Goodreads has opened voting for the annual Goodreads Choice Awards! Since 2009, “the only major book award decided by readers” has celebrated the year’s best books in categories including Fiction, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Horror, and Graphic Novels & Comics, and this year many titles from both Tor and Tor.com have been honored with nominations!
Best Fantasy Books
- All the Birds in the Sky by Charlie Jane Anders
- The Bands of Mourning by Brandon Sanderson
- A Gathering of Shadows by V. E. Schwab
- Stiletto by Daniel O’Malley
- Magic Binds by Ilona Andrews
- The Curse of Tenth Grade by Darynda Jones
- The Obelisk Gate by N.K. Jemisin
- The Bird and the Sword by Amy Harmon
- Fire Touched by Patricia Briggs
- Harry Potter and the Cursed Child by J.K. Rowling
- Marked in Flesh by Anne Bishop
- Feverborn by Karen Marie Moning
- Staked by Kevin Hearne
- Age of Myth by Michael J. Sullivan
- The Paper Menagerie by Ken Liu
Best Science Fiction Books
- Death’s End by Cixin Liu
- Too Like the Lightning by Ada Palmer
- Sleeping Giants by Sylvain Neuvel
- The Long Cosmos by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter
- Morning Star by Pierce Brown
- Remanence (Confluence, #2) by Jennifer Foehner Wells
- Underground Airlines by Ben H. Winters
- Dark Matter by Blake Crouch
- Star Nomad by Lindsay Buroker
- Lies, Damned Lies, and History (The Chronicles of St Mary’s, #7) by Jodi Taylor
- A Murder in Time (Kendra Donovan, #1) by Julie McElwain
- Written in Fire (Brilliance Saga #3) by Marcus Sakey
- Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen (Vorkosigan Saga, #16) by Lois McMaster Bujold
- Bloodline by Claudia Gray
- The Last One by Alexandra Oliva
Best Horror Books
- Over Your Dead Body by Dan Wells
- The Ballad of Black Tom by Victore LaValle (Tor.com)
- The Butterfly Garden by Dot Hutchison
- The City of Mirrors (The Passage, #3) by Justin Cronin
- Mr. Splitfoot by Samantha Hunt
- The Fireman by Joe Hill
- The Visitor (Graveyard Queen, #4) by Amanda Stevens
- Kill Switch (Joe Ledger, #8) by Jonathan Maberry
- The Nightmare Stacks (Laundry Files, #7) by Charles Stross
- Ink and Bone by Lisa Unger
- Fellside by M.R. Carey
- Lovecraft Country by Matt Ruff
- Extinction End (The Extinction Cycle, #5) by Nicholas Sansbury Smith
- Grunge (Monster Hunter Memoirs, #1) by John Ringo and Larry Correia
- A Time of Torment (Charlie Parker, #14) by John Connolly
Best Graphic Novels
- orange by Ichigo Takano (Seven Seas)
- The Vision, Volume 1: Little Worse Than A Man by Tom King
- Monstress, Volume 1: Awakening by Marjorie M. Liu
- DC Universe: Rebirth #1 (DC Universe: Rebirth 2016, #1) by Geoff Johns
- Rat Queens, Vol. 3: Demons by Kurtis J. Wiebe
- Rosalie Lightning: A Graphic Memoir by Tom Hart
- Adulthood Is a Myth (Sarah’s Scribbles, #1) by Sarah Andersen
- Lumberjanes, Vol. 3: A Terrible Plan by Noelle Stevenson
- The Wicked + The Divine, Vol. 3: Commercial Suicide by Kieron Gillen
- Ghosts by Raina Telgemeier
- Dark Night: A True Batman Story by Paul Dini
- Saga, Volume 6 by Brian K. Vaughan
- Patience by Daniel Clowes
- Paper Girls, Vol. 1 by Brian K. Vaughan
- Ms. Marvel, Vol. 5: Super Famous by G. Willow Wilson
Congratulations to all the nominees! You can see all of the categories, cast your votes, and get more information over at Goodreads, or by clicking the category headings above.
Something the Goodreads system doesn’t make entirely clear (unless you dig into the specifics of the rules), this first round is a NON-ELIMINATION ROUND. In fact, it’s the opposite. For the next round, the highest-nominated WRITE-IN books get added to the poll, and then voting starts to matter, because the lowest-voted will be eliminated in the next round.
So if you don’t like this list of books, write-in your favorites.
Your list of Best Fantasy nominees missed Seanan McGuire’s Every Heart a Doorway. Which is also a fine Tor.com publication.
So I can’t vote now
The best book I read this year was
The night John Lennon died and so did John Dow
By Louisa Burns/Bisongo
What happened to one of the best selling books of the year–KILLING THE RISING SUN? I thought it was the best accounting of WWll in the Pacific I have ever read!!! Susan Campbell, Midland MI
Extinction End (from the Extinction Cycle Series) is so awesome!!!!! The Author is the best and “Nicholas Sansbury Smith” is on a roll. A couple of new series are coming out this next year and for everyone out there, if you love HORROR or just haven’t given it much thought, then give Nick a try. To me his “Extinction Series” just rocks, with a couple of new series coming out. “Hell Divers” for which the first book if out and is something that you don’t want to put down until the last page (he’s working on #2). Then his next new series is “Trackers”, which the first book to that series will be out soon. Come on folks, Winter is Coming (at least for me here in Northeast Wisconsin) and what better way then to curl up with some great books and wait for Spring. These books will definitely keep you warm and if your not a fan already, you may find a new reading genre. Don’t forget to also check out Nick’s website “nicholassansburysmith.com” See you there…
The best book I read this year was Bernie Sanders “Our Revolution”. Even if your not a Bernie follower, it’s an interesting look at how politics works in the US.
Annie DeWitt, “White Nights in Split Town City.”
This is the finest novel written in decades and it’s sad that no one there has read it or mentioned it.
I happened to read a good one called “Delivery”, by Tom David. It caught me a bit off guard, as I read it on a whim and ended up really enjoying it.
The Constitution of the Tunisian Republic: Unofficial Translation by Med-Ali Mekki.
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child by J.K. Rowling
A Gentleman in Moscow by Towles is my best read of 2016. Brilliant writing, interspersed with both philosophy and history, and excellent characterization. Count Rostov is a man for the ages – a most memorable character.
1. Mornings in Jenin by Susan Abulhawa
2. The Girl Who is worth 100 cows by Elisa Divoux
3. Cry the Beloved country by Alan Paton
4. Survival in the Killing Fields by Haing Ngor
5. Eileen by Ottessa moshgegh
6. The Ballroom by Anna Hope
7. The secret wife by Gill Paul
8. The Pearl that Broke its shell by Nadia Hashimi