Around the Year Reader's Choice Awards - Second Quarter 2018

[Laura, Celestial Sphere Mod]

It's time for some wrap-up of your reads. Let's give awards to them! Using your reads from April, May, and June, choose a winner for each category. If you don't have a book for every category, just do the ones you can/want to. It's all for fun. There is also a Halfway Check-in so you can discuss your reads for the whole year so far.

Categories:
Breakout Read: A book that was surprisingly good or exceeded expectations.
Biggest Let Down: A book you thought would be brilliant but was a total disappointment.
Best Dressed: The book with the most attractive cover.
Best Characters: A book with characters you couldn't get enough of.
Best Place: A book that was set in an interesting place (fictionnal or not).
Best Story: A book with a great storyline.
Best Feelings: A book that made you really emotional.
Best Love: A book with a romance worth swooning for (does not have to be a romance book).
Best Shock: A book that made your jaw drop in surprise.
Best Author: An author whose writing you really clicked with.
Best Series: A book from a series you either can't get enough of or can't wait to indulge in more.
Best Read: The book you read in April, May, and June that topped all the others.

Do feel free to use any books from any challenge or side read that you read in the months of April, May, and June.

[Zaz]

Breakout Read: Raising Stony Mayhall. Yey for a good zombie story!

Biggest Let Down: The God of Small Things. DNFed it.

Best Dressed:

Best Characters: L'Atelier des Sorciers T01 (manga)

Best Place: A House at the Bottom of a Lake. Best creepy place ever!

Best Story: Pachinko (plus, I learned many things)

Best Feelings: Wonder

Best Love: Starry Eyes

Best Shock: Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians. I didn't expect several things in it.

Best Author: Daryl Gregory (Stony Mayhall) who had a smooth style and well fleshed characters :)

Best Series: The Blackthorn Key. I'm looking forward to read the 2nd book.

Best Read: L'Atelier des Sorciers T01. I'm pretty excited with the whole series, which is nice because this year seems to lack favorite reads.

[Joan]

Breakout Read: Beartown - wasn't expecting this one to be so good.
Biggest Let Down: The Chemist - kind of expected it would be. I didn't read it for the challenge. I did it as a side read.
Best Dressed: - best cover but definitely wasn't the best book!
Best Characters: Middlesex - definitely well developed characters in this one.
Best Place: The Secret Life of Bees - felt like a cozy place to live
Best Story: What Happened - I got really interested in Hillary's side of things.
Best Feelings: Thirteen Reasons Why - got me thinking about how so many things can lead up to this horrible decision.
Best Love: Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda - a lot of cute little romance things in there
Best Shock: Beartown - thought it was going to go one way and it didn't.
Best Author: Becky Albertalli - She wrote Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens. It was just a fun read and hoping her other books will be fun.
Best Series Queen of Shadows - although the next book I got bored with and couldn't finish.
Best Read: Beartown and Thirteen Reasons Why and Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda - I couldn't put either of these down so I couldn't decide which to put......

[Perri]

Categories:
Breakout Read: A book that was surprisingly good or exceeded expectations.
State of Wonder I liked is as much as Bel Canto and that's saying something

Biggest Let Down: A book you thought would be brilliant but was a total disappointment.
The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter A classic that was unbearably sad for me

Best Dressed: The book with the most attractive cover.


Best Characters: A book with characters you couldn't get enough of.
Above the Waterfall Two different but exquisitely drawn characters

Best Place: A book that was set in an interesting place (fictionnal or not).
State of Wonder The Amazon description had me sweating and skin prickled by insects

Best Story: A book with a great storyline.
A Gentleman in Moscow Who would have thought a story that mostly takes place in a hotel would be so interesting?

Best Feelings: A book that made you really emotional.
A Gentleman in Moscow

Best Love: A book with a romance worth swooning for (does not have to be a romance book).
The Sun Is Also a Star Teen romance balanced by tough relevant issues

Best Shock: A book that made your jaw drop in surprise.
We Die Alone: A WWII Epic of Escape and Endurance Hair raising story of danger and courage

Best Author: An author whose writing you really clicked with.
Mink River RIP Doyle-such a writing talent

Best Series: A book from a series you either can't get enough of or can't wait to indulge in more.
The Midnight Line Big Jack Reacher fan!

