Around the Year in 52 Books discussion

Can you believe we're already 3 months into 2018?! I know I can't. But that means it's time for your next quarterly awards and what better time than during a read-a-thon?

It's time for some wrap-up of your reads. Let's give awards to them! Using your reads from January, February, March, 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 January, February, and March 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 January, February, and March.

ATY READER'S CHOICE AWARDS

Breakout Read: A book that was surprisingly good or exceeded expectations.
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo Loved this one. I had zero interest in reading it but I am so glad I did. I couldn't put it down.

Biggest Let Down: A book you thought would be brilliant but was a total disappointment.
Starvation Heights: A True Story of Murder and Malice in the Woods of the Pacific Northwest Ugh. This should have been a really interesting true crime but I had to slog my through it. What a mess.

Best Dressed: The book with the most attractive cover.
Definitely Peony in Love. I think this cover is so pretty.


Best Characters: A book with characters you couldn't get enough of.
This is a hard one. My first pick would be The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, because I couldn't wait to see what these characters were up to.
Runners up:
I Know This Much Is True, very strong character development.
Roller GirlThese characters were so real and so CUTE! My older daughter and I loved this one!
and....
The Boy on the Bridge I was rooting for the boy (Stephen)

Best Place: A book that was set in an interesting place (fictional or not).
Peony in Love I always love to read Lisa See's books. She puts so much detail into the setting and culture of China.

Best Story: A book with a great storyline.
Another toss up for me...The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo and I Know This Much Is True

Best Feelings: A book that made you really emotional.
I Know This Much Is True The relationships and struggles between these characters had me thinking for days....

Best Love: A book with a romance worth swooning for (does not have to be a romance book).
Peony in Love for a romance, and for sister love, We Have Always Lived in the Castle

Best Shock: A book that made your jaw drop in surprise.
The Good Nurse: A True Story of Medicine, Madness, and Murder OMG my jaw definitely dropped...through the whole book. And it wasn't because of the killer !

Best Author: An author whose writing you really clicked with.
Wally Lamb, one of my favorites, never disappoints
also honorable mentions to 2 authors I had never read before that I loved:
Taylor Jenkins Reid (The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo)
Victoria Jamieson (Roller Girl)

Best Series: A book from a series you either can't get enough of or can't wait to indulge in more.
I've finished 3 series this year . I'm going to have to go with The Boy on the Bridge. I was attached to Melanie in The Girl With All the Gifts, and loved Stephen in the follow up also. I did enjoy most of Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children trilogy, but can't really recommend The Maze Runner series. Most of it was complete garbage.

Best Read: The book you read in January, February and March that topped all the others.
Tough Choice. I think The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, since it was the biggest surprise for me.
Runners up
I Know This Much Is True
and
Roller Girl

ATY Q1 Reader's Choice
(It was really hard not to repeat selections, but I tried!)

Breakout Read
A book that was surprisingly good or exceeded expectations
The Broken Girls by Simone St. James
I got this one from Book of the Month Club, and I wasn't sure about it, but it was great!

Biggest Let Down
A book you thought would be brilliant but was a total disappointment
The Music Shop by Rachel Joyce
I love Rachel Joyce's other works, but this one just really fell flat.

Best Dressed
The book with the most attractive cover

An American Marriage by Tayari Jones

Best Characters
A book with characters you couldn't get enough of
Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli
Quirky, funny, sarcastic teenagers -- I have such a soft spot for them.

Best Place
A book that was set in an interesting place (fictional or not)
As Bright as Heaven by Susan Meissner
Set during WWI and the Spanish Influenza, I learned a lot about that time period through this novel.

Best Story
A book with a great storyline
The One Hundred Nights of Hero by Isabel Greenberg
This short graphic novel just told a magnificent story.

Best Feelings
A book that made you really emotional
Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman
My heart hurt for Eleanor Oliphant.

Best Love
A book with a romance worth swooning for (does not have to be a romance book)
Along the Infinite Sea by Beatriz Williams
WWII messed with some people's romances, and I'm sad about it.

Best Shock
A book that made your jaw drop in surprise
The Husband's Secret by Liane Moriarty
I love when characters seem unrelated, but their stories end up colliding in a perfect way.

Best Author
An author whose writing you really clicked with
The Light We Lost by Jill Santopolo
The metaphors and the writing just captured me.

Best Read
The book you read in January, February, and March that topped all the others
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

I have only a few awards because there's only been a handful of gems so far, and I don't want The Bear and the Nightingale spread over eight different categories.

