ABTP 2018 Book Awards

I always like to look back at the things that happened over the past year at the end of December, and it's no different with what I read. So this is the official start of my annual book awards, as long as this blog stays around that long. Keep in mind that I give awards to books I read in that year, not necessarily ones that were published at that time.

You can see every book I read this year at my Goodreads "read in 2018" list. You can also see all the statistics on the books I read this year on my profile.

On with the awards!

/Best Women's Fiction

award name subject to change based on the books read during that year

I would first like to give an honorary shout out to My So-Called Perfect Life by Sophie Kinsella. This was a great book that read like a movie, and perfect if you like the chick-lit thing, yet not so much that you wouldn't be able to take it. It's also written well. It almost pains me to have to say it's a runner-up; I thought this was going to win. But, I don't like ties because that defeats the purpose. The real winner is...

Big Little Lies; Liane Moriarty

Yep. Here I am, on the bandwagon. But it's good. It's really interesting, suspenseful, and has spot-on social commentary all at once. I love the three main characters and their personalities; I really like the dynamics between their kids; I love the suspense; I love the buildup to the suspense with additions of characters' conversations; I love the idea of a Hepburn/Elvis fundraiser. I love just about everything here. The only thing that disappointed me a little was how the climactic moment ended- SPOILER ALERT (highlight): it almost seemed like a total and complete accident while the book made it out to be larger. Still, if you don't like murder mysteries but like tension, this is a good one for you. This was really fun to read, and one of those books that you try to stretch out so you don't finish too quickly.

Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk; Kathleen Rooney

Not only does the MC's life encompass several decades, but the book's writing style is timeless as well. Lillian Boxfish reminds me of many a nostalgic, thoughtful narrator in books I've read in the past. While I didn't love all aspects of her (who would love all aspects of anyone?), that made her more realistic and relatable even though I'm nowhere close to 84. I should mention that the concept is also timeless. Lillian is essentially taking a walk through town remembering her life and all the events that led up to this moment, including memorable people and places. Some of her stories were more memorable than others, but what I also liked about her storytelling was that it was just pleasant to "listen to," even though it wasn't an audiobook. The style should give it at least some kind of staying power.

My So-Called Perfect Life; Sophie Kinsella

does win this one! Even while I was reading it, I was impressed with the plot structure. It's pretty character driven and our MC relies on talents and skills to get her into mishaps and to move up in the world. The subplots are also laid out really well; I love the glamping business that her family sets up and its atmosphere adds to the charm as well. The whole thing reads like a movie and I wouldn't be surprised if it became one. Just because it's "chick-lit" doesn't mean it has to be corny, dumbed down, or less of a story. For what it is, it does a great job of storytelling. 

All right. This is hard. I've read 9 suspenseful books this year, 6 of which I consider good. So after much thought, the winner is going to have to be....

The Wife Between Us

As far as thrillers go, this one kept me going with twists and turns. It's not conventional suspense, per se, but so many things were not what they seemed that it kept me on my toes and wondering what the truth actually was. I kept thinking about this book even when I wasn't immersed in the pages, particularly when a twist arrived. And it lasts throughout the entire book, too. I also never reviewed this one; it's hard to without giving anything away. Here's a quick one: read it, it's good. 

Admittedly, there was a lot here, but the biggest runner-ups would probably be Big Little Lies, Never Let You Go, and The Other Woman. 

Big Little Lies; Liane Moriarty

This was a tough one, especially because I'm not always focused on the writing itself while reading. There were several good candidates here, but based on nitpicky decision making, this one wins out. The characters are good and have personality, the plot structure clicks along well, and the suspense is done in a way that I'd never seen before, and I think it works. It reads and feels like real life, without any wordy language trying to get in the way so the author can impress you. 

Big Little Lies; Liane Moriarty

Well, look who won again! The characters here were well drawn, simply put. Everyone had a distinct personality. You have Madeline's sharp tongue, Jane's sweet demeanor, and Celeste's so-called beautiful life.  Even the kids have personality, but not to the point of being corny or having the author shoving their unique quirks in our face 24/7. They also develop well. We have women learning to stand up for themselves, women who learn they're wrong and try to move on, and a sizable cast of minor characters who are fabulously entertaining as well. So, this is a pretty clear winner to me. 

Truly Madly Guilty, Liane Moriarty

Yes, another Moriarty novel. I swear I'm just not jumping on the bandwagon! I really liked the style of this book and how it brought something new and fresh to the domestic realm. I liked how it built up to the event in question (though many readers actually didn't like this), I liked the interesting characters (Moriarty actually did her research when she made one of the characters a cellist...how fascinating!). It was so different...three different families, but who is the one who could have stopped a life-stopping incident at their barbeque? I've never heard anything like it, and that's hard in books these days. Another one I thoroughly enjoyed reading and couldn't wait to continue after I put it down.

Adulting: How to Become a Grown-Up in 535 Easy-ish Steps; Kelly Williams Brown

Out of the few...read, three... non-fiction books I read this year, this is a clear winner. It probably didn't help that the other two choices were coffee table books. But really, even if it weren't for that, this might have won anyway. This was a surprisingly fun book to read with some pretty good advice. There are a couple minor flaws (info boxes that try too hard to be funny, a surplus of advice about online dating but none about "real world" dating, etc.) ,but they can be overlooked.