Best Read: The book you read in April, May, and June that topped all the others.
Ack A Gentleman in Moscow or State of Wonder

[Lisa (the.running.bookworm)]

Breakout Read: The Ex, by Alafair Burke
Biggest Let Down: The Unexpected Truth About Animals, by Lucy Cooke
Best Dressed: The Wicked Cometh, by Laura Carlin
Best Characters: Small Great Things, by Jodi Picoult
Best Place: The Witchfinder's Sister, by Beth Underdown
Best Story: The Ex, by Alafair Burke
Best Feelings: The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas, by John Boyne
Best Love: The Wicked Cometh, by Laura Carlin
Best Shock: Small Great Things, by Jodi Picoult
Best Author: Alexander McCall Smith
Best Series: No1 Ladies detective agency series, by Alexander McCall Smith
Best Read: The Ex, by Alafair Burke

[Emily, Conterminous Mod]

Breakout Read:
The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin

I've had this on my TBR forever and I wasn't expecting to enjoy it as much as I did!

Biggest Let Down:
Life of Pi by Yann Martel

Absolutely could not finish... could barely even start it. One of my few DNFs this year.

Best Dressed:
The Astonishing Color of After by Emily X.R. Pan

The cover was beautiful, and the story was beautiful.

Best Characters:
Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows by Balli Kaur Jaswal

This story was hilarious and the characters were so colorful and brilliant.

Best Place:
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

I just wanted to live my life in Le Cirque des Reves.

Best Story:
Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz

Start to finish, this book had me hooked.

Best Feelings:
Firefly Lane by Kristin Hannah

That ending was so unexpected and poignant.

Best Love:
They Both Die at the End by Adam Silvera

Watching their friendship turn to love and genuine caring, and then seeing them both die (because they do, in fact, both die at the end) just made this one extra beautiful.

Best Shock:
Anatomy of a Scandal by Sarah Vaughan

I didn't read many shocking books this quarter, but this one had some surprises I wasn't expecting.

Best Read:
The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

[Anna]

Breakout Read:
His Majesty's Dragon (Temeraire #1) by Naomi Novik and Gil's All Fright Diner by A. Lee Martinez

Biggest Let Down:
The Road by Cormac McCarthy

Best Dressed:


Best Characters:
Monstrous Regiment (Discworld #31) by Terry Pratchett

Best Place:
Troubled Waters by Sharon Shinn

Best Story:
Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel

Best Feelings:
Plainsong by Kent Haruf

Best Love:
Witness in Death (In Death #10) by J.D. Robb

Best Shock:
Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty

Best Author:
Kent Haruf

Best Series:
A Hat Full of Sky by Terry Pratchett

Best Read:
Eventide by Kent Haruf and Troubled Waters by Sharon Shinn

[Tina]

Biggest Breakout: The Discovery of the Titanic
Biggest Letdown: Into the Water
Best Dressed:

Best Characters: In a Dark, Dark Wood
Best Place: The Discovery of the Titanic
Best Story: In a Dark, Dark Wood
Best Feelings: In a Dark, Dark Wood
Best Love: In a Dark, Dark Wood
Best Shock: In a Dark, Dark Wood
Best Author: In a Dark, Dark Wood
Best Series: Ten Thousand Skies Above You
Best Read: In a Dark, Dark Wood

[Bec]

Breakout Read: Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine

Biggest Let Down: I actually have a few to choose from for this quarter, but I'm going with The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared

Best Dressed:

Best Characters: Shadows & Secrets

Best Place: Virgo: The Revelations of Oriceran

Best Story: Twists in Time

Best Feelings: The Color of Heaven

Best Love: Virgo: The Revelations of Oriceran

Best Series: The Earth Dwellers

Best Read: Going on my ratings, I gave 5 stars to:
The Earth Dwellers
Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine
Daughter of Smoke & Bone

[Michelle]

Breakout Read: Happiness: The Crooked Little Road to Semi-Ever After
Biggest Let Down: Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind So many people raved about this book, but I felt like I didn't learn much from it.
Best Dressed:
Best Characters: Little Fires Everywhere
Best Place: none
Best Story: Little Fires Everywhere
Best Feelings: The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America's Shining Women
Best Love: Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda
Best Shock: The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America's Shining Women I couldn't believe the level of injustice that was happening throughout the book!
Best Author: Jesmyn Ward (Sing, Unburied, Sing Such beautiful writing!
Best Series: Cinder
Best Read: The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America's Shining Women

[Joy]

Breakout Read: Little Criminals
Biggest Let Down: The Perks of Being a Wallflower
Best Dressed: In Pursuit of the Proper Sinner
Best Characters: A Clash of Kings
Best Place: Norse Mythology
Best Story: House of Names
Best Feelings: The Iliad
Best Love: Tell It To The Skies
Best Shock: Die Trying
Best Author: Three Men on the Bummel
Best Series: The Lost World
Best Read: The Iliad

[Rachelnyc]

I read fewer books this quarter than last but looking back, there were some real gems. I'm going to try not to overlap in the categories so I can include as many of the books I liked as I can.