Biggest Let Down: A book you thought would be brilliant but was a total disappointment.
Journey to the Center of the Earth.
Are you ready to travel with two of the most dramatic, incompetent proper gentlemen you've ever met? Featuring their manservant who does everything but in proper manservant fashion wouldn't dream about taking any of the credit.

Best Dressed: The book with the most attractive cover.

We Have Always Lived in the Castle.
Spooooooky.

Best Place: A book that was set in an interesting place (fictionnal or not).
The Lies of Locke Lamora.
I was never entirely on board with this book- something never quite clicked with me- but the big city built on the ruins of some ancient race's creations was really nifty. Also neat was how they stayed in the city the whole time, something typical fantasy novels rarely do.

Best Author: An author whose writing you really clicked with.
Men at Arms
This will always and forever go to Terry Pratchett, who was truly the most brilliant and hilarious writer that ever lived.

Best Read: The book you read in January, February, and March that topped all the others.
The Bear and the Nightingale
Completely swept me away. One of those books that you rampage through in an afternoon and then are left feeling upset that you didn't pace yourself.

Some of these were so difficult! I tried not to be repetitive even though a few of the great books I read so far could fit in most of these categories.

Breakout Read: The Hate U Give I rarely read YA books so I didn't intend to read this but after hearing so much about it I gave it a shot and was blown away! So perfect for the time we live in without feeling at all preachy or condescending. Seriously, this should be required reading in schools but sadly, I've heard there are actually schools that have banned it.

Biggest Let Down: The German Girl I thought this would offer a different perspective on WWII since it involved a young German girl and her family attempting to flee Berlin for Cuba but it was a big disappointment.

Best Dressed:

Best Characters: Lilac Girls It was impossible not to feel for these women and want the absolute best outcome for them after all they went through.

Best Place: The Great Alone The Alaska homestead setting was so beautifully described that I almost wanted to risk my life and visit.

Best Story: Homegoing Beautifully interwoven stories.

Best Feelings: I am such an emotional reader that several books could fit here. So as not to repeat, I'll go with A Man Called Ove which did a great job of making me laugh and cry.

Best Shock: The Murder of Roger Ackroyd There is a reason Agatha Christie is referred to as the Queen of Murder Mysteries

Best Author: Kristin Hannah She writes about complex relationships so well and is also beautifully descriptive.

Best Read: Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine When I started this book, I expected it to be just another fun British novel about quirky characters but it was so much more. I fell in love with Eleanor and even though I thought the ending was perfect, I hated saying goodbye to her.

Breakout Read: A book that was surprisingly good or exceeded expectations. Caraval - I really wasn't expecting to be that into it.
Biggest Let Down: A book you thought would be brilliant but was a total disappointment.The Golden Compass - Wasn't a good fit for me
Best Dressed: The book with the most attractive cover. Caraval - I like shiny covers
Best Characters: A book with characters you couldn't get enough of. I really liked Starr Carter in The Hate U Give. I also like Dorian in Throne of Glass series and August in Wonder
Best Place: A book that was set in an interesting place (fictionnal or not). Throne of Glass and Caraval - Oh Ready Player One - forgot about that - it was my first full read of the year
Best Story: A book with a great storyline. Ready Player One - had a lot of fun reading this book
Best Feelings: A book that made you really emotional.The Hate U Give - cried several times during this book
Best Love: A book with a romance worth swooning for (does not have to be a romance book).Wonder - felt a lot of love in the book with the family
Best Shock: A book that made your jaw drop in surprise. Ready Player One - got shocked a couple of times
Best Author: An author whose writing you really clicked with. The Hate U Give I couldn't put it down
Best Series: A book from a series you either can't get enough of or can't wait to indulge in more. I guess Caraval - I'm definitely reading the second when it comes out.
Best Read: The book you read in January, February and March that topped all the others. The Hate U Give - definitely my favorite from this quarter

Breakout Read: A book that was surprisingly good or exceeded expectations. Pachinko Not sure this is fair to put here. I didn't know much other than it was long and a family saga, so it did exceed expectations.

Biggest Let Down: A book you thought would be brilliant but was a total disappointment. The Bat Struggled through this.

Best Dressed: The book with the most attractive cover. Pashmina love the colors.

Best Characters: A book with characters you couldn't get enough of. The Chilbury Ladies Choir These were real people in a tough time.

Best Place: A book that was set in an interesting place (fictional or not). Paris in the Present Tense What's not to like about Paris?

Best Story: A book with a great storyline. The Second Mrs. Hockaday also Serena Both page turners with surprises around many corners.

Best Feelings: A book that made you really emotional. The Hate U Give So timely, so well written, so sad.

