Today is the day we enter the home stretch for the 2018 Goodreads Choice Awards. It is the final round of voting, which also means that the field has been cut in half in each of the categories. Even the Best of the Best category has been cut down to ten finalists. I am sure there are a few favorites that will now be missing due to a lack of the necessary votes, so this can be a heartbreaking round for many, even more heartbreaking than the day the winners are announced should your choice not be the one to come out on top. But also, this is the last chance for readers to make their voices heard, so let's see what we have.
When it comes to the Best Historical Fiction category, sadness has come to me as Fruit of the Drunken Tree by Ingrid Rojas Contreras is no longer in the running. However, Kristin Hannah's The Great Alone is still holding strong, which means it will now receive my vote.
Six DSNs remain in the Best of the Best category, and they include Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins, The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman, The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas, The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah, The Fault in Our Stars by John Green, and Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn. I voted for The Hate U Give in the two preceding rounds, and I will continue to do so now.
And it looks like neither DSN that was nominated for Best Horror received enough votes to make it into the final round. Both Foe by Iain Reid and The Summer Children by Dot Hutchison are missing, which may not be entirely surprising, but it does still sting a little.
The hits keep coming with Springfield Confidential by Mike Reiss being the next to fall from Best Humor. It is joined by Wires and Nerve by Melissa Meyer, which was cut from the Best Graphic Novels & Comics category, though Herding Cats by Sarah Andersen remains. And this may sound mean to say, but I am okay with Hank Green's An Absolutely Remarkable Thing not making it to the final round for Best Debut Author. To be fair, it is still in the running in the Best Fiction category. The same cannot be said for Contreras' Fruit of the Drunken Tree, as Best Debut Author is the second category from which it has been cut.
The final blow to DSNs come from the Best Young Adult Fantasy & Science Fiction category: Stephanie Garber's Legendary failed to make it to the finals, which is a bit surprising given the overall popularity of the series. But the competition in these awards gets tougher every year; authors and series that had books easily make it through to the finals before are not guaranteed a spot the following year.
There were initially 17 DSNs nominated, and then four more were added in the semifinal round. Now 15 remain in the running in various categories, and I am excited to see what happens.
Voting for the final round ends Monday, November 26, which gives readers plenty of time. The winners will not be announced until Tuesday, December 4. So until then, here's to hoping your favorites come out on top.
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