Goodreads Choice Awards–The Best of the Winners and Losers
Most of my readers know I love keeping up with Goodreads stats. I’ve been known to join the Spring and Summer Challenges, set a new bar every year for the yearly Goodreads Challenge, keeping a tally in the widgets. Also, I like to check what I read against nominees and winners, as I did in 2020. (While we can vote our choice of the nominees, the nominees are all theirs.)
Okay—later this year. (Much later—I’ve been busy.) But the good news is that I was pleasantly surprised at the number of, if not winners in the category, at least nominees. Have you taken a look back?
I read from a sample of categories, including humor, memoir, and biography but of these had only one nominated in both 2019 and 2020 in Memoir (Maid ) and Greenlights). My favorites, of course, are Mystery & Thriller, Historical Fiction, Fiction, and Debut novels.
There are a number of Hot Debuts you may be interested in—I already checked out Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus (audiobook). My review on Thursday, July 14.
Among The Most Read Books of the 2022 Reading Challenge (So Far) are a number of books that I read years ago, some of which are included below in my listing of 2020 and 2021 (nine in my categories). I am not surprised, however, to see the number three spot: Where the Crawdads Sing. The movie is premiering this July 15 and I’ve been waiting for it since the announcement. Directed by Olivia Newman, the lead, Daisy Jessica-Jones (24), is an English actress playing Kya Clark.
The links below are to the Goodreads listings. Those with a thumbnail of the cover also have a link to my review.
2021 Goodreads Choice Awards
Nominees on my shelves:
Best Historical Fiction and Best Debut Novel
The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner
Also read:
The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah
Best Historical Fiction
The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles (Also Amazon editors’ #1 book of 2021) Totally recommended!
Goodreads winner: Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Best Mystery & Thriller
Apples Never Fall by Liane Moriarty
Rock Paper Scissors by Alice Feeney
The Good Sister by Sally Hepworth
Goodreads winner: The Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave
2020 Goodreads Choice Awards
Nominees on my shelves:
Best Mystery & Thriller
Also read:
The Sun Down Motel by Simone St James
One by One by Ruth Ware
Best Fiction
American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins
Goodreads winner: The Guest List by Lucy Foley (read but didn’t vote it)
Best Historical Fiction
The Henna Artist by Alka Joshi
Goodreads winner: The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett
While I failed to choose any that were ultimately chosen #1, I did have my fair share of winners listed in the top twenty. Six in 2020 in three categories; six in 2021 in three categories.
How many of the above did you read? Do you look for ideas from the Goodreads winners? Will you be choosing one of the 2022 trending books? And, lastly—will you be going to the movie? You know I’ll be comparing it to the book.
©2022 