Best Love: A book with a romance worth swooning for (does not have to be a romance book). Nothing qualifies to my mind.

Best Shock: A book that made your jaw drop in surprise. . Serena When I don't want to turn the page because I know a shock is coming, it's good writing.

Best Author: An author whose writing you really clicked with. Isabel Allende One of my all time favorite story tellers.

Best Series: A book from a series you either can't get enough of or can't wait to indulge in more. . The Wicked will Rise for the Dorothy Must Die series. Love the twists and turns on the OZ story in this series. Guilty pleasure.

Best Read: The book you read in January, February, March that topped all the others. . The Second Mrs. Hockaday and The Hate U Give. Two very different books, both great reads.

Biggest Let Down: My Brilliant Friend
Best Dressed: Electric Arches
Best Characters: His Majesty's Dragon
Best Place: Six of Crows
Best Story: Homegoing
Best Feelings: Beartown
Best Shock: The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo

Breakout Read: A book that was surprisingly good or exceeded expectations. I enjoyed The Hate U Give more than expected. I appreciated the ghetto and the school Starr's. However, I did not like way it pushed the agenda of "racist cop shoots unarmed black man." I haven't followed all the stories of the men named at the end of the book, but several of them were proven to have been shot in self defense.

Biggest Let Down: A book you thought would be brilliant but was a total disappointment. The Heavenly Man by Brother Yun.

Best Place: A book that was set in an interesting place (fictionnal or not). My Side of the Mountain. The land played an important role in the book

Best Story: A book with a great storyline. Esperanza Rising

Best Feelings: A book that made you really emotional. The Family Under the Bridge..

Best Series: A book from a series you either can't get enough of or can't wait to indulge in more. A Study in Scarlet. I have read some Sherlock Holmes in the past, but looking forward to more.

Best Read: The book you read in July, August, and September that topped all the others. The Broker. It's been a while since I read a John Grisham novel, and I thought this one was well written.

Just from my ATY 2108:

Breakout Read: One of Us Is Lying. I had no expectations, so it was a nice surprise. The story is not great, but is really enjoyable.

Biggest Let Down: Orange: The Complete Collection, Volume 2. I was expecting a different solution, because what it was bothering in the first part, was still bothering me here.

Best Dressed: Wonderstruck


Best Characters: Crooked Kingdom I met these characteres in Six of Crows, and fall in love with them here.

Best Place: Wonderstruck because is full of magical places like libraries, museums and bookstores :) Or Crooked Kingdom, but without the violence.

Best Story: The Hate U Give

Best Feelings:The Sun Is Also a Star. I still smile when I remember the end :)

Best Love: Mathias and Nina from Crooked Kingdom.

Best Shock: One of Us Is Lying. I guessed who, but not why and when I knew why, I was in shock.

Best Author: Jonathan Stroud. I really enjoyed his trilogy of Bartimaeus, and now I am really enjoying with his new series Lockwood & co.

Best Series: The Hollow Boy, third in the series of Lockwood & Co. I am really enjoying the adventure and scary stories in this series.

Best Read:Crooked Kingdom .... just because I love fantasy :D

Breakout Read: A book that was surprisingly good or exceeded expectations.
Did You Ever Have a Family
Biggest Let Down: A book you thought would be brilliant but was a total disappointment.
A Beautiful, Terrible Thing: A Memoir of Marriage and Betrayal
Best Dressed: The book with the most attractive cover.

Best Characters: A book with characters you couldn't get enough of.
Beartown
Best Place: A book that was set in an interesting place (fictionnal or not).
Americanah
Best Story: A book with a great storyline.
Rebecca
Best Feelings: A book that made you really emotional.
Did You Ever Have a Family
Best Love: A book with a romance worth swooning for (does not have to be a romance book).
Nothing stands out, lots of really messed up relationships in the books I read. I appreciate the realness of Jenny Lawson's relationship with her husband in Furiously Happy: A Funny Book About Horrible Things
Best Shock: A book that made your jaw drop in surprise.
the best I can come up with is Rebecca
Best Author: An author whose writing you really clicked with.
What You Want To See
Best Series: A book from a series you either can't get enough of or can't wait to indulge in more.
What You Want To See
Best Read: The book you read in Jan, Feb, and March that topped all the others.
Did You Ever Have a Family

I can't believe we are already through 1/4 of the year!

