All About Books discussion

The (2016) Goodreads Choice Awards are now up, and consistent with last year, I've only read 1 of any of the nominees. (It's Patient H.M.: A Story of Memory, Madness, and Family Secrets by Luke Dittrich, if you're curious)

What has everyone read, and what would you recommend from what you've read?

While I know that going by awards, especially populist ones, does not guarantee good reads, I do like being a part of the zeitgeist now and again. Thanks in advance for replies/recommendations.

Tom, I voted only in the categories where I had read some of the books :

Fiction:
My vote - My Name Is Lucy Barton - 5 stars
Commonwealth - 4 stars
Another Brooklyn- 4 stars

Historical Fiction:
My vote : News of the World- 5 stars
A Gentleman in Moscow - 5 stars
To The Bright Edge of the World - 4 stars
The Moon in the Palace - 4 stars
The Underground Railroad - 4 stars
Lilac Girls - 5 stars
Glory over Everything: Beyond The Kitchen House - 4 stars

Debut Goodreads Author:
My vote :Lilac Girls - 5 stars
Behold the Dreamers - 3 stars

I have written reviews for all of these in case you're interested.

I'll be interested in what others here have read and voted for . Thanks for posting the question, Tom.

I've only read 1 book from all the nominations as well. It was Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City for the non-fiction category and I ended up really enjoying it. It was slow going at first, as I kept confusing everyone as the stories jumped around, but it was worth persevering with. A 4.5 star read for me.

From all the other categories there's only 1 or 2 books that slightly interest me, but that's nothing unusual as I don't often read new releases and half of the categories have no interest to me either.

My considerations would be Commonwealth by Ann Patchett and Shelter by Jung Yun which isn't my usual sort of book, but I watched a good review about it which made me interested.

I've read and rated the following books:

Historical fiction:
Homegoing 1 star
A Gentleman in Moscow 2 stars
The Swans of Fifth Avenue 4 stars
America's First Daughter 2 stars

Biography:
The Romanovs: 1613-1918 2 stars

Science:
Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are? to read this month


I will not be voting for any of these, unless the one I read this month is excellent.

Chrissie, that really sums up the lists!

I have read a few
Fiction:
My Name Is Lucy Barton
But I wrote in My Name Is Leon

Historical Fiction:
Homegoing
But I have heard great things about News of the World and just haven't gotten to it.

Memior & Autobiography:
Lab Girl
The Sound of Gravel
Currently Reading Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis

History & Biography
Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race is one I need to read I was going to get to it in December but perhaps I will push it forward.

I was surprised I had any since normally I do not read new stuff.

Pink, well this JUST shows my view. I reason like this - I read a lot and do come across truly excellent books. This makes me pickier than others. I wish readers would be more discerning.

Chrissie , there are over 16 million members on Goodreads so of course there is a diversity of readers. People are perhaps discerning in their own way based on their interests and kinds of books they like . While there are a lot of books on these lists that I'm not interested in reading, there must be a lot of people who are and even though I don't agree , their opinion is just as valid as mine. I did find some that I thought were excellent and felt that I was pretty discerning based on what I like to read . Just wanted to give a different perspective .

Chrissie, of course this is just your view, but that's all any of us can offer :)

Angela, I like seeing which books others have found standout reads on this list too. As I've said above, newly published popular books aren't my usual reading, so it's good to get opinions from people who do read a lot of new releases. Then I can see if the same book titles keep cropping up as worth while.

I think these polls turn into a popularity contest anyway, as people vote for their favourite books of the year, which is not mutually exclusive with what they consider to be the best written or most literary worthy book. For instance I see the Harry Potter play is in one of the categories and I fully expect that to win, despite the overwhelming disappointment from many readers, just because of sheer numbers of fans that will always vote for HP no matter what.

Pink , I agree that all any of us can do is give our view, which many times is different than others but equally as valid. I've never read any Harry Potter books so I have no opinion there . :)

Pink wrote: "I think these polls turn into a popularity contest anyway, as people vote for their favourite books of the year, which is not mutually exclusive with what they consider to be the best written or most literary worthy book."

I agree.

Angela M wrote: "I did find some that I thought were excellent and felt that I was pretty discerning based on what I like to read. Just wanted to give a different perspective ."

GR is a place where all can offer their own view and that is the beauty of it. I am glad you have been pleased by many. I am happy for you! I am sorry if I was too blunt. I think my disappointment in the lists made me speak exactly what was in my thoughts.

Chrissie, no apology is needed! Just wanted to point out that everyone's view is valid and what is discerning to one may not be to someone else . I totally agree that the beauty of GR lies in the diversity of views .

Pink, a rather sad fact that some books will win on their merit in popularity stakes rather than literary quality and appeal.

B the BookAddict wrote: "Pink, a rather sad fact that some books will win on their merit in popularity stakes rather than literary quality and appeal."

Exactly, that is what annoys me.

As of now, Harry Potter is about 4-5k votes ahead of The Bands of Mourning (approx 795k to 790k).

I voted for "The Sister" for best new author by mistake, then I couldn't change it. I didn't really think that book was so great.
Also, I thought both "Commonwealth" and "The Nest" were outstanding, but could only vote for one Fiction, which was kind of annoying.

Well - it's about selling books really. Goodreads awards are not based on literary greatness. I assume popularity will win the day. Pleasure reads and famous authors will win many categories. But I did enjoy Homegoing and loved Lab Girl so I won't feel bad about voting for them.

I read to be entertained and hopefully have my brain challenged as well as learn different perspectives.

The nominations? How they are chosen? My guess is based on ratings and popularity to fuel more sales.

Piece to all.

I don't really mind that these choice awards are a popularity contest, rather than literary award. I think it's important to have a range of awards for a range of readers and they can't all be Pulitzer or Nobel quality (although that's a whole other issue this year!) It would still be nice to see some more varied options shortlisted than just the usual bestsellers.

At least in past years, nominated books are chosen using high average rating and frequently being on many members' shelves. So, yes, popularity.

Write in books have made it to the finals in previous years, so members writing in nominees is not always a wasted effort.

No surprises from what I can see. Rowling ran away with the Fantasy category and Stephen King took the Mystery and Thriller category.

The first two books in that series by King were so dire that I don't have any intention of reading the one that won the category!