Breakout Read: An American Marriage
Biggest Let Down: This is a tough one because there were no major disappointments but I'll go with The House on Mango Street I enjoyed it for the most part but it didn't live up to expectations.
Best Dressed:
Best Characters: The Broken Girls
Best Place: Pachinko
Best Story: The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo
Best Feelings: My instinct is to say An American Marriage but since I didn't want to repeat books, I'll make it a tie with The Bell Jar
Best Author: Jesmyn Ward Ward's writing is incredibly beautiful and I loved Sing, Unburied, Sing
Best Read: I had a few 5 star reads this quarter but I will go with Middlesex A re-read after 15 years and it definitely holds up.

[Kathy]

Breakout Read: Heart Berries: A Memoir by Terese Marie Mailhot
I want to read more books by her. Also made me want to read more books by Native American authors.
Biggest Let Down: The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah
I expected a story more about surviving in Alaska and not so much about surviving family abuse.
Best Dressed:
Best Characters: Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine
Best Place: The Beach House
Best Story: Stray City by Chelsey Johnson
Best Feelings: The Music Shop
Best Author: Interpreter of Maladies
I really don't prefer short stories but Jhumpa Lahiri is a great writer.
Best Read: The Picture of Dorian Gray
I've liked everything Oscar Wilde has written.

[Rachel]

Breakout Read: A book that was surprisingly good or exceeded expectations.
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo! I wasn't even that interested in reading this in the first place, and it became one of my favourites of the year.

Biggest Let Down: A book you thought would be brilliant but was a total disappointment.
Immaculate. Very interesting concept, but the book was too long and got too repetitive. Also, I found Tyler Johnson Was Here a bit disappointing. It was still a 4 star read for me, but I was expecting something a bit more powerful and it just didn't connect with me that way.

Best Dressed: The book with the most attractive cover.
or

Best Characters: A book with characters you couldn't get enough of.
Heartless

Best Place: A book that was set in an interesting place (fictional or not).
Probably a weird choice, but I really loved the bookstore setting from Words in Deep Blue, especially the Letters Library.

Best Story: A book with a great storyline.
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo

Best Feelings: A book that made you really emotional.
Bang. By far one of the most unique YA books I've ever read, and very powerful.

Best Love: A book with a romance worth swooning for (does not have to be a romance book).
Obsidio. I liked all of the relationships here.

Best Shock: A book that made your jaw drop in surprise.
I wouldn't say jaw-dropping, but the end of Keep You Safe was quite a surprise.

Best Author: An author whose writing you really clicked with.
Hanna Nowinski (Meg & Linus)

Best Series: A book from a series you either can't get enough of or can't wait to indulge in more.
Both Gemina and Obsidio! Too bad there isn't more to this series.

Best Read: The book you read in April, May, and June that topped all the others.
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo

[Milena]

Breakout Read: A book that was surprisingly good or exceeded expectations.
The Broken Girls

Biggest Let Down: A book you thought would be brilliant but was a total disappointment.
The Bright Hour: A Memoir of Living and Dying
I thought it would be like When Breath Becomes Air, it was not even close.

Best Dressed: The book with the most attractive cover.
The Essex Serpent

Best Characters: A book with characters you couldn't get enough of.
Us Against You

Best Place: A book that was set in an interesting place (fictionnal or not).
The Great Alone

Best Story: A book with a great storyline.
The Great Alone

Best Feelings: A book that made you really emotional.
The Great Alone

Best Love: A book with a romance worth swooning for (does not have to be a romance book).
Dark Matter

Best Shock: A book that made your jaw drop in surprise.
Sharp Objects

Best Author: An author whose writing you really clicked with.
Jhumpa Lahiri

Best Series: A book from a series you either can't get enough of or can't wait to indulge in more.
The Eyre Affair

Best Read: The book you read in April, May, and June that topped all the others.
The Great Alone

[Jill]

Breakout Read: Burial Rites
Biggest Let Down: Lab Girl
Best Characters: The Little Paris Bookshop
Best Place: Burial Rites
Best Story: The Great Alone
Best Feelings: Ginny Moon
Best Shock: House of Thieves
Best Author: The Great Alone
Best Series: The Name of the Wind
Best Read: The Great Alone and Burial Rites

