I know the Goodreads Choice Awards are flawed and don’t mean much, but I look forward to them every year! I think I like the content that comes out surrounding the awards more than the awards themselves. There were a lot of categories I couldn’t vote in this year, which is strange for me!
Fiction
I have not read anything nominated for the fiction category this year, which I think is a first! I just have not been drawn to general fiction this year for whatever reason. There are a few books here that are on my TBR, including Remarkedly Bright Creatures, Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow, Notes on an Execution, and Cleopatra and Frankenstein.
My Predicted Winner: Wish You Were Here by Jodi Picoult
Mystery & Thriller
I have read both The Maid and The Night Shift, but, sadly, I didn’t enjoy either of them, so it doesn’t feel right to vote in this category either. I cannot believe I have yet to read The Book of Cold Cases because I love Simone St. James!
My Predicted Winner: The Maid by Nita Prose
Historical Fiction
This is another situation where I have read one book (Lessons in Chemistry) that I didn’t enjoy enough to vote for. I am dying to read Violeta, The Marriage Portrait, Four Treasures of the Sky, Peach Blossom Spring, and The Book Woman’s Daughter.
My Predicted Winner: Carrie Soto is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Fantasy
I have read six of the books that were nominated for fantasy and I struggled to decide which book to vote for! I enjoyed them all, but it ultimately came down to Legends and Lattes and Nettle and Bone. I decided to vote for Legends and Lattes because there was a chance for me to vote for T. Kingfisher in another category. The other books I read are Daughter of the Moon Goddess, Babel, Elektra, and The Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches.
My Predicted Winner: House of Sky and Breath by Sarah J Maas
Romance
Romance was another tough category for me! You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty and Part of Your World are two of my favourite romances of all time, but I thought that YMAFODWYB was more unique and did something different, so that is what I voted for. I have also read and enjoyed The Bodyguard, Every Summer After, and The Kiss Curse. Sadly, Book Lovers and Hook, Line, and Sinker were both disappointing to me.
My Predicted Winner: One of the Colleen Hoover’s
Science Fiction
Well, I have read only one of the Science Fiction nominees but I did really like it and am confident in voting for it! Dead Silence is a SciFi horror and it made me want to explore that subgenre more. Upgrade, Ocean’s Echo, How High We Go in the Dark, Sea of Tranquility, and The Daughter of Doctor Moreau are all on my TBR.
My Predicted Winner: Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel
Horror
I have fallen in love with T. Kingfisher this year and I am excited that both of her 2022 releases were nominated this year! I adored What Moves the Dead and it obviously got my vote, but I have also read Sundial, which is a book I have mixed feelings about. I am starting to embrace horror, so a lot of the nominees are on my TBR, including The Hacienda, Such Sharp Reeth, House of Hunger, Gallows Hill, and Our Wives Under the Sea.
My Predicted Winner: The Hacienda by Isabel Canas
Humour
I read a couple of humour books last year but none this year and, to be honest, none of the books that are nominated are of interest to me other than The Office BFFs.
My Predicted Winner: Happy-Go-Lucky by David Sedaris
Nonfiction
Another category where I have only read one book but it was excellent. I highly recommend Unmasked on audio! The only other nominee I am interested in is Bittersweet because I loved Muteby the same author.
My Predicted Winner: Atlas of the Heart by Brene Brown
Memoir
I have read four books in this category and all of them are celebrity memoirs. They were all fantastic, but something about Finding Me has stayed with me. The others I have read are I’m Glad My Mom Died, We Were Dreamers, and Mean Baby.
My Predicted Winner: I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy
*History & Biography, Graphic Novels & Comics, and Poetry are all categories I didn’t vote in*
Debut Novel
I was so excited to see that Daughter of the Moon Goddess was nominated for best debut novel because I didn’t get a chance to vote for it in the fantasy category. A lot of the books in this category are also nominated in other categories as well.
My Predicted Winner: The Maid by Nita Prose
Young Adult Fiction
Voting for The Weight of Blood was an easy choice because you all know how much I love Tiffany D. Jackson! The only other nominee I have read is My Mechanical Romance, which I thought was cute! Both I Must Betray You and Hell Followed With Us are on my TBR.
My Predicted Winner: Loveless by Alice Oseman
Young Adult Fantasy and Science Fiction
I have only read two of the nominees! I thought The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea was so whimsical and charming and I was happy to vote for it. The other one I have read is Violet Made of Thorns, which I had fun with. This is when I wish write-ins were still I think because I was so sad that This Vicious Grace wasn’t nominated! Gallant, A Magic Steeped in Poison, The Sunbearer Trials, Belladonna, and Bloodmarked are all high on my TBR.
My Predicted Winner: Cytonic by Brandon Sanderson
Let me know what you thought about the nominees and who you hope wins in each category!
