Around the Year in 52 Books discussion

The fourth quarter of the year has come to a close now. Just like last time, lets hand out some awards for the books that we loved in the 4th quarter. If you didn't get to participate in the first quarter, you still can right over here, the 2nd is here and the 3rd, here.

It's time for some wrap-up of your reads. Let's give awards to them! Using your reads from October, November, and December, 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.

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 October, November, and December 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 October, November, and December.

Breakout Read: Meddling Kids
Biggest Let Down: The Invisible Man This was so blah and I was surprised given how well-known it is.
Best Dressed: It's a tie between and
Best Characters: Delilah Dirk and the Turkish Lieutenant
Best Place: Sourdough
Best Story: If We Were Villains
Best Feelings: Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI (not for being "emotional" in the sense of weepy, but in the sense of moral outrage at unpunished atrocities
Best Love: n/a
Best Shock: n/a
Best Author: Robert Moor
Best Series: A Superior Death
Best Read: Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI

Breakout Read: A book that was surprisingly good or exceeded expectations.
Seconds! I didn't expect much from it, but once I started it, I was hooked!

Biggest Let Down: A book you thought would be brilliant but was a total disappointment.
Beloved. I mean, I didn't hate it or anything, but I found it a bit confusing at times.

Best Dressed: The book with the most attractive cover.


Best Characters: A book with characters you couldn't get enough of.
The Raven Boys!

Best Place: A book that was set in an interesting place (fictional or not).
A Court of Thorns and Roses. I love the idea of the different courts, and I want to find out more about them.

Best Story: A book with a great storyline.
Daughter of Smoke & Bone

Best Feelings: A book that made you really emotional.
Goodbye Days, although I still find part of the whole premise behind the plot really weird.

Best Love: A book with a romance worth swooning for (does not have to be a romance book).
Delilah and Oliver in Between the Lines and Off the Page, in an adorable fairy-tale kind of way.

Best Shock: A book that made your jaw drop in surprise.
And the Trees Crept In

Best Author: An author whose writing you really clicked with.
Maggie Stiefvater

Best Series: A book from a series you either can't get enough of or can't wait to indulge in more.
The Raven Boys. With A Court of Thorns and Roses and Daughter of Smoke & Bone in a close second.

Best Read: The book you read in October, November, and December that topped all the others.
The Raven Boys

Breakout Read: A book that was surprisingly good or exceeded expectations.
To Say Nothing of the Dog (thanks to several members for the recommandation!)

Biggest Let Down: A book you thought would be brilliant but was a total disappointment.
I could pick Jane Eyre but regarding my tastes, I didn't expect to enjoy it, so I'll use Dinosaurs Before Dark.

Best Dressed: The book with the most attractive cover.


Best Characters: A book with characters you couldn't get enough of.
To Say Nothing of the Dog

Best Place: A book that was set in an interesting place (fictionnal or not).
We Have Always Lived in the Castle

Best Story: A book with a great storyline.
The Language of Thorns: Midnight Tales and Dangerous Magic

Best Feelings: A book that made you really emotional.
Saints and Misfits. It was a stressful read at some points.

Best Love: A book with a romance worth swooning for (does not have to be a romance book).
Fire Sea (well, it's a bromance, but I swoon so much when I re-read the series, that I'll count it).

Best Shock: A book that made your jaw drop in surprise.
Locke & Key, Vol. 1: Welcome to Lovecraft (all the series)

Best Author: An author whose writing you really clicked with.
Sarah Addison Allen, with Garden Spells.

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

Best Read: The book you read in October, November, and December that topped all the others.
To Say Nothing of the Dog

Breakout Read: The Great Gatsby
Biggest Let Down: After You
Best Dressed:

Best Characters: Origin
Best Place: Titanic: Uncovering the Secrets of the World's Greatest Shipwreck
Best Story: Origin
Best Feelings: Origin
Best Love: A Gift from Bob: How a Street Cat Helped One Man Learn the Meaning of Christmas
Best Shock: Good as Gone
Best Author: Dan Brown
Best Series: Origin
Best Read: Origin

Breakout Read: The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane - Lisa See

Biggest Let Down:

Best Dressed:


Best Characters: Great Expectations - Charles Dickens

Best Place: The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane

Best Story:Great Expectations

Best Feelings:The Tea Girl of Hummingbird Lane

Best Love:

Best Shock: The Return of the Soldier - Rebecca West

Best Author: Lisa See

Best Series:

Best Read: Great Expectations

Breakout Read: Other than Harry Potter I'd say Frankenstein
Biggest Let Down: In a Dark, Dark Wood
Best Dressed:
Best Characters: Harry Potter books 2 and 3 and I finished up the Lunar Chronicles at the beginning of the quarter.
Best Place: Duh Hogwarts
Best Story: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Best Feelings: A Monster Calls
Best Love: I think this is a none for last quarter
Best Shock: Big Little Lies
Best Author: J. K. Rowling
Best Series: Harry Potter
Best Read: Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

Other than Harry Potter, Frankenstein, Big Little Lies and A Monster Calls my quarter was kind of lackluster.

Breakout Read:. The Scarlet Pimpernel

Biggest Let Down: I Know I Am, But What Are You?

Best Dressed:


Best Characters: Wonder Woman: Warbringer

Best Place: The Language of Thorns: Midnight Tales and Dangerous Magic

Best Story: If We Were Villains

Best Feelings: Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body

Best Love: Coming Up for Air

Best Shock:
Forest of a Thousand Lanterns

Best Author: Brit Bennett.

Best Series: The Trespasser

Best Read: The Language of Thorns: Midnight Tales and Dangerous Magic