It’s my fifth year doing this! It’s also the post (well, the one several years ago), that prompted another local blogger to say “Book Nut: it’s not just a blog name, it’s a diagnosis.” Which I still agree with. I have discovered that doing this is a ton of fun, and starting about mid-December, I scroll through all my archives, dreaming up awards. Enjoy!

By the Numbers:

Middle Grade Fiction: 89
YA Fiction: 47
Graphic Novels: 8
Non-Fiction: 19
Adult Fiction: 25
(Number of those that were sci-fi/fantasy books: 88)
(Number of those that were audiobooks: 14)

Grand Total: 188

Abandoned: 6

Not bad; more than the past couple of years, but not as many as my peak. Also: I knew my middle grade and fantasy totals would be out there this year. But, as I’m going through these awards, I realize that it was a really fantasy-heavy year overall. That’s not a bad thing: there was a LOT of good stuff out there. However, on the downside, I probably won’t have read the book that will win the Newbery before it does.

And now this year’s awards:

Best Adult Fiction: Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend
Best YA book: Code Name Verity
Best Middle-grade book: Three Times Lucky
Best MG Fantasy: You’ll see what we come up with on our shortlist tomorrow!
Best YA Fantasy: Bitterblue
Best Sci-Fi/Distopian: Ready Player One
Best Graphic Novel: Fables, the Deluxe Edition, Volume 1
Best Non-Fiction: Behind the Beautiful Forevers
Best MG/YA Non-Fiction: Amelia Lost
Best Romance: Highland Fling

Best Mystery (I read more than one this year!): The Sherlockian
Best Audiobook: Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand
Best Jacket Flap: Cold Cereal

And in other categories…

Okay, okay, so the hype isn’t always wrong: Water for Elephants, In the Garden of the Beasts 

Love stories aren’t always romances: Every Day

Cover love: Vessel, Splendors and Glooms
 
Worst cover, good book: Seven Tales of Trinket

Food love: Kitchen Counter Cooking School; Food Rules; Dearie; The Spice Necklace; Yes, Chef

Feeding my new-found interest in steampunk: Goliath, The Peculiar, Steampunk


*Swoon*: Grave Mercy


Long Title, Good Book:  The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight

Best in-person book group book: Outcasts United

Best Nook book: Factory Girls

Best YAckers book: The Raven Boys (our discussion)

Favorite reread: Anne of Green Gables


Woot, dragons!: Seraphina, Wings of Fire: The Dragonet Prophecy, The Last Dragonslayer, Dealing With Dragons, Searching for Dragons, Calling on Dragons, Dragon Castle

Fine. I cried: A Monster Calls, The One and Only Ivan, The Fault in Our Stars, Wonder

Books I should have read AGES ago: I, Robot; Brave New World; Good Omens

Give it up for the Awesome Heroines: Cold Fury, Grave Mercy, Blood Red Road, Unspoken, Hex Hall, Code Name Verity

Guys rock: Curveball, Stupid Fast, The Fault in Our Stars, Ghetto Cowboy, Liar & Spy

Boarding school rules: Ordinary Magic, Beswitched

Snorting milk outta my nose award: Nanny Piggins and the Wicked Plan, Mr. and Mrs. Bunny — Detectives Extraordinaire, Sports from Hell, Good Omens, Cold Cereal, The Hero’s Guide to Saving Your Kingdom; Bossypants.

Proof Stalin was evil: Between Shades of Gray, Breaking Stalin’s Nose

Best book with the worst characters: Before I Fall


It’s not Megan Whalen Turner, but it’s close: The False Prince

Series I devoured: Rae Carson: The Girl of Fire and Thorns/The Crown of Embers. Rachel Hawkins: Hex Hall/Demonglass/Spell Bound. Jacqueline West: The Shadows/Spellbound/The Second Spy; Patrica Wrede: The Enchanted Forest Series. Ally Condie: Matched/Crossed

Favorite reviews: Something Like Fate, Mark of Athena, Fake Mustache, Keeper of the Lost Cities


The Wink-Wink, Nudge-Nudge book: Shadow of Night

Better than Glee: Putting Makeup on the Fat Boy

The Guinea Pig award: Drop Dead Healthy

Odd isn’t a strong enough word: Railsea, Fake Mustache

Woo-hoo, they’re back!: Goliath (also, Waah: It’s Over!), Caddy’s World, The Mighty Miss Malone, The Unseen Guest, Midnight in Austenland, Clementine and the Family Meeting

Loved it, but can’t seem to sell it: Gilt, Splendors and Glooms, Grave Mercy,  Palace of Stone, Breadcrumbs, Ready Player One, Nerd Camp

Can we have the sequel NOW?: Unspoken, Days of Blood & Starlight, Froi of the Exiles, The Raven Boys, The Crown of Embers, Amulet: the Last Council, Legends of Zita the Spacegirl

Fancy names does not a fantasy make: Throne of Glass, What Came from the Stars

Indulging in my desire to carry around a photo of Nathan Fillion: Frozen Heat

Books I finished but didn’t feel the love for: Jepp, Who Defied the Stars; Wildwood; Ilium

Disappointing book by an author I respect: Mark of Athena,What Came from the Stars, Why We Broke Up, Purity

Author everyone else loves that I discovered I liked: Meg Cabot (Size 14 is Not Fat Either), J. R. Moehringer (Sutton), Pauls Toutonghi (Evel Knievel Days)

First-time authors I’d love to see more from: T. M. Goeglin (Cold Fury), Mike Jung (Girls, Geeks, and Secret Identities), Eowyn Ivey (The Snow Child), Anne Nesbit (The Cabinet of Earths)

What are some of your bests this past year?