I love being a part of the wonderful book blogging community. A place where I get to fangirl over my favorite authors with other like-minded individuals. There’s just something about finding a place where it’s totally acceptable to freak out over the latest book to hit the book stand. Especially when I read books that Oprah probably isn’t recommending in her Book Club (although she is missing out on some fantastic stories). There are so many fabulous stories being written in numerous genres, to just focus on one is odd to me. Granted, I focus on a two (paranormal and fantasy, so I guess I really can’t complain.
But before this train completely derails, my point is that there are so many great novels out there and there doesn’t seem to be a lot of places where readers are the ones telling you what are the best books out there. You have the New York Times and the USA bestselling lists, but that’s all based on numbers. Which I guess could be argued that readers are saying these are awesome, but I want to hear it from the readers themselves. Not from statistics.
Enter GoodReads and their Choice Awards.
The Goodreads Choice Awards are the only major book awards decided by readers. Nominations are determined by reviewing the sheer number of books readers have added, rated, and reviewed through their site during the year. They also accept write-in nominations during their Opening Round (which is going on this week) in case someone believes their favorite book should be on the list. Then over the next couple of weeks, readers vote for their favorite books. This is the fifth year GoodsReads has done their Choice Awards and every year they get hundreds of thousands of votes.
If you’re as much of a book nerd as I am, then you’ll want to make sure to check this out. There’s 20 different categories to vote in, so they have something for everyone. The Opening Round lasts until November 9 and you should vote now if you want to make sure your favorite makes it to the Semifinals (November 11 – 16) and then the Finals (November 18 – 25).
Disclaimer: I’m now a writer for The Rooner Post, so this was also posted there earlier this week.