And no, it's not a sign of millenials being  so "pathetic" that they need a book to tell them how to do things, because I'm sure this will be brought up eventually. Everyone needs to learn this stuff, even if you baby boomers didn't learn it from a book, and there are some advice bits I'd never thought of either. This is a great graduation gift, too. In fact, it was even marketed as such when I got it from Barnes & Noble. This is actually a really nice book and entertaining as well.

Before I announce the winner, I would like to present the nominees, aka my Top Five. These are the books I most enjoyed reading over the course of the year and were written well to boot. Keep in mind that this isn't the Oscars; if the winner doesn't win in a lot of other categories, I didn't choose it due to political correctness. It's more likely due to the fact that my awards span many categories and many books won't even be eligible for too many at once.

Big Little Lies, Liane Moriarty
The Wife Between Us, Sarah Pekkanen and Greer Hendricks
My Not-So Perfect Life, Sophie Kinsella
Truly Madly Guilty, Liane Moriarty 
Adulting; Kelly Williams Brown



And the winner is....

Big Little Lies; Liane Moriarty

Yep. This book takes the cake. It was super fun to read, and suspenseful. I was a bit shocked, because I did feel like it was flawed in places. But that's the thing about reading: a lot of it is subjective, and writers will never reach perfection. And really, the flaws WERE pretty nitpicky. A truly fun read!

I was fortunate enough not to read too many horrible books this year. However, that's not to say there weren't clunkers or misfires.

Before we get to our winner, here are some of the books I just didn't love. Runners up, if you will.

The Perfect Neighbors; Sarah Pekkanen. To be fair, a lot of this was probably a marketing issue. I was told that a woman would be stalking her ex-husband and that people had horrible secrets among other things. (The first woman walked by her husband's house once, maybe twice, and the woman with the horrible secret was sort of justified and nothing comes of it anyway.) Still, more effort would have been nice. There are three different stories told here, but they don't really have anything to do with one another. And the woman with the extra-terrible secret? Nothing comes of it. So why put her story in with the other women if it won't end up mattering? It's not a terrible book necessarily, but it was a disappointment.

The Storyteller by Jodi Picoult. UGH. I just...ugh. Do you ever read books that infuriate you so much that you actually have to keep putting it down because you couldn't take it anymore? This book had so much potential and thought-provoking discussion. And then Picoult absolutely ruined it with the romance between our MC and the justice official that she is working with, which is clearly only there because she took the first male character she saw and took it to mean that they were destined for one another. I'm not just saying this. That's the only clear reason there's a romance there! All the seriousness of their plans is brought to ruin when they do get together (I think they've seen each other like three times by that point?) and their mission to catch the bad guy who actually did pretty terrible things is filled with flirting. They don't take their goal seriously at all. Heck, they're flirting at FUNERALS. It's so inappropriate for the context of this novel, which should be centering around her grandmother's Holocaust experience and finding justice in the present. And the official's point of view wasn't something we needed either. I really didn't care about his dating life. 200 pages could easily have been cut and nothing of value would have been lost.

But there were good points. The morals were interesting, and Minka's story of the concentration camps captivated me the most by far. That itself would have been a good book. So no, it's not the worst book I read this year. But....this may be the most pointless romance I've ever seen. So much so, that it lessened the subject material, brought the book down as a whole, and I just can't take it as seriously after that. I should also mention that the final plot twist doesn't make any sense and is only there for shock value...and that's not just my speculation. It's so rushed and lacks so much explanation that it's clearly just there for shock value.



A Simple Favor; Darcey Bell. I am apparently not alone in this one. There's incest for no other reason than...including sketchy behavior I guess. The main characters are totally unlikable and stupid. There is every "missing person" cliche in the book...dumb detectives, a twin sister, and a Spanish housekeeper that keeps calling her boss "Senora." *cringe*  If you don't initially realize the climax is taken from/inspired by a movie, don't worry. The author will point this out to you. And the twist is interesting, yes. But there are no consequences for anyone, and the one character doesn't even find out about it. This book really just could have ended halfway through.

Not the worst book, because I did enjoy the blogging aspect and the initial suspense. But when I'm not sure who the villain is (and I'm supposed to know), it loses something.



And the winner is....

You Will Know Me; Megan Abbott

I'm going to get hate for this one. I'm sorry. I just don't get the hype. She gets so caught up in her wordy language that I forget what I'm reading about and have to go back. Not to mention that she had 5-6 choice phrases that she loves using again and again. This book really intrigued me about halfway through, and then it got really dull again. It didn't help that I thought it was pretty dang obvious who was behind everything, especially after one particular scene. I'm not exactly a star detective, either. It also didn't help that it didn't really have a focus. Was it about the parent relationship between star gymnast Devon and her parents? Devon who, by the way, is really boring and robotic? (Gee, it's almost like she's too boring...) Was it the thriller aspect of "who killed this person and why?" Was it about sibling rivalry (that said, I also didn't care for Devon's brother who seems to speak in riddles for some reason)? Or was it about how far parents will go to push their kids? I saw hints of that too, which could have been interesting, but there's not a lot of follow through. It's marketed as everyone being sad after someone in their community dies, but that's about all we get. 

I should also mention that this book lacks an ending too. This is a trend I don't care for. I buy and read books because I want to know what happens, not so I can invent one or "feel the tension." This might be for you if you like "book noir," per se. Otherwise I just didn't enjoy it, I'm sorry, but it wasn't for me.