My choice of the Goodreads Choice Awards nominees to read

Happy December, folks and let’s start off with how my Thrill Ride TBR went.

I made good time with Razorblade Tears(that book slaps hard enough to leave a mark!) but Just Another Missing Person turns out to more of a slow and steady ride than a fast and furious one. 

So, my overall results are one finished, one in progress and Maisie Dobbs will be a go-between for my Serious Reading challenge there. Not too bad but maybe next year, I’ll do better.

In the meanwhile, I’m not doing any major readathon reading from now until the beginning of next year yet The Goodreads Choice Awards are inspiring me to clear up some of my TBR piles before New Year’s Eve. Turns out many of the nominations come from Book of the Month Club, of which I have quite a bit on hand and no better time like the present to start those pages a-turning!

So far, I have finished The Wishing Game by Meg Shaffer, which is up for Best Fiction and Best Debut. It’s quite the gem that makes the line in You’ve Got Mail about childhood reading forming the person you’re going to be ring true.

When Lucy Hart was thirteen, she ran away to the island home of her favorite writer, Jack Masterson, creator of the Clock Island books where brave children had their wishes granted. Despite being sent back to her lonely home, she always dreamed of returning someday.

That wish has now come true as the reclusive author announces the long awaited release of the final Clock Island book and a contest where one former runaway visitor (Lucy wasn’t the only one!) will be given the one and only copy in the world to do with as they will.

Lucy is a grade school teaching assistant, trying to adopt a student of hers named Christopher, a young boy stuck in the foster care system. When her invitation to return to the island and win the book arrives, she’s thrilled at the chance to make her and Christopher’s dreams of being a family come true.

The contest does have its challenges, including a bribe from a greedy book collector and dealing with Hugo Reese, the illustrator of the Clock Island series who keeps an eye on the aged author. The greatest challenge, however, is facing a personal fear which must be done in order to win. Can Lucy summon up enough courage to do so or will she and Christopher share more mutual disappointment in life?

This is a charming story, told without resorting to overdone sentiment or cloying whimsy. Rather, Shaffer pulls off the trick of being sincerely heartfelt with her characters and even with more than one tip of the hat to Roald Dahl, gives us an original tale that weaves an emotional spell on the reader that holds long after the book is closed:

At the moment, I’m in the midst of Crystal Smith Paul’s Did You Hear About Kitty Karr?, also a double nominee for the Goodreads Awards for Best Historical Fiction and Best Debut.

When legendary actress Kitty Karr dies and leaves her vast fortune to her next door neighbors, the daughters of the St. John family who are an entertainment empire themselves, many questions arise both publicly and privately about this gesture.

As Elise St. John, who was closest to Kitty, goes through the various papers of the estate, she uncovers some hidden truths about the late Miss Karr, whose career began in the Hollywood of the 1950’s, that could still send out shockwaves that could resonate with past and present consequences to more than one generation.

The vibe of this book is family saga with touches of heartbreak and hope. So far, so good and I just know that it will make for a great miniseries someday soon:

Also hoping to get into the latest Ali Hazelwood((up for Best Romance) and Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano, a Best Fiction contender.

The latter is said to be a modern take on Little Women, told from the viewpoint of William Waters who marries into the Padavano family of four sisters, his wife Julia being the eldest.

William, despite his own situation in life, can’t help but be drawn into various familial dramas, even though his connection with Julia ends in divorce.

 As bookish sister Sylvie finds love in all the wrong places while artistic Cecilia seeks fulfillment and sensitive Emmeline does her best to nurture them all, their former brother-in-law knows he should pull back from their troubles yet there are emotional ties that still bind in more ways than one.

The word of mouth on this book has been wonderful to say the least and as a fan of Little Women, it’s great to see that American classic be reimagined for new audiences, especially on the page:

I am hoping to finish at least a couple of these before the end of the year but no hard or fixed deadline am I putting on this small set of reading. Just taking it easy as we wrap another year of books together.

The Goodreads Choice winners will be announced on December 7 and that should give us all more literary food for thought indeed. 

While it is a shame that the children's categories (along with poetry and graphic novels) were removed from contention (why not just have a separate awards for the kid’s books?), the conversation about what was the good, the bad and the poorly written for this year is worth having there.

I would like a Best Author to ReRead category myself and my vote of course would be for Jane Austen. That is one writer who stands the test of time over and over again despite never being officially recognized in her day. Something to think about as another good year of reading comes to an end and a new one begins: