Happy last day of 2022! Ariel and I are excited to bring you a review of the Goodreads Choice Awards for this year. We are curious: if you use Goodreads, did you follow along the awards? Which books did you vote for? This post is packed with our thoughts on the winners, nominees and more. Let’s get started!
Goodreads Choice Awards
Goodreads conducts an annual award of books readers loved for 16 categories. The Goodreads Choice Awards are limited to books that were published in the United States in English, including works in translation and other significant rereleases, between November 17, 2021, and November 15, 2022. Books published between November 16, 2022, and November 14, 2023, will be eligible for the 2023 awards. Read rules and eligibility as well as award timelines here.
In this post, we will go over the winners for categories we voted on. As reviewers, we often get advanced copies of books and I was curious to find out how many of the winners were books we could have/did get access to.
Categories we voted on
Best Fiction 2022 | Nominees
Winner: Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin
Kriti: I have a review copy of the winner! Of the nominees, I want to give a shout out to Honor by Thrity Umrigar. The university Alumni club I am part of did a read of this one and I hope to dive into it when I feel like picking up a book set in India.
Ariel: I didn’t have a chance to read any of the Nominees of this category, but if I could write in a nominee for this category it would be The Cartographers by Peng Shepherd. Check out my review here!
Best Mystery and Thriller 2022 | Nominees
Winner: The Maid by Nita Prose
We both saw The Maid a lot on Instagram and Goodreads.
Kriti: I recently learned that Nita Prose is a Canadian author so I might give her book a chance at some point. Nominees that I am interested in are The Book of Cold Cases by Simone St. James and The It Girl by Ruth Ware.
Ariel: Another category where I didn’t read any of the nominees, but I read Shutter by Ramona Emerson. You can find my Instagram post about it here.
Best Historical Fiction 2022 | Nominees
Winner: Carrie Soto Is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Kriti: I generally read a lot of historical fiction and I am so glad we have finally reached a category where I read something on the list. I will be mentioning Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus a few times so here’s the first: I adore this book. You can check out my review on the blog here. Though none of the other nominees spoke to me, I highly recommend Reyna Grande’s A Ballad of Love and Glory which was also published in 2022. My review can be found here.
Ariel: My favorite historical fiction read of the year was One for All by Lillie Lainoff. You can see my Goodreads thoughts about it here!
Best Fantasy 2022 | Nominees
Winner: House of Sky and Breath by Sarah J. Maas
Kriti: I saw a lot of the nominees and read and adored The Book Eaters by Sunyi Dean (read book discussion with SK here) and Kaikeyi by Vaishnavi Patel (buddy read discussion with Ariel). The Daughter of the Moon Goddess by Sue Lynn Tan and Kuri Kuang is on my TBR and my library hold should be coming up soon. Babel is on my immediate TBR too. It would be my first book by R. F. Kuang. I await my library hold of The World we Make patiently (it’s a long line up).
Ariel: I ended up reading seven of the nominees on this list! However, my ultimate favorites of the categories were Babel by R. F. Kuang, Kaikeyi by Vaishnavi Patel, and The World We Make by N. K. Jemisin. I received Babel as an ARC, you can see my Goodreads review here.
Best Romance 2022 | Nominees
Winner: Book Lovers by Emily Henry
We tried reading more of the romance genre this year but considering how busy we were, we gravitated towards our comfort genres.
Kriti: Every Summer After by Carley Fortune was an impulse buy for me when I saw it raved about a lot on Instagram. Hoping it holds up to the hype when I get to it!
Ariel: While I didn’t read any of the nominees for this category, the winner, Book Lovers by Emily Henry is sitting on my bookshelf waiting to be read!
Best Science Fiction 2022 | Nominees
Winner: Sea of Tranquility by Emily St. John Mandel
Kriti: Sea of Tranquility is one of my favorite scifi of all time. I loved it so much. Read my review on the blog. Another neat book in this genre was Tell Me an Ending by Jo Harkin. Read my review here.
Ariel: How High We Go in the Dark by Sequoia Nagamatsu was the book I voted for in the nominee list. You can see my thoughts about it on my instagram post.
Best Horror 2022 | Nominees
Winner: Hidden Pictures by Jason Rekulak, Will Staehle (Illustrator), Doogie Horner (Illustrator)
Kriti: The Children on the Hill by Jennifer McMahon truly had a Frankenstein kind of vibe, linking monsters to human research and eugenics. There was an underlying commentary on monsters, how they are man-made, and monsters too can have their own lives and perspectives. Check out my full review here.
Ariel: Horror is one of our favorite genres to buddy read! This year, I read and enjoyed The Hacienda by Isabel Cañas (my Goodread thoughts can be found here), and I have on my TBR White Horse by Erika T. Wurth
Best Nonfiction 2022 | Nominees
Winner: Atlas of the Heart: Mapping Meaningful Connection and the Language of Human Experience by Brené Brown, Gavin Aung Than (Illustrator)
Kriti: I recently started reading Brene Brown. My friend Lauren who has read the winner said that it is more of a textbook of emotions and feelings. I am looking forward to diving into it. I am also interested in Stolen Focus: Why You Can’t Pay Attention- and How to Think Deeply Again by Johann Hari. Amongst the non-fiction I read this year, I recommend checking out Your Writing Matters by Keiko O’Leary and The Book of Boundaries by Melissa Urban (my review on Goodreads).
Ariel: Even though it was published in 2020, my favorite nonfiction read this year was You’re the Only One I’ve Told by Meera Shah. My thoughts on the book can be found here!
Best Debut Novel 2022 | Nominees
Winner: Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
Kriti: Yay for Lessons in Chemistry!!! This is my second mention of the book. 😉 You can check out my review on the blog here.
Ariel: Kaikeyi was not only one of the greatest Debut novels I’ve read this year, but one of my favorite novels of the year, period! Check out our buddy read discussion here!
Best Young Adult fiction 2022 | Nominees
Winner: The Final Gambit by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
Kriti: The winner is part of The Inheritance Games series that I enjoyed the first book of. It is always interesting to observe how people continue to read certain series which I totally drop after book one. My review of the first book can be found here. More noteworthy is As Long as the Lemon Trees Grow by Zoulfa Katouh. This gorgeous book is on my TBR and I saw it during my travels in London.
Ariel: My favorite YA book this year was Travelers Along the Way by Aminah Mae Safi. It was a great audiobook to listen to while I did some crafting!
Others Categories and Winners
Best Graphic novels & Comics 2022 | Nominees
Winner: Heartstopper: Volume Four by Alice Oseman
Best Poetry 2022 | Nominees
Winner: Call Us What We Carry by Amanda Gorman
Best Humor 2022 | Nominees
Winner: The Office BFFs: Tales of The Office from Two Best Friends Who Were There by Jenna Fischer, Angela Kinsey
Best Memoir & Autobiography 2022 | Nominees
Winner: I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy
Best History & Biography 2022 | Nominees
Winner: Bad Gays: A Homosexual History by Huw Lemmey , Ben Miller
Best Young Adult Fantasy & Science Fiction 2022 | Nominees
Winner: Gallant by V.E. Schwab
Best Middle Grade & Children’s 2022 | Nominees
Winner: I Am Quiet: A Story for the Introvert in All of Us by Andie Powers, Betsy Petersen (Illustrator)
What did you think of the winners? What were your favorite books from 2022? Tell us in the comments! 🙂
Lofi Girl is one of my favorite channels to listen to on YouTube. The art in this post are used by them. Downloaded from UDH Wallpaper
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