Breakout read: This Must Be the Place
Biggest let down: Priestdaddy: A Memoir (I almost never give up,on books but I hated this one and couldn't bring myself to keep reading.
Best dressed: Unaccustomed Earth
Best characters: Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine
Best story: This Must Be the Place
Best feelings: Eleanor & Park
Best love: A Life Intercepted
Best shock: Before We Were Yours
Best author: Charles Martin
Best series: Dark in Death
Best read: I have three, Lincoln in the Bardo, Unaccustomed Earth and This Must Be the Place

Breakout Read: A book that was surprisingly good or exceeded expectations.Ready Player One
Biggest Let Down: A book you thought would be brilliant but was a total disappointment.Heart of Darkness
Best Dressed: The book with the most attractive cover.Psyched
Best Characters: A book with characters you couldn't get enough of.Ugly Love
Best Place: A book that was set in an interesting place (fictionnal or not).
Best Story: A book with a great storyline.Rage
Best Feelings: A book that made you really emotional.Dixie's Last Stand: Was It Murder or Self-Defense?
Best Love: A book with a romance worth swooning for (does not have to be a romance book).Finding Cinderella
Best Shock: A book that made your jaw drop in surprise.The Hunger Games
Best Author: An author whose writing you really clicked with.Colleen Hoover
Best Series: A book from a series you either can't get enough of or can't wait to indulge in more.Dying to Forget
Best Read: The book you read in July, August, and September that topped all the others. There were a few that I liked but none that totally knocked my socks off.

Biggest Breakout: The Liars' Club
Biggest Letdown: Theft by Finding: Diaries 1977-2002
Best Dressed: Nick Cave: Mercy on Me
Best Characters: White Teeth
Best Place: We
Best Feelings: Siddhartha
Best Love: The Sea Wolf
Best Author:Cormac McCarthy
Best Shock: Battle Royale
Best Read: To the Lighthouse and The Complete Stories both blew me away.

Categories:
Breakout Read: A book that was surprisingly good or exceeded expectations.
Daytripper a graphic novel that made me think
Biggest Let Down: A book you thought would be brilliant but was a total disappointment.
The Fact of a Body: A Murder and a MemoirI usually love this kind of book
Best Dressed: The book with the most attractive cover.
maybe not most attractive but it sure pulled me in.
Best Characters: A book with characters you couldn't get enough of.
Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine Just cheered her on

Best Place: A book that was set in an interesting place (fictionnal or not).
Martin Marten The PNW is portrayed very well
Best Story: A book with a great storyline.
The Last Ballad A powerful story with humble heroes
Best Feelings: A book that made you really emotional.
Everyone's a Aliebn When Ur a Aliebn Too A graphic novel with a big heart
Best Love: A book with a romance worth swooning for (does not have to be a romance book).
No romance I was crazy about
Best Shock: A book that made your jaw drop in surprise.
Sacred Economics: Money, Gift, and Society in the Age of Transition I never thought a book about money could be so thought provoking
Best Author: An author whose writing you really clicked with.
The Hate U Give Looking forward to more from this author
Best Series: A book from a series you either can't get enough of or can't wait to indulge in more.
Didn't read any series this quarter
Best Read: The book you read in January, February and March that topped all the others.
I'll have to say The Child Finder Maybe not as good as The Enchanted but I still loved it!

Breakout Read: Born a Crime: Stories From a South African Childhood, I expected to enjoy it, but not as much as I actually did!
Biggest Let Down: The Thrill of Falling, I had high hopes for this short story collection since I loved The Whale Rider by the same author, but all stories had something weird that bothered me.
Best Dressed: I always loved cowboys and Alana makes a wicked cowgirl
Saga, Vol. 8
Best Characters: I love Cormoran and Robin in Career of Evil
Best Place: what's not interesting about Jurassic Park?
Best Story: David Attenborough's Life on Air: Memoirs of a Broadcaster, I'm cheating a bit with this one since it's non fiction, but his is the story that interested me the most
Best Feelings: Everyone's a Aliebn When Ur a Aliebn Too, this little book touched me so much!
Best Love: Pride and Prejudice
Best Shock: Dexter's Final Cut, I wasn't expecting the end at all!
Best Author: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (Americanah), I really love her writing
Best Series: Cormoran Strike
Best Read: I'll have to go with Everyone's a Aliebn When Ur a Aliebn Too, it's such a coup de coeur

Breakout Read:The Lonely Hearts Hotel I didn't know anything about this one going into it, but it easily made my top 5.

Biggest Let Down:Danny the Champion of the World I love Roald Dahl, but not so much this one.

Best Dressed:

Best Characters:The Heart's Invisible Furies

Best Place:Apron Strings: Navigating Food and Family in France, Italy, and China Although I didn't love the China part. It was very negative compared to the other 2 sections. Very different from my experience (I live in China).

