Thoughts of a Bookworm #5: Goodreads Choice Award is Fake

Hello!

So, I know that it has been some time since I was last writing to you all. But I saw an email the other day and it really got me that I couldn’t not share my thoughts on it.

As we all know it’s that time of year again. The fairy lights are beginning to twinkle, the days and nights are getting darker and colder and we are all starting to look ahead to the next year. But what comes before next year? Well, the Goodreads Book Choice Awards of course. One of the biggest events in a bookworm’s calendar.

But personally, I think the whole thing is an insult to the whole book community. Obviously, when I was younger I didn’t think any different to most bookworms. However, I have come to realise that it isn’t necessarily what is the best book of the year but rather a popularity contest. More so now than ever with the insurgence of ‘BookTok’.

Honestly, I don’t think we will ever get a book worthy of the title ever again. It has become a pure vanity project. Take me back to the Tweenies or Noughties where we actually had books worthy of its name.

Don’t get me wrong, there are some good books that have been nominated this year. But let’s all be honest with ourselves, we all know who are going to win because people are now being drawn to read the same texts just because it might be ‘spicy’.

I know this is not the case with all readers but maybe Goodreads should make a category for Booktok books so there isn’t a monopoly in other categories where other books deserve to win.

Just food for thought.

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