The people’s favorite reads of 2023

At the end of each year, I await two major moments: the Goodreads Choice Awards and the Goodreads Year in Books.

The first gives readers a chance to vote on their favorite 2023 book release in 15 different categories. The second is a recap of your reads this year. While I’m still impatiently waiting for my Year in Books to be released, the choice awards have been announced.

I voted in 10 categories this year - fiction, historical fiction, romance, romantasy, fantasy, science fiction, young adult fantasy, young adult fiction, debut novel and memoir/autobiography.

Out of 10 categories, seven I voted for won in their genre. Some people find it odd I will vote for a book I haven’t read yet. This happened with three of the books I voted for this year.

The first was “Yellowface” by R.F. Kuang. This book was a Reese Witherspoon book club pick and it’s been high on my list all year. It took the top spot in fiction this year with 200,722 votes. In second was “Hello Beautiful” by Ann Napolitano with 60,171 votes.

“Yellowface” follows two authors and friends, Athena and June. While Athena has had success, June’s work has gone unnoticed. When Athena dies in a freak accident, June steals her unpublished manuscript and publishes it as her own under the ambiguous name Juniper Song.

The novel grapples with questions of diversity, racism and cultural appropriation, as well as the terrifying alienation of social media. I think this was absolutely the best choice for the 2023 fiction winner, and it’s always great to see a female POC author lifted up in the reading community.

I recently talked about “Weyward,” by Emilia Hart, a book I read with The Latest Edition Bookstore book club in October. I loved the book and its witchy vibes. The novel follows three women descendant of the same family over three periods of time. They all find ways to overcome their struggles and embrace their identity.

I voted for this novel in two categories - historical fiction and debut novel. It took the title in both. Second in historical fiction was “The Covenant of Water” by Abraham Verghese and second in debut novel was “Ink Blood Sister Scribe” by Emma Torzs.

My biggest disagreement with this year’s choice is in the romance category. For the third consecutive year, Emily Henry took the top spot with her latest novel, “Happy Place.” Last year she won with “Book Lovers” and the year prior, “People We Meet on Vacation” was the winner.

I like Emily Henry’s books. They are usually solid four-star reads for me. In 2024, she is releasing “Funny Story,” and I already know it will land at the top of the romance category next year.

But there are better books. In second place was “Love, Theoretically” by Ali Hazelwood. This book was incredible. It has a strong female lead, a kind male lead and a host of fun side characters. Hazelwood’s book has a higher rating on Goodreads, but Henry just has a bigger following. I’d like to see people branch out from Henry to try some other authors.

A new category this year, romantasy (fantasy romance) was highly necessary. In 2020, “From Blood and Ash” won the romance title, but it fits better in the romantasy category.

To absolutely no one’s surprise, “Fourth Wing” by Rebecca Yaros dominated the competition. With nearly 400,000 votes, the second place option received only 33,665. If you read fantasy or romance, you’ll enjoy “Fourth Wing.” It has dragons, romance, life-or-death stakes and an amazing cast of characters.

The fantasy winner was a shock to me as Leigh Bardugo took the win with her new novel, “Hell Bent.” The book is the second installment in her Alex Stern series, and won with 75,800 votes. I personally voted for the second-place option, “Tress of the Emerald Sea” by Brandon Sanderson.

I was just gifted the book by our news reporter Erin Henze, and I am beyond excited to read it. I am impatiently waiting for the start of the year to crack it open, but I just know it will be an instant favorite. Sanderson has a huge following and a massive collection of novels, but he personally recommended “Tress of the Emerald Sea” as a starting point to get into his writing. After finishing it, I hope to start his “Mistborn” trilogy.

I am not a big science fiction reader, but as a huge TJ Klune fan, when he released “In the Lives of Puppets,” a science fiction novel, I had to read it. I think that’s how he took the win at science fiction because he brought a lot of fantasy readers over to a new genre.

Though I didn’t love the book as much as his other standalone fantasies, it was so funny, I laughed through the whole novel. Maybe actual science fiction readers would disagree with the choice, but I enjoyed the book.

Both my young adult choices won: “Check & Mate” by Ali Hazelwood in young adult fiction and “Divine Rivals” in young adult fantasy. I haven’t read “Checkmate” yet, but it’s the only book by her I have yet to read. It’s on my short list for sure.

“Divine Rivals” is a book club read for me in December and it is so good. It’s about two competing journalists in a fantasy world in the midst of a major war. It’s definitely a book I think anyone would enjoy.

My last category was memoir/autobiography where Britney Spears’ “The Woman in Me” came first. I was a little surprised, thinking “Spare” by Prince Henry would have the win, but Spears’ came out much more recently.

I read part of “Spare” and enjoyed it, so I voted accordingly, but had no real stakes in the game. I’m excited to read “The Woman in Me.”

Though I didn’t read any in these categories, the remaining five winners are: “The Housemaid’s Secret” by Freida McFadden (mystery and thriller); “Holly” by Stephen King (horror); “Poverty by America” by Matthew Desmond (nonfiction); “The Wager” by David Grann (history and biography) and “Being Henry” by Henry Winkler (humor).

If you’re interested in any of these books, The Latest Edition Bookstore on Maple Street in Creston has had “Yellowface,” “Weyward,” “Fourth Wing,” “Happy Place,” “In the Lives of Puppets,” “Check & Mate,” “Divine Rivals,” “Spare” and “Holly.” They may not all be in stock now, but you’re sure to find a good selection of these bestsellers.