Best Story:The Heart's Invisible Furies

Best Feelings:All the Ugly and Wonderful Things

Best Love:The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry

Best Shock:Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore

Best Author:John Boyne

Best Series:The Broken Earth series: The Obelisk Gate Currently reading the third book.

Best Read: The Heart's Invisible Furies

Breakout Read: Burial Rites, by Hannah Kent
Biggest Let Down: Six of Crows, by Leigh Bardugo
Best Dressed: The Girl with Glass Feet, by Ali Shaw
Best Characters: The No.1 Ladies Detective Agency, by Alexander McCall Smith
Best Place: Neverwhere, by Neil Gaiman
Best Story: Expecting Someone Taller, by Tom Holt
Best Feelings: Burial Rites, by Hannah Kent
Best Love: The Girl with the Glass Feet, by Ali Shaw
Best Shock: The Child, by Fiona Barton
Best Author: Tom Holt
Best Series: J. W. Wells and Co series, by Tom Holt
Best Read: Burial Rites, by Hannah Kent

Breakout Read: A book that was surprisingly good or exceeded expectations.
Beartown. I generally don't enjoy sports or sports stories at all, but there was a lot more to it than that so I ended up enjoying it much more than I thought. It was a bit slow to start, but once it picked up, I was hooked.

Biggest Let Down: A book you thought would be brilliant but was a total disappointment.
Little House on the Prairie. To be fair, I wasn't necessarily expecting this to be brilliant because I found Little House in the Big Woods very boring, but this one specifically is such as classic that I decided to give it a chance anyway. I found it pretty boring too! I don't even think I would have liked it better if I'd read it when I was younger.

Best Dressed: The book with the most attractive cover.


Best Characters: A book with characters you couldn't get enough of.
Our Dark Duet, but then I knew I loved these characters from the first book.

Best Place: A book that was set in an interesting place (fictional or not).
Every Heart a Doorway

Best Story: A book with a great storyline.
Might be an odd pick, but I really liked the storyline of Tash Hearts Tolstoy, since it was pretty fresh for a YA book.

Best Feelings: A book that made you really emotional.
Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine. Very different than what I thought it would be (I was expecting something Rosie Project-ish), but it was amazing!

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

Best Shock: A book that made your jaw drop in surprise.
Nothing hugely shocking to be honest, but 99 Red Balloons had a couple of twists that I didn't predict.

Best Author: An author whose writing you really clicked with.
Julie Murphy, Kathryn Ormsbee and Seanan McGuire

Best Series: A book from a series you either can't get enough of or can't wait to indulge in more.
Every Heart a Doorway. Any other book I read from a series was to finish the series off, so this one kind of wins by default but it also deserves it.

Best Read: The book you read in January, February and March that topped all the others.
Tough choice. I think I'd have to go with Our Dark Duet

Breakout Read: A book that was surprisingly good or exceeded expectations.
Places No One Knows. A friend recommended this to me, and I wasn't entirely sold based on the summary, but this one really surprised me with how attached I got to the characters, and how well the magic realism-y elements worked with the plot itself.

Biggest Let Down: A book you thought would be brilliant but was a total disappointment.
The Other Einstein. This one started out really fabulous and just slowly unraveled and wound up being a total letdown for me both in terms of characterization and plot.

Best Dressed: The book with the most attractive cover.

The purples, the burnt edges, the bonfire...this cover has amazing aesthetics.

Best Characters: A book with characters you couldn't get enough of.
Midnight Blue-Light Special. Seanan McGuire is the queen of crafting amazing and really out there characters that you just root for and want to read tons about. When a book makes you love even its mice, you know it's a winner.

Best Place: A book that was set in an interesting place (fictional or not).
Beneath the Sugar Sky. I absolutely love the settings in the Wayward Children books; they're so whimsical and dark and unique, and the worlds really come to life on the page. Would definitely love to visit some of these places if I could.

Best Story: A book with a great storyline.
The Broken Girls. I was worried about how the author was going to intertwine the two storylines she had going on, but she did an amazing job of connecting them and making both really intricate and thrilling.

Best Feelings: A book that made you really emotional.
I read a surprising amount of feelsy books these past few months, so this is a tough one. I'm gonna go with After the Fall because I really empathized with the main character Raychel and what she went through in the book.

Best Love: A book with a romance worth swooning for (does not have to be a romance book).
The romance between Ivy and Connor in Wild Swans was really adorable.

Best Shock: A book that made your jaw drop in surprise.
Affinity. That ending completely caught me off guard in the best way.

Best Author: An author whose writing you really clicked with.
Jacqueline Woodson. I read Another Brooklyn at the end of March, and fell in love with her poetic prose. Definitely looking forward to reading more of her works in the future.

