Today I thought that I'd share my favorite reads from 2015. I've been posting these on a Goodreads shelf all year long, but some of them are books I'd also marked as favorites in 2014: Made You Up by Francesca Zappia, Simon Vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli, The Walls Around Us by Nova Ren Suma, The Winner's Crime by Marie Rutkoski, and The Mime Order by Samantha Shannon. Those I read in 2014, though they were officially published in 2015 -- would still recommend reading those! Last year I only made a video as a means of recommending books to people who didn't like YA much, but this year I wanted to make a full list!

Great contemporary reads --

Written in the Stars by Aisha Saeed, Dumplin' by Julie Murphy, The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks by E. Lockhart, Delicate Monsters by Stephanie Kuehn, and Black Iris by Leah Raeder

Written in the Stars is a heartfelt exploration of an arranged marriage in Pakistan, written simply to maximize its impact and our identification with the main character on her horrific journey. Dumplin' is a romantic coming-of-age about a fat girl who competes in a beauty pageant to regain her confidence and self-love. About a girl trying to break into a men-only secret society, The Disreputable History of Frankie Landau-Banks is another great read from E. Lockhart. And what happens when you take three self-destructive, morally grey people and force them to interact with each other? A high stakes psychological thriller from Stephanie Kuehn, potentially her best work yet in Delicate Monsters. Black Iris is Leah Raeder's heart book, sexy, romantic suspense layered with questions about gender identity and sexuality. All are wonderful explorations of growing up in a patriarchal world.

You can read my reviews of: Black Iris, Delicate Monsters, and Dumplin'. I nominated Dumplin' and Delicate Monsters in theEpic Reads Book Shimmy Awards, and encouraged others to be excited for the release of Dumplin'.

Magical realism that takes risks in its narrative --

Chime by Franny Billingsley, Bone Gap by Laura Ruby, and The Accident Season by Moira Fowley-Doyle

YA magical realism is a wonderful expanding genre that's pushing the boundaries of the typical YA narrative. All three of these stories are told in their own cyclical, winding ways, and all three have absolutely gorgeous writing. Chime tells the story of a girl regaining her confidence as she discovers the truth; Bone Gap tells a story about perception and beauty; and The Accident Season tells the story of a family broken by a tragic past. Highly recommended, and can't wait for more magical realism to crop up.

I discussed Bone Gap and The Accident Season here. I nominated Bone Gap in the Epic Reads Book Shimmy Awards.

Female-led historical journeys --

Walk on Earth a Stranger by Rae Carson, Rose Under Fire by Elizabeth Wein, and Daughter of the Forest by Juliet Marillier

Elizabeth Wein is a reigning queen of YA historical fiction, and Rose Under Fire was a gorgeous tale of female friendship tested under terrible circumstances. Walk on Earth a Stranger is about a girl with a fantastical ability to discover gold on an Oregon Trail-like, self-discovery journey to California, and it's as fantastic as that sounds.Daughter of the Forest is loosely based on the legend of the Children of Lir and "The Six Swans," a fairy tale told by the Grimms and many more. It's gorgeous and I absolutely adore the commingling of tender romance, Celtic atmosphere, and fantastical curses.

You can read my review of Walk on Earth a Stranger. Because of my love for Daughter of the Forest, I wrote a recommendation list of adult fiction for YA readers. I nominated Walk on Earth a Stranger in theEpic Reads Book Shimmy Awards, and encouraged others to be excited for its release.

Er, the only Urban Fantasy recommendation I have is Burned by Karen Marie Moning. A few years ago, I got caught up in adult urban fantasy, which is often sexy and led by kickass heroines. At this point, I'm not reading much adult UF (though feel free to recommend me some books!); only the Fever series remains on my tbr list.

Fantasy! Fantasy! Fantasy!

