Goodreads Choice Awards 2021: Books I Voted For vs. Winning Books
So, the Goodreads Choice Award winners for 2021 were announced today and I’ve got thoughts. Cue in this blog post with a table and everything.
I did not vote in every category as some of them I hadn’t read any books in. I did think I read a reasonable number of new releases this year, but apparently not enough or they just weren’t nominated.
Here’s a breakdown of the categories I did vote in and some comments:
| Category | I Voted | Winner | Comments | Other Books I want to read in the category | Other books I’ve read in the category |
| Fiction | Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr | Beautiful World, Where Are You by Sally Rooney | No surprise here purely because the more popular book won. I haven’t read the winning book, nor do I intend to, but I will say that Cloud Cuckoo is my favorite read of 2021. | The Reading List, This Close to Okay | n/a |
| Historical Fiction | The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles | Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid | Malibu Rising was an underwhelming read, I liked The Lincoln Highway much better, but then again this is more so a popularity contest. | The Personal Librarian, The Dictionary of Lost Words | The Lost Apothecary, The Paris Library, The Rose Code |
| Fantasy | The Shadow of the Gods by John Gwynne | A Court of Silver Flames by S.J. Maas | I haven’t read the S.J. Mass book nor do I intend to. She wins every category she’s nominated in no matter how good the other books in the category are. It annoys to no end but the audience has spoken. | The Book of Magic, The Graduate, For the Wolf | Crown of Gilded Bones |
| Romance | It Happened One Summer by Tessa Bailey | People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry | I really didn’t like Beach Read and am hesitant to read People We Meet on Vacation. On the other hand, I’ve read quite a few romances this year and It Happened One Summer is my favorite by far. | n/a | The Love Hypothesis, The Spanish Love Deception, Act Your Age Eve Brown, The Soulmate Equation, The Heart Principle |
| Science Fiction | Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir | Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro | Both good books, but of the two I liked Klara and the Sun a tad better. | n/a | Remote Control |
| YA Fantasy / SciFi | The Gilded Ones by Namina Forna | Rule of Wolves by Leigh Bardugo | I’ve only read The Gilded Ones of all the nominees and voted for it. No interest in reading any of the other titles. | n/a | n/a |
| Middle Grade | Amari and the Night Brothers by B.B. Alston | Daughter of the Deep by Rick Riordan | Have only read Amari and wasn’t that in love with it, but still wanted to vote for what I’ve read. I do plan on reading Riordan’s book out of curiosity. | Daughter of the Deep | n/a |
Overall, not really surprised with the winners as this is largely a popularity contest. I voted for the ones I liked and not what I thought would or should win. I expected the results to some extent, but still disappointed that Cloud Cuckoo Land didn’t win best fiction.
Romance was definitely the category I’ve read most nominees in, followed closely by historical fiction. I don’t plan on making a conscious effort of reading new releases next year except for books I’m really intrigued by and new books from my favorite authors. If they happen to be nominated, I’ll vote for them in next year’s awards.
What do you think of the awards this year, did any of your favorites win?
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This year I didn’t vote or use the nominations as a shopping list. I was disappointed that the write-in option was taken away and none of the choices appealed to me . In years past I haven’t found too much the first round that appealed to me, it was always after write-ins that I would get turned onto new things and that just didn’t happen this year. This year they just took the first list and just widdled it down. Also write-ins made me feel like I had a stake in things even if my nominations didn’t quite make it. But I am happy you seemed to get a good bit out of it and that some of your favorites made it in!
Hi Katie, I find it absurd that some books have more votes than ratings or people that’ve actually read them. Personally, I wouldn’t vote for a book I haven’t read no matter who the author is. It’s a popularity contest more than anything. The write ins in past years helped me stumble upon some great reads, so it’s definitely disappointing to see that removed :/