Monday, November 19, 2012

Goodreads Choice Awards Final Round

After more than 800,000 votes, the Goodreads Choice Awards Final Round of voting has started. Book lovers are able to make their voices heard now through November 27th, when the voting will close for the last time. Winners will then be announced on December 4th, and we can all start reading and making predictions for next year.

I am so pleased to report that This Is How You Lose Her by Junot Diaz has made it into the top ten in the Best Fiction category. It will still be competing against J.K. Rowling's The Casual Vacancy, not to mention the other eight finalists who have managed to make it through. Diaz still has my vote though, so I have my fingers crossed.

I also have my fingers crossed for Laura Moriarty's The Chaperone, which is still holding steady in the Best Historical Fiction category. Other favorites that are still in the running include Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter's The Long Earth for Best Science Fiction (although it will have to put up a serious fight over Nick Harkaway's Angelmaker); Susan Cain's Quiet for Best Nonfiction; Christopher Moore's Sacre Bleu for Best Humor; and John Green's The Fault In Our Stars for Best Young Adult Fiction. 

Naturally, Gillian Flynn's Gone Girl has made it through to the final round in both the Best Mystery & Thriller Category as well as the Best Goodreads Author category. I can definitely see it winning in at least one of these, if not both. Another book that I read recently but didn't much care for has also made it to the finals. Cheryl Strayed's Wild has been nominated for Best Memoir & Autobiography, and I am having a hard time understanding why. The following behind Gone Girl makes sense to me, but not so much for Wild. Oh well, but that is what makes awards like these that are decided by the public so much fun: you get more than just one person's or a small panel's decision.

I think what has surprised me the most so far is that all of the books I have mentioned and have been keeping track of since the beginning are still in this thing. And really, anything can happen.

Cast your vote here, http://www.goodreads.com/choiceawards/best-books-2012 and again, winners will be announced December 4th, just in time for the holiday shopping season and trying to find that perfect read for the perfect someone.

1 comment:

Lisa Guidarini said...

I just wanted to see the lists of contenders again, though the voting's closed. Is there somewhere I can do that? I wanted to print them out because I keep "Best of" lists.