The Golden Specific by S.E. Grove, Shadow Scale by Rachel Hartman, Crown Duel by Sherwood Smith, Uprooted by Naomi Novik, Crimson Bound by Rosamund Hodge, Serpentine by Cindy Pon, Eon by Alison Goodman, Poison Study by Maria Snyder, and A Thousand Nights by E.K. Johnston

Goodness, where to start? The Golden Specific is a part of the MG trilogy I said was most inventive MG fantasy I've read since Harry Potter. Shadow Scale is the much anticipated sequel to Seraphina, and is, like its predecessor, a wonderfully written masterpiece. Crown Duel is the most fun I've had with fantasy in a while. As Small Review said: "It's like a fantasy Pride and Prejudice with an imperfect main character who grows throughout the book, a swoony slow burn hate-turned-love romance, and lots and lots of political intrigue." Uprooted has a side plot of slow burning hate-to-love romance, a determined, spirited heroine who learns to wield magic with skill, plenty of plot twists and an absolutely wonderful main female friendship. Plus, of course, a creative fairy tale world, with a cinematically creepy evil Wood. Crimson Bound is very much of the same ilk as Uprooted; enjoyed one, and well, you should read the other. At its core, Serpentine features a wonderful main female friendship which runs well alongside a sweet romance, lush setting inspired by Chinese folklore, and an innately discussable premise about a girl with a power that makes her feel Other. Eon is an epic fantasy inspired by Japanese and Chinese mythology, full of daring adventure and heartbreaking action and romance, and layered with questions on gender identity. I'd definitely recommend Poison Study to fans of Throne of Glass; Poison Study is about the food taster to the Commander of a military regime, and the political intrigue, magic, and romance she unexpectedly finds. A Thousand Nights is a loose epic fantasy retelling of 1001 Nights, and features a heroine who defies the odds in not only surviving the threat of murder from her husband but also in becoming a stronger leader and a goddess in her own right. ALL FANTASTIC FANTASY READS!

You can read my reviews of: A Thousand Nights, Eon, Serpentine, Crimson Bound, Uprooted, Shadow Scale, and the Mapmakers trilogy. I discussed Crown Duel and Poison Study here. I nominated Serpentine and A Thousand Nights in theEpic Reads Book Shimmy Awards.

Science Fiction for your Star Wars craving --

Stone in the Sky by Cecil Castellucci

Once again, I did not hit my reading goal for the year, life is such a distraction. Sometimes I think about quitting my job and reading book for a living...but then I remember I'd be broke and homeless within a couple months....so...

But what I did not complete in number of books...I sure made up for in number of pages. And I will try again next year and the next. I still got some good reading done and present my top 10 books I read this year...in no particular order. These are the book that made me go "wow" or "Now that was unexpected." or just made me happy. And that's all the mattered in the end.

One thing I take away from my list is that in 2016 I need to read more romance. That was sorely lacking in 2015.

In no particular order and not necessarily bad/worst books but disappointing ones I had been anticipating reading.  (Yes, Molly Harper wrote books on my best, most disappointing, and worst lists.)

One of my resolutions as a blogger/reader is to review as many books as I can, if only because I enjoy doing so.  But like any other blogger out there, sometimes you just can't think of anything to say outside the scope of:  "I really liked this book.  It was awesome!"  or "I didn't much care for this book.  It was kind of boring!"  or "This book was just... *shrugs*".

There are a lot of books I had always meant to review the entire time during the reading process, but just never got around to doing so for one reason or another.

And so I decided to try what a lot of other bloggers will sometimes do:  Make a simple, one time post for the sole reason of giving extremely short and generic opinions of a bunch of books, whether I liked them or not.  (Knowing me, I'll probably end up getting carried away resulting in enough paragraphs to present a full review anyway, though, so my apologies in advance.)

In making this decision, I realized that there are several other books I had never meant to review that I wouldn't mind giving a shout-out about in this post.

The following books are in no particular order, though they may be organized in a fashion that makes sense only to me.  If I wanted to be logical about it, I would probably just list all the books in order by the author's last name or in the order of which I read them this year... but whatevs.

Career of Evil (Cormoran Strike #3) by Robert Galbraith (aka Queen Rowling)

-- 3.5 Stars

This book started out very slow.  As per usual, the writing is excellent and the characters are excellent.  But the book started out very slow.  I might have fallen asleep at some point, but, as is with every other book I may have fallen asleep reading, it could just be my own lack of healthy sleep cycles that's the problem.

But the book still started out very slow.  The flashbacks and the sudden inclusion of character histories to help propel the rest of the main story line (because I understand that that's why all of that was included), DID manage to elicit some wavering attention on my behalf.

But then all the set-up is taken care of and we dive into the rest of the book and it starts getting excellent.  Except, then I realize that this book is still trudging along with mostly set-up and side tangents and other such nonsense that barely focuses on the murder plot.

Career of Evil isn't a bad book, don't get me wrong.  And it's far from boring or uninspiring.  HOWEVER, it is definitely a step down from its predecessor, The Silkworm.  And that makes me sad, because I had hoped that, even if Career of Evil could not surpass The Silkworm's genius, it would at least still be an excellent work by Queen Rowling.

It kept me hooked, if only because of the character interaction and growing relation between Strike and Robin.  But it also bothered me because of a lot of side details and backstories that we probably could have done without.  And then Robin is given a downgrade in her character development when a much unnecessary cliched plot device is used to color her character's past.

This book could have been brilliant like The Silkworm.  But it was merely good and serviceable without the brilliance I'd hoped for it.  Did I mention it started out really slow?

by Tara Janzen

Steele Street books

#3) Crazy Wild -- 4.0 Stars

#4) Crazy Kisses -- 3.5 Stars

#5) Crazy Love -- 4.0 Stars

#6) Crazy Sweet -- 3.5 Stars

As far as the Steele Street books go, they involve the same formulaic story line with each and every book I've read.  There's a lot of haphazard narration that switches from one set of characters to another, a big military mission going on in the background, one crime thriller conspiracy going on in the foreground, lots of talk about cars and fixing up cars, lots of talk about sex, and lots of talk about the Steele Street guys and their strange quirks.

All packaged together, it's hard to grasp or follow if you're looking for anything inspirational or substantial.

But there is no doubt that I somehow manage to really, really enjoy reading these books if only because they are so much crazy fun that I don't care about substance or logic or any other kind of realism.  There's an underlying comedic tone to these books that make them extremely enjoyable.

Crazy Wild... it was interesting.  I much preferred the sexy, steamy romantic sexcapades of Creed and Cody (in comparison with Crazy Kisses' Kid/Nikki pairing)--as per usual, there's an amusing undertone of humor between these two and their developing relationship that just makes it fun to follow. 

Crazy Kisses didn't exactly turn out the way I'd wanted it to, but I still found some kind of entertainment with it.  I had looked forward to Crazy Kisses because of the ongoing Kid/Nikki, on-again-off-again romance that has been teasing us since the first book... but it felt slightly lackluster when it finally came around.

Crazy Love brings us to the long awaited Dylan Hart and Skeeter Bang romance.  It wasn't as exciting as I had hoped it would be, considering the build-up to their romance since two books previous, but it still delivered in the nonsensical quips, the strange, comedic atmosphere, and the action and the badass action.

Crazy Sweet rounds off the first part of the Steele Street series with the newest SDF member, Travis James, who has been present since the first book as Nikki McKinney's naked angel model for her artwork.  This guy has probably had a crush on every other girl introduced throughout these first six books, with his desires unfulfilled and lots of pent up frustration.  So it's his turn to have a romance now.

In Crazy Sweet, Travis's girlfriend/friends-with-benefits/lover/SDF-soul-mate-partner, Gillian Pentycote is on a revenge mission, and Travis is basically her keeper.  And really, not much actually happens in this book aside from the revenge mission and some sort of side mission featuring C. Smyth Rydell and a girl named Honey in El Salvador...

Really, all these books really suffer from is a case of haphazard "I don't know where this plot is going and I'm not even sure there's a main conflict in here".  Although all the craziness and the humor and the mindless fun and the hot sex more than makes up for the lack of direction in each book.  In the end, I realize I have so much fun reading these books that I don't care that I have no idea what's really going on.

by Paige Tyler

X-Ops books

#1) Her Perfect Mate -- 4.0 Stars

#2) Her Lone Wolf -- 4.0 Stars

I didn't expect much from Her Perfect Mate when I first decided to pick it up.  I had kind of subconsciously blown it off as a guilty pleasure romance read with erotica disguised as a military romantic suspense novel.  But I was pleasantly surprised by how much I ended up enjoying it, even in spite of some of the tacky dialogue and some of the weird content.

I didn't really have to suspend disbelief.  However, I DID have to overlook how quickly the "I love you"s came around and how readily our non-shifter human male was able to accept his cat-shifter female partner just because he had a thing for Catwoman.  It was a little incredible to believe that he wouldn't have freaked out first, but I got over that pretty quickly.

Still, my enjoyment of Her Perfect Mate lead to picking up Her Lone Wolf, and in this particular story line and instance, the suspension of disbelief was a little easier to grasp.  The romance was also a little more readily acceptable since the main couple had been lovers previously, before the timeline of the book.  The flashbacks were a little distracting, but they helped.

I will definitely try to pick up the next few books when they are made available, but I won't trip over myself trying to get a hold of them.  I DO like the brief background scenes of the ongoing major conflict that's propelling the series overall.  Lots to look forward to, that's for sure.

11 by Kylie Brant -- 4.0 Stars

Kylie Brant is one of my more favorite romantic suspense authors, if only because I really enjoyed what she did with the women of the Mindhunters series.  They were all competent, independent, skilled investigators who never really had to rely on a male partner at all times.  And also, Kylie Brant goes easy on the damsel-in-distress scenarios (except with her most recent, Secrets of the Dead... I'm still trying to figure that one out).

The point is: the heroines from Mindhunters typically kept themselves well out of trouble as their jobs dictated, and rushed into danger to save the day as their jobs dictated.  And they were always prepared to get themselves back out of danger if it came around to that.

When I discovered 11 as a new book listed under Kylie Brant's Amazon page, I got pretty excited and jumped on that one pretty quickly.  11 is set in the same world as the Mindhunters series, as we learn when Adam Raiker appears in the first (second?) chapter of the book.  But from that moment forward, it's kind of a book on its own and quite enjoyable at that.

The only unfortunate response I have, however, is that it's not very memorable.  You've got a P.I. and you've got a woman in hiding and you've got a resident baddie, psycho serial killer.  Action ensues, romance ensues, sex happens... and then Happily Ever After™.

And that's pretty much it.  After finishing the book, I barely had anything to say about 11 because there really wasn't anything to say about it.  I know I enjoyed it and gobbled it up like I would any other exciting romantic suspense.  But otherwise, I've got nothing.

by Rachel Hartman

Seraphina duology

#1) Seraphina -- 5.0 Stars

#2) Shadow Scale -- 4.5 Stars

Serephina was, hands down, one of the best high fantasies I had read back in 2013 (it was published in 2012).  Granted, this was back before I started making a thing of blogging my reviews more regularly, so I didn't subject the book to the same amount of note-taking and subconscious analysis that I do to books I read now.  However, I DO recall that I loved it so much that I immediately put the next book on my TBR... and then proceeded to wait forever... and then give a little whimper each time the release date for the second book got pushed back.

Seraphina had a lot going for it: a strong, unique, multi-layered heroine; a complex, intricately created world that interwove a dragon culture into it seamlessly; a sweet, subtle romance that had developed from a respectful admiration and friendship between two people; and a wonderfully narrated story with a rich, complicated conflict.  And characters, colorful, creative, unique, non-standard side characters and background characters and minor characters, all with their own multi-layered backgrounds lightly hinted out.

Rachel Hartman created a wonderful world and a wonderful story and a wonderful cast of characters for lovers of high fantasy.

This year, in preparation for the release of Shadow Scale at the beginning of the year, I wanted to re-read Seraphina.  Instead, I ended up buying the Audible and listening to it instead and once again found the experience a good one (with some minor drawbacks during those moments my attention might have drifted).  Seraphina was just as great as I had remembered it two years ago.

Then I finally picked up Shadow Scale.  And I devoured it.  While there was some questionable story progression flow and a conclusion that wasn't the most ideal, I still found the world of Seraphina wonderfully created.  We get to travel outside to the rest of the worlds and see the rest of the cultures only hinted at in the first book.  And on top of that, we get to continue following the same beloved characters as well as meet new characters.

The only issue I had with Shadow Scale, which made it a little less likable than Seraphina was that it had more moments of drag than the first book... and also the romantic resolution was just not what I had been expecting after all of that build-up between Seraphina and Kiggs.  Which was more disappointing than I like to admit, because I often don't like when a series dwells too much on romances... but Seraphina was never a story that based its happenings around a romance.  Instead, it serenaded us with the love story in the background, making sweet and beautiful little promises with the very subtle build-up between our main couple.

Color me shallow, but that had been enough to really damper my initial "I don't care about a lot of the flaws this book might have, I'm giving it a straight out 5 Star rating!"

Magonia (Magonia #1) by Maria Dahvana Headley -- 3.0 Stars

Really, Magonia was just a strange, strange book and I'm not even certain how I felt about it.  Even now I'm still not sure.  I read a review about it that carefully dissects the book into two separate story parts, wherein the first half is like typical, trendy "Sick Lit" and the second half is a weird paranormal high fantasy akin to something of the Castle in the Sky variety.

I'm inclined to agree.  Although I loved Castle in the Sky and thought that the fantasy part of Magonia wasn't really THAT much like it... or maybe it is.  I think I may have likened it to a Castle in the Sky doped up on an acid trip of some kind, what with the whimsical fantasy telling and all, but with more WTF-like strangeness than I could handle.

And now apparently the book is being formed into a series...

Do we really believe that's necessary?

Gimme Some Sugar (Pine Mountain #2) by Kimberly Kincaid -- 2.5 Stars

I've already said it once in my Turn Up the Heat review:  I liked the Line books by Kimberly Kincaid when I first picked up Love on the Line on a whim.  The food porn was pretty awesome and the romance was sweet and simple and had its moments of breezy.  The next two Line books were serviceable, even if not the best, because I was enjoying Kimberly Kincaid's humorous, easygoing writing style.

Turn Up the Heat was okay, but not the greatest contemporary romance in the world.  And then Gimme Some Sugar rolled around... and it was just... kind of... weird.  Don't get me wrong, it was cute and breezy in a way.  But the relationship and romantic development felt a little juvenile for an adult contemporary... and the repetitive "Feed her," thing was a little creepy.

And the main romantic conflict, when revealed, was just kind of... sad.

Whatever the case, Gimme Some Sugar just didn't seem to work for me, which ended up putting the Pine Mountain books squarely in my "I don't know if I'm going to continue reading this series" pile.  Though I may read one more book just to see where we go with it.

by Julie Garwood

Buchanan-Renard-MacKenna

#5) Slow Burn -- 4.0 Stars

#6) Shadow Dance -- 3.5 Stars

Julie Garwood's romantic suspense series seem to get better as each book progresses... and yet, in a way, they don't, really.  Enjoyable as they are, I can't help but notice that these past two books were a little less memorable than the previous two.  Although to be fair, even Murder List (book #4) wasn't quite memorable either.  Of the series, Killjoy (book #3) is my favorite--the character's stand out and I liked them.

Slow Burn was different from the other Buchanan-Renard-MacKenna installments in that the murder mystery remains a one-sided investigation throughout the book.  We honestly do not even get to see the main baddie at all and things remain a mystery up until the end--which is actually quite nice, because I could do without those trips through our mystery villain's twisted minds.

Of course, what stood out the most about Slow Burn was the beginning of the book in which a Wonderbra gets the most unique introduction I'd ever expected.  And, as usual, Julie Garwood's humor shines.

Shadow Dance is a little less entertaining if only because the narration seems to take a turn for the tedious.  There is entirely too much telling in this book and a lot of side mutterings by all the characters.  Of course, the typical Julie Garwood humor is still present, but the bantering between Jordan and Noah feels slightly more irritating than fun.

And, of course, I'm a bit disappointed, because, for some unknown reason, this is the installment I'd been reading my way towards.  Since the Buchanans are such a big law enforcement, badass family, I had been expecting Jordan Buchanan to be a badass law enforcement type as well, and if not, at least a badass female super woman of some sort.  I'm not even sure I know where I got that impression, really...

***

I might continue this feature every year if I can remember to do so.  Maybe it should also be another Bookish Resolution of mine.  We'll see.

With this, have a Merry Christmas everyone!  Hope every had a great year and will continue on to have another great one in 2016.

Hello! Did you know that the nominations for the Epic Reads Book Shimmy Awards are happening NOW until this Friday, December 18th? Normally, I must admit, I don't pay much attention to book awards and lists (aside from Printz/NBA/Morris), but the Book Shimmy Awards are 100% determined by the community. We have agency in what we are going to be voting for, and I hope that you'll join me in nominating your favorites! (I hope that we have some common favorites as well...)

Best of Shelf
Award given to the best overall book published in 2015.

 

The Winner's Crime by Marie Rutkoski. This was a really hard book to choose. BEST OVERALL BOOK??! I don't about you, but I like books for very different reasons. Some have excellent romances. Some have beautiful prose. Some have action-packed plots. Maybe I was influenced bythe recently released excerpt of The Winner's Kiss, but the Winner's trilogy reminds me of Kristin Cashore's books, which definitely make my favorite books of all time list. Not one scene is ever unnecessary in The Winner's Trilogy. Masterful plotting, masterful characterization... and how many times have I paused, wondering whether Kestrel and Arin will ever come to an accord of their own making? THAT EXCERPT! I reviewed The Winner's Crime, encouraged people to pre-order the novel, and basically said whenever I could how awesome the book is.

The Pagemaster
Award given to favorite YA author of the year. (Author must have published a book in 2015.)

Nova Ren Suma. At first, I was going to nominate Samantha Shannon, but her books aren't technically considered YA. And then I looked at my list, saw The Walls Around Us and remembered a blog post I'd read from Nova Ren Suma about the surprises she'd had as an author. As someone who is trying to navigate different careers and expectations of life, I really resonated with that post. Nova's dedication in the Walls Around Us is also perfect for the YA community. She seems like an incredibly sweet author, and The Walls Around Us, as I said in my review andanother post, is like a tribute to girls in all our complexity. Yes to Nova Ren Suma.

Award for best debut YA author of 2015.

Made You Up by Francesca Zappia. In some sense, this isn't fair of me because Chessie and I are good friends, but I really did enjoy Made You Up. I interviewed Chessie on this blog when her deal had recently been announced and when her book was soon to be released. I reviewed Made You Up and encouraged you all to pre-order the book when you could, because it was one of theawesome 2015 books that I'd read. I gave away an annotated ARC of Made You Up. There are only so many ways that someone can say this is an amazing debut novel and Francesca Zappia is an amazing author to watch.

Cover Lust Award
Award given to the YA book with the most gorgeous cover design.

Made You Up by Francesca Zappia. Made You Up has made Bustle's list for best YA book coversas well as the beautiful covers list from Epic Reads and some categories in the viewer-votedYoung Adult Book Cover Awards. It's actually a cover that also represents aspects of the book well. If I'm not mistaken, the eyes of a pivotal character in the book are described as something like, taking a bunch of blue crayons and melting them together. The umbrella is a great representation of the main character trying to shield herself from things beyond her control. Plus, the emphasis on her red hair, which plays its own role, and the fact that she's illustrated allows you to picture her however you want. Win, Greenwillow Designer. Win.