Best Series: A book from a series you either can't get enough of or can't wait to indulge in more.
Never Fade. I really love Alexandra Bracken's Darkest Minds series; they're one of the darker and more well-crafted dystopian series I've come across over the years. I'm really excited to read book 3 of this series.

Best Read: The book you read in January, February, and March that topped all the others.
This is a hard one because I read quite a few that were amazing, but I have to go with Girls Made of Snow and Glass because it was so well crafted and had such amazing female relationships. Plus, feminist fairytale reimaginings always win me over. <3

Breakout Read: A book that was surprisingly good or exceeded expectations.
Sunburn My first book by Laura Lippman and I'll definitely read more. A fun thriller.

Biggest Let Down: A book you thought would be brilliant but was a total disappointment.
The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins
Too long and repetitive. Good writing though.

Best Dressed: The book with the most attractive cover.
by Keri Hulme

Best Characters: A book with characters you couldn't get enough of.
The Chilbury Ladies' Choir - Jennifer Ryan

Best Place: A book that was set in an interesting place (fictional or not).
Burial Rites - Hannah Kent
Set in the bleak, unforgiving landscape of Iceland.

Best Story: A book with a great storyline.
Burial Rites

Best Feelings: A book that made you really emotional.
Everything Here Is Beautiful - Mira T. Lee
A story about coping with mental illness.

Best Love: A book with a romance worth swooning for (does not have to be a romance book).
The Chilbury Ladies' Choir

Best Shock: A book that made your jaw drop in surprise.
Bel Canto - Ann Patchett
Not exactly a shock, but suddenly something happened and it was jarring.

Best Author: An author whose writing you really clicked with.
Mira T. Lee Her debut novel was emotional.

Best Series: A book from a series you either can't get enough of or can't wait to indulge in more.
The Brutal Telling - Louise Penney
Part of the Chief Inspector Armand Gamache series

Best Read: The book you read in January, February and March that topped all the others.
Burial Rites, Everything Here Is Beautiful, The Chilbury Ladies' Choir

Breakout Read: A book that was surprisingly good or exceeded expectations.
They Both Die at the End. I just read this book because I got it on discount from the kindle store and I ended up enjoying it more than I had expected to.

Biggest Let Down: A book you thought would be brilliant but was a total disappointment.
Pachinko. Everyone seemed to be raving about this book so my expectations were high. It actually started out great too but from about midway, it started to go downhill.

Best Dressed: The book with the most attractive cover.
. The 75th anniversary edition's cover is so pretty!

Best Characters: A book with characters you couldn't get enough of.
Gone with the Wind. You know the character development is good when after listening to 49 hours of the book on audio, you still want more of the characters.

Best Place: A book that was set in an interesting place (fictionnal or not).
Shadow and Bone. I'm interested to read more books in this series to further explore the world .

Best Story: A book with a great storyline.
Gone with the Wind hands down.

Best Feelings: A book that made you really emotional.
And Every Morning the Way Home Gets Longer and Longer. I read this at the airport and I became a sobbing mess.

Best Love: A book with a romance worth swooning for (does not have to be a romance book).
Me Before You

Best Shock: A book that made your jaw drop in surprise.
Magpie Murders. This one was actually only moderately shocking. I didn't read very shocking books this quarter.

Best Author: An author whose writing you really clicked with.
Fredrik Backman. His writing is so beautiful and emotionally stirring.

Best Series: A book from a series you either can't get enough of or can't wait to indulge in more.
The Doll's House. The second volume in The Sandman graphic novel series. Neil Gaiman never disappoints.

Best Read: The book you read in July, August, and September that topped all the others.
And Every Morning the Way Home Gets Longer and Longer

Breakout Read: Still Me by Jojo Moyes
Biggest Let Down: The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas. Don't get me wrong, it was a good book. I just wasn't as blown away as I expected to be.
Best Dressed:

Best Characters: Hidden Bodies by Caroline Kepnes. Mainly just for Joe.
Best Place:Force of Nature by Jane Harper. Harper always creates great atmosphere and the setting is a character in itself.
Best Story: The Wife Between Us by Greer Hendricks
Best Feelings: Still Me by Jojo Moyes
Best Love: Still Me by Jojo Moyes
Best Shock: The Wife Between Us by Greer Hendricks
Best Author: Colleen Hoover
Best Series: The Whispering Room by Dean Koontz. I wasn't thrilled with the first novel but this one really got the series going.
Best Read: Still Me by Jojo Moyes

Breakout Read: A Tale of Two Cities
I've been reading to read more Dickens for years, but was totally intimidated. I'd read this in 7th grade, but wanted to give it another chance, and it blew me away this time.

