the ask@AAR: Which Goodreads nominated romance would you pick?
It’s that time of year again when readers are thrilled, startled, and irritated at the picks for what is now the biggest reader poll in the world: The Goodreads Choice Awards. This year, the choices for best romance are diverse and, in some cases, puzzling.
So, let’s give it a whirl! Out of these choices, which would you pick? (Here’s a link to the survey for those who can’t access it!) And let us know what you think of the list.
Of the five I’ve read, I’d choose Beach Read, which I did think was very good. If I had my druthers, I’d choose Love Lettering by Kate Claybourn.
I voted for One to Watch, because the book is a take on the Bachelorette which I watch. It is about a plus size woman getting to be the star, but she is only doing the show for adventure and to make a point not to fall in love. I have not read it yet, because I am usually a year behind Goodreads list every year, but I have heard good things about. I love books with a unique lead heroine.
I’ve read Beach Read, Boyfriend Material, In Five Years, and I’m in the middle of reading Take a Hint, Dani Brown. I enjoyed all of the ones I’ve read and I think the Dani Brown book is cute so far. In Five Years is good. It made me cry. But, it’s not a genre romance as defined by the genre’s own rules. It’s fiction. I voted for Beach Read. (I also enjoyed Kate Clayborn’s Love Lettering, but apparently it didn’t make it.)
I suspect the Clayborn suffered from being “out of sight, out of mind”, as it was released at the very end of 2019. As I mentioned above, I think the back-end-of-the year books that get pushed into the next year’s awards are overlooked.
I loved “Love Lettering”. The hero was quite wonderful, utterly romantic and one of the most true-to-life heroes I’ve read in a long time. But, as you say, it may be timing. We’ve all probably read articles about movies and the Oscars — the reason so many movies are released in the last quarter of the year is so that they will be fresh in the mind of the Academy members when they vote.
Right now, The Boyfriend School is running neck to neck with A Rogue of One’s Own. Nothing else is close!
It would be brilliant if the Hall wins. Regardless of the process by which the books are selected, it’s a high visibility award and for a queer romance to win would be just a bit groundbreaking ;)
I’ve got eclectic taste, and none of my favorite reads ever turn up on these end of year lists. So I don’t bother with them, except to scan for titles that might possibly interest me. Right now especially I’m looking for things that don’t tax my brain much; I just can’t focus on complex plots these days. I’ve been rereading books just because I already know what happens! I’ll be very glad when the Apocalypse is over and we can all go back to normal…
The only one on the list I’ve read is Emily Henry’s “Beach Read”. I liked the premise a lot and I liked the characters, although it was a B rather than an A read for me. Like others, I don’t feel it’s fair for me to vote when I’ve not read the vast majority of the books. If the list had included Kate Clayborn’s or Mia Vincy’s latest, I’d have been torn as to which to vote for, but they aren’t there so I don’t have to make that choice.
I’m surprised by the number of commenters who’ve read so few of the books.
AAR reviewed 9 of the 15 GR nominations; and gave at least four of the titles A reviews: Hall, Stayman-London, Hibbert, and Guillory; with One to Watch by Stayman-London receiving an A+. That is pretty high praise.
I’ve read six of the AAR nine. (Not being a GR user, I’ve not heard of the 6 titles not reviewd by AAR.) I’ve at least read and enjoyed the Guillory, Henry, Dunmore, and O’Leary reviewed by AAR. Hibbert is the only A review I did not read, and have yet to read the Jimenez and Daria.
I voted for Hall’s Boyfriend Material, and I think One to Watch will make my end of year “best” lists. Titles that should have been on the list? Spoiler Alert by Olivia Dade and The Trouble with Hating You by Sajini Patel.
I was surprised the Dade wasn’t on there as well.
It might have been published too recently. There’s some loophole for books that are published in the last quarter–I think they’re eligible for next year.
True. But by this time next year, they’ll probably have been all but forgotten :(
Most of the titles are contemporary, and I don’t read a lot of that except for romantic suspense. Plus the recent contemporaries I have read have mostly gotten on my nerves with lots of manipulative friend/family drama or Big Misunderstandings solvable by a decent conversation. M/M books have worked better for me for some reason. I think it’s because the power dynamic in the relationship is slightly different and there are fewer tstl moments.