We Need Diverse Books Award
Award given to the best YA book of 2015 that explores the diverse experiences, including (but not limited to) LGBTQIA, people of color, gender diversity, people with disabilities, and ethnic, cultural, and religious minorities.

Serpentine by Cindy Pon. The interesting thing is, when I saw this award, my first thought was towards the excellent selection of diverse contemporary novels that I'd read, like Written in the Stars by Aisha Saeed. But contemporary generally seems to be where most diverse novels are; fantasy has a serious problem when it comes to including diversity because of some fallacious arguments. I enjoyed and reviewed Serpentine, and included Skybright in various lists about brave heroines. At its core, Serpentine is discussing what it means to be Other; with our patriarchal society marginalizing the voices of those who fit the aforementioned diverse label, well, Serpentine also seemed perfect for this category. Plus, y'know, the exploration of Chinese folklore, and a non Western-centric fantasy: that definitely fits the We Need Diverse Books Award criteria, no?

The Mental Health Matters Award
Award for the best book that shines a light on mental health.

Delicate Monsters by Stephanie Kuehn. I considered adding Made You Up here as well, but I know that Francesca Zappia is planning on releasing books not focused on mental health, whereas all of Stephanie Kuehn's novels thus far have been about exploring mental health issues. I've reviewed and enjoyed Delicate Monsters, Complicit, and Charm and Strange. Basically, Stephanie Kuehn is a wordsmith, a masterful plotter exploring the complexities of the human mind, and I can't wait to see what she produces next. (The Smaller Evil looks so good!).

The Here and Now Award

Award for the best contemporary YA novel.

Simon Vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli. Undoubtedly, you've already heard of the awesomeness that is Simon Versus the Homo Sapiens Agenda; it was on the National Book Award longlist and has been making the rounds across various YA best-of lists. I reviewed Simon Vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda and encouraged people to pre-order the book. Simon was also recently optioned for a book to movie adaptation. Simon is a great YA contemporary, and I can't wait for more from Becky Albertalli.

The Reality Bites Award
Award for the best fantasy / sci-fi YA novel published in 2015.

Bone Gap by Laura Ruby. This made me feel a little strange because I consider Bone Gap to be more like "magical realism" than SFF, but if there's no magical realism category, sure, Bone Gap, I'll mention you here. I can undoubtedly say that Bone Gap is one of the most unique YA books that I've read, which is probably why it was a National Book Award finalist and has been making the rounds across various YA best-of lists. I love Laura Ruby's writing style; I love her willingness to try something completely different; I love her exploration of perception and beauty. Laura Ruby really does a wonderful job developing the setting and making the people of Bone Gap feel unique to Bone Gap (but also familiar to us). 100% recommended.

Hot Under the Cover
Award for the best romance YA novel. (This also known as the Theo James Award for sexiest novel.)

Dumplin' by Julie Murphy. Well, this category was a little strange for me because none of my favorite YA novels are romance novels. They're romantic; the romance is frequently a side plot connected into the coming-of-age. But, ultimately, I still decided to nominate Dumplin'. I enjoyed and reviewed Dumplin', and discussed why people ought to anticipate its release. Willowdean made my list of favorite YA heroines, and I discussed more of the awesomeness of Dumplin' in aCinderella Book tag. I chose to nominate Dumplin' for romance because of all that and more. Julie Murphy has been getting reader emails suggesting that the romance is wish fulfillment because Willowdean is fat. No, ladies. Let's not play into this harmful societal narrative that fat girls deserve less. I enjoyed the romance in Dumplin', and my nominating Dumplin' for this category is also a statement against those reader emails.

World Series Champ

Award for your favorite new, on-going or series that ended in 2015!

