Free For All Friday: My Picks for the Goodreads Choice Awards Round 1
Intro
Am I sharing a Friday post on a Tuesday? Yes, yes I am. I wanted to post this last Friday but honestly needed more time to brew my thoughts so here it is now.
It is once again that time of year for book awards. The one where I can actually have a say in is the Goodreads choice awards! While I am not a huge fan of the ethics and morals of Goodreads, it is a must for supporting indie authors. I'll share my deeper thoughts at the end. Let's dive into my picks!
The Categories
- Fiction
- Historical fiction
- Mystery & thriller
- Romance
- Romantasy
- Fantasy
- Science fiction
- Horror
- Debut novel
- Audiobook
- Young adult fantasy and sci-fi
- Young adult fiction
- Nonfiction
- Memoir
- History & biography
My Picks and Explanations
Fiction: The Girls Who Grew Big by Leila Mottley
I have not read any of the books in this category yet but multiple are on my TBR. I decided to pick the book that included representation I found important. In the time of unhealthy beauty standards, a cover with a "chubby" girl on it says and lot and says what I want to see more of.
Historical Fiction: Broken Country by Clare Leslie Hall
Another category where I have not yet picked any up. I decided to pick the book I have seen the most of my fellow bookish friends enjoy. When this one came out, I saw a ton of praise for it.
Mystery & Thriller: Vera Wong's Guide to Snooping (On a Dead Man) by Jesse Q. Sutanto
I read this one and had a good time with it. Sutanto writes a comedic mystery better than most. Every book of his I have picked up I enjoyed. This one was no exception. You can find my complete review of it here.
Unsurprisingly, this is the category I struggled the most with picking a book for. I love many of these authors and their stories. I ended up picking a 5-star read of mine which is a contender for my top of the year! I highly recommend it and you can see my review here.
Romantasy: Mate by Ali Hazelwood
Admittedly, this is a genre I flat out do not read. I do not like fantasy and do not have opinions on it. That said, there are multiple authors here who are awful human beings that deserve way less popularity. As such, I decided to choose Ali Hazelwood's book as I do like other books she has written (her STEM romances specifically).
Fantasy: King Sorrow by Joe Hill
This one is written by Stephen King's son. While King is not a great person, from what I know his son is okay. I do not read fantasy at all so again no strong opinions. That said, I actually did just received this book so that is why I picked it. If you like incredibly chunky books, this may be for you.
Science Fiction: Of Monsters and Mainframes by Barbara Truelove
You may not have guessed this, but I also do not really read sci-fi. (I promise I read a variety of genres, just not these last few). The only one of these books I am familiar with is by an author I have learned has said hateful rhetoric so I will not be supporting that. As such, I truly just picked a book with an interesting cover. I also just discovered it is published by a creator I enjoy which makes this even more exciting!
Horror: Lucky Day by Chuck Tingle
I am only now dipping my toes into horror. I do not like scary things and am a total scaredy cat, so be patient with me for any horror reviews. I picked the book by the only author I have read from before. I enjoyed Bury Your Gays by him, at least as much as I will ever enjoy true horror. You can find my review for that here.
Debut Novel: The Irish Goodbye by Heather Aimee O'Neill
Somehow I have not heard of a single book in this entire category. Not once... There have been so many fantastic debut releases this year, but nope, these feel truly random. As such, I closed my eyes and picked one. Let me know if there are any good books in this category that I should give my love to!
Audiobook: Tourist Season by Brynne Weaver
I had a couple of potentials for this category but decided to go for the author whom I loved the most books for. I loved her Ruinous Love trilogy. You can find my review for the second of these here.
Young Adult Fantasy & Sci-Fi: Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins
I haven't read any of the books in this category. I picked the book that a few of my best friends quite enjoyed. As they don't use bookish social media, I feel like this vote is for them.
Young Adult Fiction: Glorious Rivals by Jennifer Lynn Barnes
This one was a super easy choice to make. Jennifer Lynn Barnes is my favorite author ever. My only auto-buy author as someone who spends almost nothing on books. Anything I can do to support her, I gladly will.
Nonfiction: Everything Is Tuberculosis: The History and Persistence of Our Deadliest Infection by John Green
I have not picked up any of the books in this category yet, but I have heard fantastic things from loved ones about this and have it on my TBR. I used to read his fiction books when I was younger.
Memoir: 107 Days by Kamala Harris
I've been reading more memoirs this year, of people I find fascinating. I like to audiobook them while being productive. As a proud Kamala voter, you know I had to pick this one up. (If you are Trumpie, get the actual fuck off my blog, there is no space for your disgusting views here).
History & Biography: Sisters in Science by Olivia Campbell
I am not much of a history reader, that is my father's thing really. I picked the one that sounded the most fascinating that is also clearly feminist-coded.
The Problems
Goodreads is an Amazon created platform. As such, it is incredibly capitalist-coded and is the most mainstream book review platform. The authors and books nominated are very clearly based on who Amazon wants to promote.
I wish there were way more POC, queer, and disabled nominees. It's very white-washed and cishet unfortunately. The diversity of the world and books released in 2025 is not at all reflected well in these nominations. I am genuinely outraged by it, but simultaneously not at all surprised given Goodreads' history.
Outro
We made it! There were a lot of categories that I was going in blind for. If you have any recs for those categories, I am happy to vote for them in the coming rounds! Are any of our picks the same? How do you feel about the lack of diversity in this opening round?