That said, perhaps the main reason is the price of the books. I rarely read books the first year they are published because of the cost, and the wait at the library is too long. Since there are so many books from previous years on my tbr list, i generally wait until I can get books on sale or at the library, or on Kindle Unlimited. So, several of the books on the GR Choice list that were reviewed here are on my TBR list, but I probably won’t read them for a while yet.
Carrie, your point about book prices is a good one – and leads to another. A very large percentage of my reading comes first from the library; but I’m fortunate to live in a community large enough that my library system is pretty quick to offer new titles – especially those published by companies large enough to invest in paper copies. That is where I read most of the titles I’ve read in the GR list. Boyfriend Material is the only title I purchased before reading.
Titles that are self-published (and the vast majority of lgbtq titles are, for example) are almost impossible to find in library systems on paper. It is getting better to find them as e-books, as fans request them, but buying e-books (or subscribing to a service like KU) is the only way to reliably read many titles.
I was thrilled when I read that Alexis Hall had been picked up by Sourcebooks . . . . Boyfriend Material is the first of his large and excellent body of work to appear in print and to be widely marketed. Let’s hope it’s success will open the doors a little wider for excellent self-published authors.
if your library has access to Hoopla, you may want to try there. They have a wide variety of books. Boyfriend Material was available there before the regular library got it.
Two on the list are still on my tbb list because of price:
The Switch
Take a Hint, Dani Brown
One I’ve already bought but it is still tbr:
Party of Two
(With a tbr list of thousands and rarely time to read more than 3 new-to-me books a week, tbr time can be years.)
The rest I haven’t heard of, or I haven’t read reviews or discussions that appeal.
I’m accustomed to none of my annual favorites ever showing up on these lists. I’ve read none of the books listed—and, with the possible exception of BOYFRIEND MATERIAL, probably won’t. My favorite book(s) of 2020, so far, has been N.R. Walker’s Missing Pieces Trilogy.
I’m planning on picking that up (the Walker) now all 3 parts are out. All I have to do is find the time…
I don’t feel comfortable voting in these types of polls because I’ve never read all of the books or usually even most of the books in any category. No matter the poll, it’s always the same, and I keep wondering what I’m actually supposed to do. Usually I just abstain from voting.
I’ve read three of the books on this list (You Had Me at Hola, A Rogue of One’s Own, and From Blood and Ash), but I wouldn’t say any of them are the best romances of 2020 for me. From the new releases, I loved Kennedy Ryan’s Queen Move and Ann Aguire’s Strange Love.
In the second round, I’ll probably vote for From Blood and Ash because it’s one of the weirder things I’ve read lately and its grassroots popularity delights and fascinates me. I mean, I couldn’t put it down but after reading the sequel, I think its world-building is at least partially inspired by a widespread American conspiracy theory…so yeah, can’t resist a compulsively readable ride to BANANAS town, haha.
I noticed that most of the books are contemporaries. I tried 4 titles, but I just couldn’t get into them. Perhaps because the characters are hanging out with friends, dating, going to restaurants, shopping, etc. Worrying about trivial things like what to wear on a date! In other words, having fairly normal lives. It reminds me that it is anything but normal now. I’d rather escape completely into a historical or fantasy or sci fi world more distanced from “real life.” My favorite book this year was KJ Charles’ The Sugared Game as I loved all the characters, the time period, the mystery, and, of course, the romance.
I always find it weird when KJ Charles is not on the list. I was glad to see Alexis Hall on there, though (finally).
The only one on the list I started to read is Boyfriend Material, and it was a DNF.
None of those. I haven’t read any of them. Unfortunately most of my year has been comfort rereads. I’m a historical fan, and I don’t see any of those up there.
Same here, my reaction is identical. Nothing on the list tempts me.
The one historical on the list (the Dunmore) was more than decent – I gave it a B+ – but not “book of the year” material. Very few historicals ever get nominated, and when they are, they’re usually big-name, big-publisher books that are frequently merely “okay”. I think Meredith Duran got a nom one year, but that’s about the only outstanding HR that’s ever been nominated as far as I can recall.
