Every year Goodreads hold a Goodreads choice award where the members get to vote on their favourite books that has been published during the year out of a selection of books. I’m usually not very up to date on reading these so I very seldom partake in the voting myself because it doesn’t seem fair if I haven’t read any or only one or two in a category.
The books picked out for the nominations this year are books published in the USA between November 15th 2025 and November 10th 2026 and has an average rating of 3,5 or higher at the time of the nomination going live.
Lets take a look in the different fiction categories and see what I’ve read, what has been on my radar since before and if something has caught my eye.
In the Fiction category, I’ve read Yesteryear and gave it 3 stars. I’ve seen at least 7 of these being popular in magazine mentioned and picked by popular books clubs (like Reese’s Book Club and Read With Jenna). I haven’t decided yet if there are any I’d like to prioritise reading from this category, this isn’t typically my genre of choice so I’m a bit picky with what I want to pick up – unless I’ve gotten in my head to do some reading challenge.
In the Historical Fiction category, I’ve read Peck & Peck and gave it 3,75 stars. I might write a separate review of this one. Here, I’ve had my eyes on A Pair of Aces and The Calamity Club. Some of the covers here intrigue me so I think I could pick up a couple more.
I haven’t read any in the Mystery & Thriller category, thriller is not a genre I read much of but I like the idea of it. Mystery, I read a lot of older books so perhaps I should take a look at the newer ones as well. I could see myself look closer at a couple but I don’t know which one I want to try yet, perhaps The French Illusion?
I was suprised to see that I hadn’t read any in the Romance category, but upon closer reflection I’ve perhaps mostly read books that people talked a lot about last year. I think I might have had Love Song at home from the library during the summer but didn’t get to it before I had to return it. I’ve wanted to try to read something from Abby Jimenez, Carley Fortune and also perhaps Kennedy Ryan that are all in the list, but at least the Jimenez and Ryan picks are not the first in a series (even though they might be independent books) so I would possibly want to start with other books than these. I’ve seen Bad Words around a lot but I’m not super eager to read it after hearing that it might be more fiction than romance genre wise?
I haven’t read any in the Romantasy category either. I own A Court of Splintered Harmony and will read it after I refresh my memory of what happens in the previous books. I’m interested in reading Broken Dove since I liked the first book in the series and probably Threshing Day after I read Onyx Storm. I did have Brimstone at home from the library but got stuck in the Prolog chapter and decided that I perhaps wasn’t that interested in reading it after all, the first book was a 3 star read (I think it was quite captivating to read but I had some problem with something?). There are quite a few books here that are series books that isn’t the first book in the series and there I think I might tryout the first books in the series to see if it’s something I want to continue.
Fantasy is usually one of my most read genres (if I would make a guess) but I’m usually not so good at picking them up quick. There are a lof of books I’ve never heard of here, and I haven’t read any of the nominees. I’ve haf my eyes on The Poet Empress for a while and I added Fishbone Cinderella to my TBR (to be read) after reading the synopsis, I was called by the Cinderella in the title.
Next up, Science Fiction! I haven’t read any of the nominees and didn’t have any previously on my radar. Maybe I’ll give Seek the Traitor’s Son a try since I like the Divergent series.
In the Horror category, I’m surprised myself that I’ve been eyeing two of them since it’s not really a genre I read. I still have to look a little closer at them to really know if I want to read them. Kiss Slay Replay sounds a bit similar to Konferensen that we read in the university book circle we read a while back (not a favourite so maybe this won’t be either?). The other one is Fabulous Bodies, that people say is funny so I’m a little interested.
Next is Young Adult Fantasy & Sci-Fi. I recently read The Sixth Faction and really liked it! Otherwise there aren’t really any books I’ve read or previously been interested in. Maybe I’ll look a little closer at Marie Lu’s Mortal Things.
And lastly Young Adult Fiction. Another category where I haven’t read anything and haven’t had any on my radar. I do have the first Heartstopper book at home from the library, if I like it I might read the sixth (that is nominated) also.
(I’m skipping going through the Debut Novel and Audiobook categories because a lot of the books are already in the other categories and I don’t have more to add, and the Nonfiction, Memoir and History & Biography because I don’t really have anything to add there either)
I don’t think I’ll do any voting. I usually don’t because it’s usually like this that I’ve read maybe one or two and then I don’t feel like I have enough information to say which one I like the best. In the hype, I feel quite eager to read them all but I’m not going to make a challenge (I think?) out of it, I think I have enough of them ongoing at the moment anyway! Perhaps I’ll pick something up anyway!
Have you read any of the nominated books?
