Thinker Awards is posted under the umbrella of Top Ten Tuesday, an original weekly meme created by The Broke and the Bookish and it’s yearly prompt of “favourite books of x year”.
The Thinker Awards:
Best in 2018 Fiction
Hello, friends! Welcome to this year’s installment of the Thinker Awards, a yearly book awards ceremony hosted here on my blog celebrating the best in fiction experienced during 2018. Joining me in this year’s shindig are fellow buds of mine from the YA community –
2018 Thinker Award Panelists:
Cherry (at) _forevermint (instagram)
Aimal (at) Bookshelves and Paperbacks (blog)
Inah (at) The Bibliophile Confessions (blog)
Joey (at) Thoughts and Afterthoughts
The only rule is that choices had to be experienced and/or read for the first time in 2018 but is not limited to 2018 titles.
But I’d like to hear from you! Which book gets your award of “Best Overall Book of 2018“?
Cheers!
2018 Thinker Awards
(All choices link to their respective Goodreads)
Best Visuals
standout imagery or world building
Cherry: Language of Thorns, Leigh Bardugo
Aimal: The Queen of Blood, Sarah Beth Durst
Inah: Star-Touched Stories, Roshani Chokshi
Joey: Skyward, Brandon Sanderson
Best Voice
compelling, authentic, or humorous narration
Cherry: #FashionVictim, Amina Akhtar
Aimal: You, Caroline Kepnes
Inah: Sadie, Courtney Summers
Joey: Odd One Out, Nic Stone
Best Fight Sequence
thrilling action scenes
Cherry: N/A
Aimal: Heroine Complex, Sarah Kuhn
Inah: N/A
Joey: Deadly Class Vol. 1, Rick Remender
Best Adaptation
television or film feature
Cherry: Crazy Rich Asians, Kevin Kwan
Aimal: Love, Simon, Becky Albertalli
Inah: Love, Simon, Becky Albertalli
Joey: The Haunting of Hill House, Shirley Jackson
Best Cover Design
use of typography and images
Cherry: Sea Witch, Sarah Henning
Aimal: Emergency Contact, Mary H. K. Choi
Inah: To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before, Jenny Han
Joey: Check, Please!, Ngozi Ukazu (PIE. AND. HOCKEY.)
Best Original Story
a refreshing concept
Cherry: The Boneless Mercies, April Genevieve Tucholke
Aimal: You Bring the Distant Near, Mitali Perkins
Inah: Sagala #3, Tori Tadiar
Joey: All of This is True, Lygia Day Penaflor
Best Surprise
an unexpected favourite
Cherry: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society, Mary Ann Shaffer
Aimal: Not Even Bones, Rebecca Schaeffer
Inah: To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before, Jenny Han
Joey: Darius the Great is Not Okay, Adib Khorram
Best Disappointment an unfortunate let down
Cherry: Wintersong, S. Jae-Jones
Aimal: Horns, Joe Hill
Inah: Royals, Rachel Hawkins
Joey: City of Ghosts, Victoria Schwab
Best Book Title
a catchy book title
Cherry: Spinning Silver, Naomi Novik
Aimal: Dance of Thieves, Mary E. Pearson
Inah: What If It’s Us, Becky Albertalli & Adam Silvera
Joey: What If It’s Us, Becky Albertalli & Adam Silvera
Best Tearjerker
tissues? check.
Cherry: N/A
Aimal: A Girl Like That, Tanaz Bhathena
Inah: A Short History of the Girl Next Door, Jared Reck
Joey: N/A
Best Book Hype
a book everyone was talking about
Cherry: The Cruel Prince, Holly Black
Aimal: Sky in the Deep, Adrienne Young
Inah: Sadie, Courtney Summers
Joey: The Poppy War, R. F. Kuang
Best Author on Social Media
protect them at all costs
Cherry: Susan Dennard
Aimal: Arvin Ahmadi (re: “deadline beef with Penguin”)
Inah: Angie Thomas
Joey: N/A
Best Debut Author & Book
welcome to the community
Cherry: The Kiss Quotient, Helen Hoang
Aimal: The Poppy War, R.F. Kuang
Inah: The Astonishing Color of After, Emily X. R. Pan
Joey: Darius the Great is Not Okay, Adib Khorram
Best Book Community Moment
standout moment in 2018
Cherry: N/A
Aimal: “…when a certain book box released a phallic shaped soap”
Inah: “…when the community united for #BookishWish”
Joey: “…running through NYC in the rain just shy of midnight to get mcnuggets with Aila @ One Way Or An Author”
Best Influencer of 2018
a community member who went above and beyond
Cherry: Alyxandria (at) TheBooksBuzz (instagram)
Aimal: Jen (at) bookavid (twitter)
Inah: Jen (at) bookavid (twitter)
Joey: Brittany (at) Book Rambles (blog) (honestly tho, she kept several of us alive during BEA with sustenance)
Best Anthropomorphic or Animal Sidekick
supportive non-human allies
Cherry: Nailah, Zelie’s lionaire, Children of Blood and Bone, Tomi Adeyemi
Aimal: N/A
Inah: N/A
Joey: MBot, Skyward, Brandon Sanderson
Best Mentor
actually a wizard
Cherry: N/A
Aimal: Doc, Dear Martin, Nic Stone
Inah: Dr. Covey, To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before. Jenny Han
Joey: Billy Dent, Blood of My Blood, Barry Lyga
Best Antagonist
a character who best challenged the hero
Cherry: Eli, Vicious, Victoria Schwab
