Goodreads Choice Awards 2013: Winners and Opinions

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The Best Books of 2013 has been announced from the Goodreads Choice Awards 2013! I was one of the 1,953,770 that voted for the award - although I haven't read most (if not all) of the books, considering I'm always one step behind in book-trends. The Fault in Our Stars is my favorite this year, but it turns out the book already won an award last year *sigh*. Anyways, I always look forward to the winners of Goodreads Choice Awards because it can give me ideas on what great books to read next - since the winners are based on readers' vote. Without further ado, here are the winners if you haven't checked them out in the website :^) *links for all the books will be included below - along with my opinions.

Winners List 

(Link & Opinion)

Best Fiction

And the Mountains Echoed by Khaled Hosseini (link)

I already pre-ordered my paperback version. Looking forward to reading it soon! I read The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns - both are awesome, so I'm hoping to be awed by this book as well. And even though I haven't read this book, I think Khaled Hosseini deserves the award.

Best Mystery & Thriller

Inferno by Dan Brown (link)

Well, I never red Dan Brown's work before, but I know that the Robert Langdon series definitely gained a whole lot of love from readers - which makes the movie adaptation possible. I'm not a big fan of mystery & thriller books, although I read some, but the hype over this book is amazing.

Best Historical Fiction

Life After Life by Kate Atkinson (link)

I've never heard of this author before, but I have a great urge to order this book on bookdepo - but I haven't. I'm still in dilemma whether I should buy it or not - because I rarely read historical fiction. I'm so in love with the cover - I guess that's the reason I'm so interested.

Best Fantasy

The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman (link)

The only book I've read by Neil Gaiman is his short story collection titled Fragile Things - which didn't really satisfy me (and the book confused me, most of the time). But I haven't read his novels so I can't make a judgement about this book. The title of this book sounds interesting, as well as the cover. It's also a pretty thin book.

Best Paranormal Fantasy

Cold Days by Jim Butcher (link)

I don't usually read this genre, but WOW this book's rating is amazing. With 4.51 rating on goodreads, this book won the paranormal fantasy category. It's the 14th book of The Dresden Files series. Fourteenth! And I think there's still more to come. Judging from the cover, I think the story involved action? Killing? Idk. But congratulations Jim Butcher, readers love your book! :)))

Best Science Fiction

MaddAddam by Margaret Atwood (link)

I'm very familiar with the name Margaret Atwood, even though I have never read any of her works before. She has received numerous awards and honorary degrees throughout her career. MaddAddam is the last book of the MaddAddam Trilogy, and I'm putting this book on my wishlist. The premise sounds interesting, and I've never read any Science Fiction befre - so I hope this can be a good experience.

Best Romance
Lover At Last by J.R. Ward (link)

J.R. Ward is a popular name among the Romance readers. Even I who rarely read this genre knows of her name. Lover At Last is the 11th book of the Black Dagger Brotherhood series - another lengthy series. According to the genre shelved by goodreads readers, this book involves vampires, paranormal romance, and erotica. So, that's a pass for me.

Best Horror

Doctor Sleep by Stephen King (link)

I'm a coward, that's why I don't dare read Stephen King's books. But I have heard of his name for so many years. Actually, I'm really interested in trying to read his work - starting from Carrie, which was adapted into a movie recently. If I can handle that one, I will probably get myself this book - along with the first book, The Shining (Doctor Sleep is the second book of this series). The cover is amazing! Absolutely love it!

Best Memoir & Autobiography

 I Am Malala: The Girl Who Stood Up for Education and Was Shot by the Taliban by Malala Yousafzai, Christina Lamb (link)

That is a long title. But judging from the title, I think it will be an inspirational story. Back in high school, my English teacher always give me fiction books that tell story about Taliban - that always torture people, especially women. And it's a never-ending war there in Pakistan. According to the book summary, Malala was shot in the head when she was 15, but she survived. And at sixteen, she became a global symbol of peaceful protest. For those who love inspirational stories, you should read this.

Best History & Biography

Jim Henson: The Biography by Brian Jay Jones (link)

I grew up watching Sesame Street as a child, I love Big Bird! And back then, I never knew the man behind those amazing characters: Jim Henson. I'm putting this book on my wishlist, since it also received a good rating; hopefully the paperback edition will be available soon.