[Jackie, Solstitial Mod]

Breakout Read: My Favorite Thing Is Monsters, Vol. 1
Biggest Let Down: Tangerine
this was sooo disappointing...
Best Dressed: The Supernatural Enhancements
Best Characters: Delilah Dirk and the Seeds of Good Fortune
Best Place: Jade Dragon Mountain
Best Story: My Favorite Thing Is Monsters, Vol. 1
Best Feelings: No award.
Best Love: No award.
Best Shock: No award.
Best Author: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie for Dear Ijeawele, or a Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions
Best Series: Holy Terror In The Hebrides
Best Read: House of Leaves

[Hélène]

Breakout Read: The Poisonwood Bible
Biggest Let Down: A River Called Time
Best Dressed: The Moons of Jupiter
Best Characters: One Thousand White Women: The Journals of May Dodd
Best Place: Guardians of the Louvre
Best Story: Small Country, One Thousand White Women: The Journals of May Dodd, Home Fire
Best Feelings: Soeurs de miséricorde
Best Love: Home Fire
Worst Shock: Small Country
Best Author: Barbara Kingsolver, John Edgar Wideman
Best Series: none
Best Read: The Poisonwood Bible

[Samantha]

Breakout Read: Station Eleven
Biggest Let Down: Bring Me Back
Best Dressed:

Best Characters: The Mars Room
Best Place: A Hundred Thousand Worlds
Best Story: Little Fires Everywhere
Best Feelings: An American Marriage
Best Love: no love
Best Shock: Every Fifteen Minutes
Best Author: Our Kind of Cruelty
Best Series: No series
Best Read: Our Kind of Cruelty

[Anastasia]

Breakout Read: The Scarlet Letter
Biggest Let Down: The House of the Spirits
Best Dressed: - Without even opening the book it causes me to ask questions. Where is she going? Why does she look so unhappy? Will it change?

Best Characters: Old Man's War
Best Place: The Bear and the Nightingale
Best Story: The Sparrow
Best Feelings:The Sparrow
Best Love: Hellbent
Best Shock:The Girl Before
Best Author: Too many to name this month
Best Series: Old Man's War and The Bear and the Nightingale

Best Read: I am having a hard time deciding.

Non-fiction The Spectrum of Hope: An Optimistic and New Approach to Alzheimer's Disease and Other Dementias- because it gave me information that is personally helpful.

Fiction - The Stars Are Legion - while not my highest rated book it deserves to have more readers. It is a LGBTQ book that fits the mainstream sci-fi reader. It has flaws, but not more than a debut novel usually has. A solid read.

[Pam]

Breakout Read: The Heart's Invisible Furies
Biggest Let Down: Bring Me Back
Best Dressed: Maisie Dobbs
Best Characters: A Gentleman in Moscow
Best Place: The Night Masquerade
Best Story: The Heart's Invisible Furies
Best Feelings: We Will Not Be Silent: The White Rose Student Resistance Movement That Defied Adolf Hitler
Best Love: Americanah
Best Shock: None
Best Author: John Boyne
Best Series: Ghost and The Night Masquerade
Best Read: The Heart's Invisible Furies

[Sarah]

Breakout Read: Children of Blood and Bone

Biggest Let Down: Red Queen

Best Dressed:

Best Characters: Tipping the Velvet (with the exception of two-dimensional Florence)

Best Place: Rom's Amazonian villa in A Company of Swans

Best Series: Empire of Ivory

Best Read: A Closed and Common Orbit

[Gail W]

Breakout Read: The Earthquake Doll
Best Dressed: The Bear and the Nightingale
Best Characters: The Heart's Invisible Furies
Best Story: The Perfume Collector
Best Feelings: A Town Like Alice
Best Author: Helene Hanff
Best Series: Mrs. Pollifax on the China Station
Best Read: Little Fires Everywhere

[Mel]

Breakout Read: Scythe
Biggest Let Down: The Perfect Mother
Best Dressed: The Poet X
Best Characters: Furyborn
Best Place: The Belles
Best Story: The Alice Network
Best Feelings: When They Call You a Terrorist: A Black Lives Matter Memoir
Best Love: Far from Home
Best Shock: Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy: Four Women Undercover in the Civil War
Best Author: Karen Russell (Vampires in the Lemon Grove)
Best Series: Saga, Vol. 3
Best Read: Spell on Wheels, Vol. 1