Shadow Scale by Rachel Hartman. I was considering nominating The Mime Order by Samantha Shannon (book 2 of The Bone Season, which I loved and have encouraged people to read), but it's technically considered adult and ineligible for the Book Shimmy Awards. I enjoyed and reviewed Shadow Scale by Rachel Hartman; Seraphina is one of my favorite YA heroines. It's a shame that this inventive dragon duology has ended, but hopefully there will be more Rachel Hartman books to come!

The Blast from the Past Award
Award given to the best historical fiction book published in 2015.

Walk on Earth a Stranger by Rae Carson. It was pretty awkward realizing that I hadn't read much historical YA this year; I had planned to read Under a Painted Sky by Stacey Lee but... haven't yet. Still, Walk on Earth a Stranger fits; its historical, Oregon-trail quest-like elements are more prominent than the fantastical gold hunting magic. Lee/Leah was one of my favorite YA heroines. Walk on Earth made my Cinderella Book Tag list, and I told people to anticipate its release. Of course, I also reviewed Walk on Earth a Stranger. Walk on Earth a Stranger was a great introduction to the Gold Seer trilogy, and I'm looking forward to more from Rae Carson.

The Retelling Award
Award for the best YA retelling published in 2015.

A Thousand Nights by E.K. Johnston. I considered nominating Crimson Bound by Rosamund Hodge -- I've loved every one of her dark spins on fairy tales, including her short stories and novellas, and I reviewed Crimson Bound, encouraged people to pre-order the awesome book -- but ultimately I want there to be more Middle Eastern books that actually feel Middle Eastern in the way that A Thousand Nights does. I also considered nominated Uprooted by Naomi Novik, which I reviewed here, but it's technically not a YA book (it's like Red Rising, both published by Del Rey as adult fiction but both frequently making YA book lists, which the publisher isn't going to complain about because it wants the crossover crowds). I reviewed A Thousand Nightsand have sung its praises whenever I could, including discussing my love for the main character. As someone with Middle Eastern heritage, I felt that A Thousand Nights was authentic. The atmosphere was wonderful. ATN is an epic fantasy that should not be missed.

The Most Anticipated Award
Award for the book you are most excited to read that publishes in 2016.

The Star-Touched Queen by Roshani Chokshi. I have a list of 2016 books and 2016 debuts that I need to write up, but I haven't done so yet. The Star-Touched Queen was "pitched as a Hades and Persephone-style romance infused with Indian mythology, about an unlikely princess who must overcome her sinister horoscope and embarks on a quest to unravel her true identity and find the one she loves." A.) We don't have enough YA fantasy that's actually diverse, and very little YA fantasy that aren't Western or European centric. B.) Indian mythology! C.) I don't even like Hades and Persephone that much, but I read The Star Maiden by Roshani Chokshi and her writing IS GORGEOUS. YES PLEASE to this book.

Book Nerd of the Year
Award given to your favorite contributer to the YA community. Nominate your favorite YA book blogger, vlogger, podcaster, Instagramer, Tumblr-er, ect. (Please list their handle and which platform! Example = @EpicReads on Instagram)

Ameriie at the booktube channel, Books Beauty Ameriie. If you're reading this, you might feel offended that I didn't nominate you. I can guarantee you that I considered you, especially if we're (close) friends. But unlike most of you, I've hung out with Ameriie in person several times, and we've been friends for over three years, so I know her book nerd ways intimately. This girl, when we first hung out, I can still remember feeling nervous in the way that you always are when you're hanging out with someone for the first time, but she made our interaction comfortable with her book nerd ways. Sniffing all those books, discussing our favorites, always driving to bookstores at the end of one of our writing days spent together... I mean, even if you forgo my personal experiences with Ameriie, all you need to do is check out her channel and here's a particular book nerd video: How She Reads. If you aren't one of her subscribers yet, you're seriously missing out on a wonderful perspective on both YA and adult books.

Books I almost nominated...

Those were my Book Shimmy Award nominations! Do we have any in common? What have you decided to nominate for each category?