Biggest Let Down: Heather, the Totality
I expected a book written by the creator of Mad Men to be amazing, and it just wasn't good at all.

Best Dressed: The Food Explorer: The True Adventures of the Globe-Trotting Botanist Who Transformed What America Eats

Probably because yellow is one of my favorite colors + I love food.

Best Characters: How to Love
I just feel like the motivations & the actions of the characters were really realistic & relatable.

Best Place: American Fire: Love, Arson, and Life in a Vanishing Land
I feel like this book really portrayed eastern shore Virginia. It made the setting so much a part of the story.

Best Story: The Count of Monte Cristo
1276 pages but the plot just drove it. So glad I finally read it.

Best Feelings: Missoula: Rape and the Justice System in a College Town
It's hard to call this "best feelings," but it made me cry, with anger. It definitely brought out the most feelings for me.

Best Love: Love, Life, and the List
Gotta go with my favorite YA romance author.

Best Shock: The Fact of a Body: A Murder and a Memoir
Mostly I was just shocked/disgusted/horrified that the people in the book had to go through what they did.

Best Author: Kate Atkinson for Life After Life
I loved the writing, and the structure of this novel.

Best Series: None

Best Read: The Count of Monte Cristo

Breakout Read: A book that was surprisingly good or exceeded expectations. The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian and The Hate U Give. I rarely read YA books, so these were a nice surprise.

Biggest Let Down: A book you thought would be brilliant but was a total disappointment. I Feel Bad about My Neck: And Other Thoughts on Being a Woman. I was told this was very witty. It wasn't.

Best Dressed: The book with the most attractive cover. The Plague of Doves

Best Characters: A book with characters you couldn't get enough of. Middlesex. They're a little wacky, but I really like them.

Best Place: A book that was set in an interesting place (fictional or not). Middlesex (Smyrna Greece/Turkey) and Americanah (Nigeria)

Best Story: A book with a great story line. Middlesex

Best Feelings: A book that made you really emotional. - None for this group of books.

Best Love: A book with a romance worth swooning for (does not have to be a romance book). Written in My Own Heart's Blood I love the Jamie and Clair romance.

Best Shock: A book that made your jaw drop in surprise. - None this time.

Best Author: An author whose writing you really clicked with. Louise Erdrich for the Plague of Doves, and Jeffrey Eugenides for Middlesex

Best Series: A book from a series you either can't get enough of or can't wait to indulge in more. Written in My Own Heart's Blood.

Best Read: The book you read in January, February, March that topped all the others. I've had a lot of good reads for these three months, but I think I'll pick Middlesex

Breakout Read: A book that was surprisingly good or exceeded expectations.
The Shadow of the Wind. Honestly, I expected to dislike it and picked it only because I couldn't find a better idea. Finally, I gave it 5 stars.

Biggest Let Down: A book you thought would be brilliant but was a total disappointment.
Last Sacrifice. I didn't expect it to be brillant, but it's my worst rating in the series, I was so happy when I finished the book...

Best Dressed: The book with the most attractive cover.
(I like both editions)

Best Characters: A book with characters you couldn't get enough of.
Alex, Approximately

Best Place: A book that was set in an interesting place (fictionnal or not).
Where the Waters Turn Black, Polynesian setting.

Best Story: A book with a great storyline.
The Queue, well done dystopia, told in an interesting way.

Best Feelings: A book that made you really emotional.
Orange, vol 1 to 5

Best Love: A book with a romance worth swooning for (does not have to be a romance book).
Alex, Approximately

Best Shock: A book that made your jaw drop in surprise.
Stunned (sadly it wasn't a good surprise for a 2nd book and I DNFed it)

Best Author: An author whose writing you really clicked with.
William Sleator with his The Green Futures of Tycho, time travel and its consequences were easy to follow, plus it was compelling.

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

Best Read: The book you read in January, February, March that topped all the others.
The Shadow of the Wind

Breakout Read: Dune. It was on my list but I did not expect to like it much. It was amazing. I could not put it down!

Biggest Let Down: Me Talk Pretty One Day - this was on the Amazon 100 best books, it was supposed to be funny and I love humor. It was not funny - I found Sedaris mean, whiny and boring.

Best Dressed: The book with the most attractive cover.
- such an inspiring cover of confident women

Best Characters: The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. I loved Ichabod Crane. Such a comic character.

Best Place: The Lost City of the Monkey God: A True Story - arcitectural expedition into a deadly, undiscovered jungle in Eastern Honduras. As exotic locale as they come.