I have rarely read any of the books Goodreads picks and this year is no different. I did some write in votes for some of the other categories. I always like to see how the nominations change from the 1st to 2nd rounds because of write ins. I haven’t even read a romance this year that would qualify since they’ve all been published at least several years ago. Go figure.
What a very strange list. No Lucy Parker or Kennedy Ryan?
Same! Queen Move is one of my favorite romances published this year.
The Guillory, Daria, O’Leary, Hibbert and Hall are all good. Haven’t read One to Watch yet!
I don’t think In Five Years is a romance. Maybe it’s a love story but it’s not a romance.
So much this. It’s barely even a love story, unless you count friendship under that. I really enjoyed it, but I’m so baffled by its inclusion.
Like Carrie G and Sonia, I won’t be voting because I haven’t read any of the books listed. I am usually behind on new books unless they are by a favorite author. I did enjoy books by Julia Bennet, Charish Reid and Lisa Kleypas that I think fall under this year but I am not sure.
I won’t vote because I haven’t read any of the books on the list, although I have a couple on my tbr list. Of the few contemporary novels I read this year that were published this year, Always Only You by Chloe Liese got my highest rating, B+. It was good and handled the heroine disabilities well.
The only thing I’ve read on the list was Jennifet Armenttout’s book, and I’d guve it a B.
Put it this way: I’ll read the next installment simply because I need to know how it ends, But I have no desire to hunt down her backlist.
Why isn’t Milla Vane up there? She beats other fantasy romance books I’ve read this year by a long shot.
Genuine question – does anyone know how these titles are selected? Is it some computer-generated system based on the number of 5 star reviews or something?
I have no idea, but these kinds of “vote for your favorite” awards don’t carry much weight with me. Authors and fans are going on social media begging for votes, and there is no way to weed those votes from people who have never read the books. Since people are voting who haven’t read the books, and even more people are voting who have only read one or two of the book, there isn’t really a contest about which is a better book. It’s more of a popularity contest.
I guess since it’s called Readers Choice Award, one can argue that what’s being looked at here are the most read books, and not the best written.
Thank you for this explanation. I feel like I’m so much less confused now. Because The Goodreads Choice Awards has always baffled me. I’m allowed to vote in categories in which I’ve only read one or two books and I’m even allowed to vote in categories in which I haven’t read a single book – what is the point in that? I’ve had trouble understanding what the results are supposed to tell me when the voting process is the way it is. It’s just been so weird to me, the whole thing.
As a writer, this kind of thing gives me agita, actually. I see ‘biggest reader poll’ and I think ‘I should be engaging with Goodreads’ but the thought of one more To Do – and I know from what other authors say that it’s going to be WORK – to try to engage readers is so exhausting and discouraging I just run away. :-(
the site explained their selection process in the following manner: “We analyze statistics from the millions of books added, rated, and reviewed on Goodreads to nominate 15 books in each category. Opening round official nominees must have an average rating of 3.50 or higher at the time of launch. Write-in votes may be cast for eligible books with any average rating, and write-in votes will be weighted by the book’s Goodreads statistics to determine the top five books to be added as official nominees in the Semifinal Round.”
Yep, so it’s numbers – ratings and readership – which is what I thought. It would be impossible to do it any other way, really I suppose.
I’ve been reading a lot of Queer romance this year, and I was glad to see the Hall book. But I was upset that The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune wasn’t on the list, as it has to be the sweetest romance I’ve read this year. But when I looked further, I found it in Fantasy, so I’m satisfied. I haven’t read any of the other in Romance, so can’t judge quality.
I haven’t read any of them, in any of the categories/genres I like. I have two or three in my TBR but I won’t be reading them so soon. I won’t be voting in any either…
I think these lists are great, mostly, for years later when I do read a book from that year and I can see it was nominated or won something… :)
The Hall and the Dunmore are the only two of those I’ve read – which makes a change, because some years I haven’t ready ANY of the nominees. Or, I’ll have read one or two that I would never in a million years pick as a “best of”. But in the absence of anything by Gregory Ashe on there (!) it’s Boyfriend Material all the way :)
Alexis Hall…all day, every day and twice on Sunday.
That’s actually the only one on the list that I’ve read. And I’ve read it three times since it came out.
It’s the only one on the list I’ve read too!