Aimal: Darius’ father, Darius the Great is Not Okay, Adib Khorram
Inah: N/A
Joey: Father John, After the Fire, Will Hill
Best Friendship
those who would share their fries
Cherry: Laurie & Sarah, One Day in December, Josie Silver
Aimal: Monday and Claudia, Monday’s Not Coming, Tiffany Jackson
Inah: Ben and Dylan, What If It’s Us, Becky Albertalli and Adam Silvera
Joey: Darius and Sohrab, Darius the Great is Not Okay, Adib Khorram
Best Squad Goals
those you'd want to hang with/carry out a task
Cherry: Fray, Ovie, Juniper, Runa, Trigve, The Boneless Mercies, April Tucholke
Aimal: Squad from Shadow and the Fox, Julie Kagawa
Inah: Riel and Constantino, Sagala, Tori Tadiar
Joey: Skyward Flight, Skyward, Brandon Sanderson
Best Ship
would go down with the ship
Cherry: Stella Lane & Michael Phan, The Kiss Quotient, Helen Hoang
Aimal: Jase and Kazi, Dance of Thieves, Mary E. Pearson
Inah: Zorie and Lennon, Starry Eyes, Jenn Bennett
Joey: Jude and Cardan, The Wicked King, Holly Black
Best Supporting Character
contemporary, mystery, historical
Cherry: N/A
Aimal: Sohrab, Darius the Great is Not Okay, Adib Khorram
Inah: Kitty Song Covey, To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, Jenny Han
Joey: Agent Carlyle, After the Fire, Will Hill
Best Hero
contemporary, mystery, historical
Cherry: N/A
Aimal: Sadie, Sadie, Courtney Summers
Inah: Sadie, Sadie, Courtney Summers
Joey: Sadie, Sadie, Courtney Summers
Best Supporting Character
science fiction/fantasy
Cherry: Sydney, Vengeful, Victoria Schwab
Aimal: Valyn, The Emperor’s Blades, Brian Staveley
Inah: N/A
Joey: Jacob, City of Ghosts, Victoria Schwab
Best Hero
science fiction/fantasy
Cherry: Marcella, Vengeful, Victoria Schwab
Aimal: Wren, Girls of Paper and Fire, Natasha Ngan
Inah: N/A
Joey: Zelie, Children of Blood and Bone, Tomi Adeyemi
Best Graphic Novel/Manga
Cherry: The Prince & the Dressmaker, Jen Wang
Aimal: Saga, Vol. 1, Brian K. Vaughn/Fiona Staples
Inah: Sagala, Tori Tadiar
Joey: Deadly Class Vol. 1, Rick Remender
Best Poetry
Cherry: Sea of Strangers, Lang Leav
Aimal: N/A
Inah: Gmorning, Gnight!, Lin Manuel Miranda & Jonny Sun
Joey: Gmorning, Gnight!, Lin Manuel Miranda & Jonny Sun
Best Mystery/Thriller
Cherry: Truly Devious, Maureen Johnson
Aimal: Sadie, Courtney Summers
Inah: Sadie, Courtney Summers
Joey: Blood of my Blood, Barry Lyga
Best Contemporary
Cherry: The Kiss Quotient, Helen Hoang
Aimal: A Girl Like That, Tanaz Bhathena
Inah: Starry Eyes, Jenn Bennett
Joey: After the Fire, Will Hill
Best Science Fiction/Fantasy
Cherry: Spinning Silver, Naomi Novik
Aimal: Not Even Bones, Rebecca Schaeffer
Inah: N/A
Joey: Skyward, Brandon Sanderson
Best Overall
Cherry: Spinning Silver, Naomi Novik
Aimal: A Girl Like That, Tanaz Bhathena
Inah: Sadie, Courtney Summers
Joey: Skyward, Brandon Sanderson
Afterthoughts:
And that concludes the Thinker Awards 2018 Ceremony!
Any picks you’d up-vote as well? What’s your favourite overall book of 2018? As I had read so few books in 2017, I can certainly be easily persuaded to shift around my TBR for new finds!
Cheers,
Joey
connect:
afterthoughtAn // twitter
anotherafterthought // goodreads
picturevomit // instagram
letterboxd // filmvomit
Mine would have to be A Court Of Mist And Fury by Sarah J. Maas. That book just stuck with me since I read it!
My TTT: https://seaofbooksandpages.wordpress.com/2018/12/27/20-book-depository-giveaway-international/
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https://seaofbooksandpages.wordpress.com/2019/01/01/top-ten-tuesday-best-books-i-read-in-2018/
Just kidding, I don’t know how that link was copied lol
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These are always so fun! I have read very few of these books, so I will need to branch out and try some of them.
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I only saw a couple of books I’ve read on here. I do agree that The Kiss Quotient has the best couple and is the best contemporary. You really do need to read it soon!
Best of luck in 2019!
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I couldn’t agree more with The Kiss Quotient. It’s a fantastic romance novel and I adore the characters very much. Happy New Year, Joey!
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I love how you did this awards ceremony! Very clever!
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Okay so it looks like I should really be reading Sadie sometime soon…
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I just finished watching The Haunting of Hill House the other day and I’m so glad it lived up to the hype. I was a terrified and blubbering mess by the end of it. 🙂
Lauren @ Always Me
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