Best Story: A book with a great storyline.
The Fifth Season - great unconventional fantasy.

Best Feelings: A book that made you really emotional.
None of my reads were very emotion provoking.

Best Love: None were really romantic, but the The Fifth Season has a great unconventional love story.

Best Shock: Money Shot had a few surprises I did not expect.

Best Author: Neil Gaiman. He is creative and weird yet feels familiar

Best Series: Currently reading The Broken Earth series from N.K. Jemisin. So good. Loving it. The Fifth Season

Best Read: American Gods. So amazing. I will be re-reading it. Great blend of fantastical and real.

Breakout Read

The Mad Scientist's Daughter by Cassandra Rose Clarke

It completely blew me away with awesomeness...why did I keep bumping it down the TBR pile?

Biggest Let Down

Behind Her Eyes by Sarah Pinborough

The ending is the big marketing hype (#wtfthatending) but when it was finally revealed I was just like, "Are you freakin' kidding me?" So. Stupid.

Best Dressed

Paradise City by Elizabeth Day

All those swirly pretties!

Best Characters

Elizabeth Is Missing by Emma Healey

As I said in my review: "... a protagonist that I just wanted to hug and serve a cup of tea."

Best Place

An Unkindness of Ghosts by Rivers Solomon

The world building in this book is awesomely mind-boggling.

Best Story

The Last to See Me by M. Dressler

The story - narrated by a ghost - is so immersive that I found the book unputdownable.

Best Feelings

Borne by Jeff VanderMeer

I laughed. I cried. All the feels.

Best Love

Stray City by Chelsey Johnson

Not really a love story but definitely about romantic relationships. I loved this book so hard.

Best Shock

The Stars Are Legion by Kameron Hurley

Talk about unreliable narrators! And what a f-ed up twisted world. Woa.

Best Author

Sofia Samatar, author of The Winged Histories

I concluded my review of this book thusly: "Sofia Samatar, I love you."

Best Series

Vigil by Angela Slatter

Verity is so sassy and clever and witty. I wanna hang out with her and drink a long black.

Best Read

The Winged Histories by Sofia Samatar

Gorgeous writing. Phenomenal world building. Spectacular characters. Amazing story. LoveX1000.

Breakout Read:


Biggest Let Down:


Best Dressed:


Best Characters:


Best Place:


Best Story:


Best Feelings:


Best Love:


Best Shock:


Best Author:


Best Series:


Best Read:

I am so behind with my reading, and completely forgot about this part of the challange! I only read 8 books for this challange (15 in total) from January - March so I had to leave some catergories blank :-(

Categories:

Breakout read: A book that was surprisingly good or exceeded expectations.
Unfortunately none.

Biggest Let Down: A book you thought would be brilliant but was a total disappointment.
None here either which is good.

Best Dressed: The book with the most attractive cover.The Joy Luck Club
This was the cover mine has, but many of the additions have beautiful covers

Best Characters: A book with characters you couldn't get enough of.The Bat I'm very interested to see how Harry Hole develops as a character (the other characters that were interesting will not be in future books for various reasons, mostly messy!)

Best Place: A book that was set in an interesting place (fictionnal or not).In My Father's Den set in New Zealand

Best Story: A book with a great storyline.The Memory Keeper's Daughter I've never read a book with a story that was similar ( though I'm sure there were many copycats that came later)

Best Feelings: A book that made you really emotional.
None - I'm dead inside ;-)

Best Love: A book with a romance worth swooning for (does not have to be a romance book).
Glad to say none ( I'm not fond of swooning as a pastime )

Best Shock: A book that made your jaw drop in surprise.
Disappointed but none here either.

Best Author: An author whose writing you really clicked with.The Daughter of Time Josephine Tey

Best Series: A book from a series you either can't get enough of or can't wait to indulge in more. Will definitely read more about Harry Hole (see above) and Inpector Grant ( Daughter of Time) but also liked Lord Peter Wimsey Whose Body?

Best Read: The book you read in Jan-March that topped all the others. I finished it on April 1st so I shouldn't really include it but I mostly read it in the time frame and it will probably be my best read of the whole year One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

Biggest Breakout: Kindred
Biggest Letdown: Soulless
Best Dressed:

Best Characters: The Virgin
Best Place: The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel, How They Communicate – Discoveries from a Secret World
Best Story: Dark Matter
Best Feelings: Dark Matter
Best Love: The Virgin
Best Shock: Rebecca
Best Author: Dark Matter
Best Series: The Virgin
Best Read: Dark Matter