Best Nonfiction

 The Autistic Brain: Thinking Across the Spectrum by Temple Grandin, Richard Panek (link)

We can all know from the title, this book is talking about autism. But I guess it's no ordinary talk, because the writer herself, Temple Grandin, is also autistic - but she received her Ph.D degree. In this book, she and Richard Panek will explain more thoroughly about autism - treating it symptom by symptom. I think this will be a great book for people who are interested in autism.

Best Food & Cookbooks

Tequila Mockingbird: Cocktails with a Literary Twist by Tim Federle (link)

I have no idea what to vote in this category, so I voted based on the book covers - and I voted for Bread & Wine, which has a beautiful cover with calligraphic writing for the title. But Tequila Mockingbird has a very unique title - as it teaches us how to make cocktails! I don't read cookbooks, and I also don't have much cooking skills. So, I'll pass for this one.

Best Humor

Hyperbole and a Half: Unfortunate Situations, Flawed Coping Mechanisms, Mayhem, and Other Things That Happened by Allie Brosh (link)

Phew, what's with the long title. I used to pick up English humor books from my high school's library, but back then I have a hard time understanding - probably because I couldn't relate to the humor (?), maybe. I don't know about this one, but the rating's is amazing: 4.48. I'm going to look for the e-book if there's any.

Best Graphic Novels & Comics

 Beautiful Creatures: The Manga by Kami Garcia, Margaret Stohl, Cassandra Jean (Visual Art) (link)

There's a manga for Beautiful Creatures?? That's new. I guess it's a new trend for popular YA books to be made into manga (?). The first one I knew of is Twilight; and now The Infernal Devices is also made into manga; Percy Jackson too. Maybe people are too lazy to read novels, so they prefer reading manga? Idk. It's kind of weird for me knowing these books are made into manga.

Best Poetry

The Fall of Arthur by J.R.R. Tolkien, Christopher Tolkien (link)

Knowing that this book is actually a poetry made me remove it from my wishlist. At first I was interested in this book - since it was displayed in bookdepo's brochure - especially knowing that Tolkien wrote this. The Arthurian mythology theme sounds interesting to me, but I have no intention in reading poetry for now :( But I'm happy Tolkien wins an award :^))

Best Debut Goodreads Author

Tangled by Emma Chase (link)

That kind of cover and this kind of book is certainly not my cup of tea. But the book received a lot of positive reviews on goodreads - and we have to believe the readers' opinions. Congratulations Emma Chase on your debut :^)

Best Young Adult Fiction

Eleanor & Park by Rainbow Rowell (link)

I sort of predicted this book will win the Young Adult Fiction category, because so many people are adoring this book - which made me decide to buy it, but I haven't read it yet. Certainly on the top of my to-read list in 2014. Her other book, Fangirl, is also nominated in this category - and it also received loads of love from the readers. It's also in my wishlist. Looking forward to reading it soon :))

Best Young Adult Fantasy

Allegiant by Veronica Roth (link)

I voted for this book even though I haven't read it, and my book just arrived recently from bookdepo. It's the final book of the Divergent trilogy, and I can finally read it! YAY! The wait is finally over. I have been holding my urge to read Divergent because I'm afraid of cliff-hanging situations. This series is also on the top of my to-read list. Divergent, I'm cominggg! I have to finish reading this series before the movie premiers next year^3^

Best Middle Grade & Children's

The House of Hades by Rick Riordan (link)

This isn't the first time Rick Riordan won in this category, so it's no surprise. I also got The House of Hades recently, but I still won't start reading The Heroes of Olympus series before the final book is released. My friend kept showing off that she finished The House of Hades, talking about how great it is, etc etc. Well, I guess I have to be patient.

Best Picture Books

The Day the Crayons Quit by Drew Daywalt, Oliver Jeffers (link)

What a cute title! And the cover too! Reading the book summary, it's about the crayons who quit being crayons: "Beige is tired of playing second fiddle to Brown. Blue needs a break from coloring all that water, while Pink just wants to be used. Green has no complaints, but Orange and Yellow are no longer speaking to each other.". I'm going to look for an e-book version of this. It's so cute, I can't handle x^))

That is all the winners of Goodreads Choice Awards 2013! Looking forward to the award next year, too :) Share your opinion about the winning books too ^^

by.stefaniesugia♥ .