is not, it is certainly not something that happens every year. But Zora Neale Hurston's Barracoon is certainly worthy. Often using his own words and vernacular, Hurston tells the story of man who was on the last known slave ship to make it from African to the U.S. for the purpose of trading slaves. At less than 200 pages, Hurston easily and succinctly reveals why she was such a master at what she did.
It is no surprise that Sarah Andersen's Herding Cats made it into the Best Graphic Novel category. That makes it three years in a row for her Sarah Scribbles collection. Once again, she captures the complicated issues facing the introverted artist through simple but spot-on observations. My only issue with any of her collections is that they are too short, but still worth picking up.
Contreras' Fruit of the Drunken Tree makes its second appearance in the Goodreads Choice Awards, this time in the Best Debut Author category. But it is joined by Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi, and The Astonishing Color of After by Emily X.R. Pan, both of which are YA titles, and we all know how much I adore YA. So my choice? Definitely Adeyemi's Children of Blood and Bone.
Pan's colorful novel about a young girl attempting to navigate her own grief makes another appearance in the Best Young Adult Fiction category, meaning I will have to choose between The Astonishing Color of After, and Courtney Summers' Sadie (scheduled to appear on DSN in December). Ultimately it will be Sadie that will win my vote; Summers once again manages to convey the trials and pain of a young but determined girl faced with an impossible situation.
And naturally, Adeyemi's Children of Blood and Bone has also made it into the Best Young Adult Fantasy & Science Fiction category. It easily wins my vote for the second time, though Neil Shusterman's Thunderhead also deserves its nomination. I expect both novels to make it into the semi-final, and even final round, with no problems.
New this year is the category of Best of the Best. This category includes every book that has won a Goodreads Choice Award in the past ten years, making the choice nearly impossible, at least for me. Even so, I have made my decision, and I stick with it. The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas may be one of the more recent entries on the list, but it has certainly earned its place, and I think it has a good chance of coming away with the award.
So there we have it. Not counting the entries in the Best of the Best category, there are 17 DSNs that have been nominated for Goodreads Choice Awards this year. I have made my preferences clear, but let me know if I should reconsider. Or even more importantly, please let me know which books I have not read that deserve more attention. And of course, be sure to vote and make your own voice heard. The opening round of voting closes Sunday, November 4.
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