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Great post! I need to vote today.
Thank you!
Ooh, I like how you’ve also included your predictions for who will win. Every year I think that I’ll end up reading more GR Choice nominees but I always end up reading so few. This year I barely read any but I would definitely vote for Legends & Lattes and The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea as well! 😍
Both amazing choices. I just adore those two books so much!
This post reminded me that I need to go vote! Also, excellent choices.
Thank you!
I’ve barely read any Goodreads Choice Awards nominees over the last few years. That said, they are always on my TBR. I’ll manage to randomly pick up throughout the year, so I naturally vote for those if I liked them. By now, it doesn’t bother me as much as it used to in years past. Now, I just vote for ones I’m excited about on my TBR. Goodreads Choice Awards are fun, but they are not the end all be all.
I agree! I noticed a lot of people just vote for one they are curious about or love the cover for. It is just for fun!
I used to take it way more serious. But since going to library school, I think of Goodreads as a tool more for the “average reader” to use. It’s helpful in it’s own way, but it doesn’t carry much merit.
Love this post! I voted for Legends & Lattes as well. I think you’re right that the SJM will win, but it’s fun to vote for the books we love anyway!
I will be happy just to see Legends and Lattes make it to the next round! I was wondering if Babel could beat out SJM but we will see!
I really hope Legends and Lattes wins, it so deserves it!
It really does deserve it!! Stiff competition though
It seems that every year, there are fewer books I’ve read. I know Lessons in Chemistry and Carrie Soto are popular but we’e both DNFs for me. After you read I Must Betray You, it might earn your vote! I chose not to read the recent Picoult…she is often too agenda driven for me. GR awards make me feel like a total outlier!
I felt that way this year more than ever!
I finally read my first book from Ruta Sepetys this year and keep meaning to read more!
Sepetys is such a dependable author!
This is the first year where I haven’t read pretty much any of the nominated books. I just finished Daughter of the Moon Goddess and I can see why it was nominated twice, holy wow it was so good!
Yay! I’m so happy you loved Daughter of the Moon Goddess. I’m reading the sequel in December!
Nice! I just bought the sequel but I’m not sure when I’m going to get to it just yet. I hope you enjoy it! 😊
Currently reading Legends and Lattes and I hope it makes it to the next round! It’s so cute 🤍
Isn’t it so sweet? It made me fall in love with cozy fantasy!
I love this post! I also vote every year even though it feels like these awards are problematic and predictable. I was surprised to realize how many of the books I read this year, although I didn’t read nearly as much in each category as I would have liked, and I’m sure to be disappointed by the winners.
Same! It pained me to predict the winners because I’d be so disappointed if most of my predictions came true.
Thank you for sharing
Thanks for sharing your picks. The only category we voted for so far was YA Fiction and we picked I Must Betray You.
I definitely want to read that one!
I will only vote for books I’ve actually read, so there were a lot of categories this year where I didn’t vote. Several of the books are on my TBR, so I might get to vote on them if they make it to the next round. However, I’ve noticed that the Goodreads awards in the past few years have gotten… weird in which books they pick. This year is just weirder than ever—partly because of the selection, and partly because there was no write-in category for the first round like I have seen in the past. Honestly, the only reason I still do anything on GR is because the reviews help authors.
I completely agree! There are so many issues with GoodReads but it is helpful for authors. I miss the write-ins!
I’ve been trying to find a good balance with it, and right now for me that means posting reviews, but not really doing anything else.
I agree about the write ins! There were books I would have added.
Exactly! And I know it is rare for books that were written in to make it to the next round but it did happen.
It was so hard to choose this year! I did skip a bunch of categories where I hadn’t read any of the books. Among the ones where I did vote, it was exciting to see so many books that I loved. Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow was one of my top reads of 2022. 🙂
I need to read Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow! I know I am going to love it too!
I have a love/hate relationship with the Goodreads Awards too but they are better than the Hugos!
I don’t follow the Hugos much but I just learned about how it all works this year! You can pay to be a voter, right?
You have to pay to be a Worldcon attendee. Worldcon is hosted by different conventions or by a bid city each year. But you can pay for a membership just to vote. So there was a movement to change the landscape of the voting a few years ago to include more conservative writers or the perception of conservative writers, editors, etc. People who were “socially progressive” didn’t like it. Hence it became contentious. At least with Goodreads and The Swoon Awards it is reader driven and not paid membership.
I used to vote before but now I just wait for the results.
Ooh I love that you did a prediction at the end of the nominations. I would love to know how many you get right! So many books you picked are on my list to read! I need to move them up! X
I’m so curious to see how right I am! I’m kind of hoping I’m wrong because I want the ones I voted for to win 😂