Goodreads Choice Awards Book Club discussion

I was just looking at this blog post from Goodreads and thinking that several of these books will probably end up in the Choice Awards this fall. Have you read any of them? What did you think? Do you have any on your TBR shelf?

The Top 40 Hit Books of the Year (So Far)

I've only read The Sun Down Motel from the list and I really enjoyed it. I have a few others from the fiction list in my TBR, but haven't gotten around to any of them yet.

I've read three from the list:

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes - Gave it 3 stars

The Two Lives of Lydia Bird - Gave it 5 stars

Beach Read - Gave it 5 stars

I've read three from the list also:

Dear Edward - gave it 4 stars

American Dirt - gave it 3 stars

The Sun Down Motel - gave it 4 stars

I've read 18 new releases this year and am a bit surprised that more weren't on the list because I read several great (5 star) books. I think they picked the books that were popular not necessarily the "best."

There are several that I want to get to before the year ends...
The Glass Hotel
My Dark Vanessa
The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires
The Splendid and the Vile: A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz
Hidden Valley Road: Inside the Mind of an American Family
Wow, No Thank You.

Jayme wrote: "I've read 18 new releases this year and am a bit surprised that more weren't on the list because I read several great (5 star) books."

Which would you add to the list? There is still time for people to read new releases and they can always write them in if they are overlooked by Goodreads. I do that every year.

Kristie wrote: "Jayme wrote: "I've read 18 new releases this year and am a bit surprised that more weren't on the list because I read several great (5 star) books."

Which would you add to the list? There is still..."

You mean write them in when the list for voting comes out, or is there another place to do that now?

I would add:
When We Were Vikings
Real Life
The Night Watchman

Thanks. I haven't read any of those. I'll have to check them out.

I meant when the first round of voting comes out. There is no guarantee any of the books in the blog post will be in the Choice Awards. I just figured that since they're pointing them out as the most popular books of the first half of the year, some of them probably will be.

From the list, I've read only A Good Neighborhood, which I quite enjoyed, and I am currently reading The Glass Hotel, which I'm enjoying so far.

There are quite a few I want to read though. Some top ones on my TBR are:
The Splendid and the Vile: A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz
My Dark Vanessa
Uncanny Valley
Long Bright River.


There are some recently published books I've read that are not on this list, but that I think could probably make it into the Goodreads Choice Awards:
Valentine
The Girl with the Louding Voice
Deacon King Kong.

Ok I have to add one more book On the Horizon by Lois Lowry. I think this is my favorite book so far of 2020.
It is a book of poetry for middle school (high school students could read it too) that focuses on WWII as seen through Lowry's reflections as a young girl in Hawaii. I would wager money that it will win tons of awards.
I got it from the library and just went online and bought a copy for myself and for a friend and colleague who I team taught with before I retired. It's that good!

I've read Beach Read, Open Book and Don't Overthink It. All three are excellent.
I'm listening to Dear Edward. It's amazing! I plan to read a few others on the list before the end of the year: American Dirt and Get Out of Your Head.

I've read House of Earth and Blood and gave it 5 stars.
I'm planning to read Beach Read this month.
I have a few others that I marked as TBR but I think they are more maybes than anything else.