Best Books Of 2016 (Goodreads Choice Awards)

As much as I enjoy binge watching TV shows on Netflix, when I look back at 2016 and think about the moments I’ll never forget, they were mostly weekends spent in bed with a great book. So, if you want to update your home library, here are the winners from this year’s Goodreads Choice Awards!

Best Fiction

WINNER 30,154 votes

Truly Madly Guilty by Liane Moriarty

In Truly Madly Guilty, Liane Moriarty takes on the foundations of our lives: marriage, sex, parenthood, and friendship. She shows how guilt can expose the fault lines in the most seemingly strong relationships, how what we don’t say can be more powerful than what we do, and how sometimes it is the most innocent of moments that can do the greatest harm.

Best Mystery & Thriller

WINNER 42,382 votes

End of Watch by Stephen King

In End of Watch, Stephen King brings the Hodges trilogy to a sublimely terrifying conclusion, combining the detective fiction of Mr. Mercedes and Finders Keepers with the heart-pounding, supernatural suspense that has been his bestselling trademark. The result is an unnerving look at human vulnerability and chilling suspense.

Best Historical Fiction

WINNER 24,175 votes

The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead

The Underground Railroad is at once a kinetic adventure tale of one woman’s ferocious will to escape the horrors of bondage and a shattering, powerful meditation on the history we all share.

Best Fantasy

WINNER 128,543 votes

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child – Parts One and Two by John Tiffany (Adaptation), Jack Thorne, J.K. Rowling

Based on an original new story by J.K. Rowling, Jack Thorne and John Tiffany, a new play by Jack Thorne, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child is the eighth story in the Harry Potter series and the first official Harry Potter story to be presented on stage. The play will receive its world premiere in London’s West End on July 30, 2016.

Best Romance

WINNER 59,546 votes

It Ends with Us by Colleen Hoover

With this bold and deeply personal novel, Colleen Hoover delivers a heart-wrenching story that breaks exciting new ground for her as a writer. Combining a captivating romance with a cast of all-too-human characters, It Ends With Us is an unforgettable tale of love that comes at the ultimate price.

Best Science Fiction

WINNER 45,353 votes

Morning Star by Pierce Brown

Red Rising thrilled readers and announced the presence of a talented new author. Golden Son changed the game and took the story of Darrow to the next level. Now comes the exhilarating conclusion to the Red Rising Trilogy: Morning Star.

Best Horror

WINNER 23,289 votes

The Fireman by Joe Hill

From the award-winning, New York Times bestselling author of NOS4A2 and Heart-Shaped Box comes a chilling novel about a worldwide pandemic of spontaneous combustion that threatens to reduce civilization to ashes and a band of improbable heroes who battle to save it, led by one powerful and enigmatic man known as the Fireman.

Best Humor

WINNER 41,080 votes

The Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo by Amy Schumer (Goodreads Author)

The Emmy Award-winning comedian, actress, writer, and star of Inside Amy Schumer and the acclaimed film Trainwreck has taken the entertainment world by storm with her winning blend of smart, satirical humor. Now, Amy Schumer has written a refreshingly candid and uproariously funny collection of (extremely) personal and observational essays.

Best Nonfiction

WINNER 52,925 votes

Hamilton: The Revolution by Lin-Manuel Miranda, Jeremy McCarter

Lin-Manuel Miranda’s groundbreaking musical Hamilton is as revolutionary as its subject, the poor kid from the Caribbean who fought the British, defended the Constitution, and helped to found the United States.

Best Memoir & Autobiography

WINNER 26,085 votes

When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi, Abraham Verghese (Foreword)

Paul Kalanithi died while working on this profoundly moving book, yet his words live on as a guide to us all. When Breath Becomes Air is a life-affirming reflection on facing our mortality and on the relationship between doctor and patient, from a gifted writer who became both.

Best History & Biography

WINNER 16,477 votes

Leonard: My Fifty-Year Friendship with a Remarkable Man by William Shatner, David Fisher

Leonard Nimoy and William Shatner first crossed paths as actors on the set of The Man from U.N.C.L.E. Little did they know that their next roles, in a new science-fiction television series, would shape their lives in ways no one could have anticipated. In seventy-nine television episodes and six feature films, they grew to know each other more than most friends could ever imagine.

Best Science & Technology

WINNER 12,370 votes

Are We Smart Enough to Know How Smart Animals Are? by Frans de Waal

What separates your mind from an animal’s? Maybe you think it’s your ability to design tools, your sense of self, or your grasp of past and future—all traits that have helped us define ourselves as the planet’s preeminent species. But in recent decades, these claims have eroded, or even been disproven outright, by a revolution in the study of animal cognition…

Best Food & Cookbooks

WINNER 23,867 votes

Cravings: Recipes for All the Food You Want to Eat by Chrissy Teigen

Maybe she’s on a photo shoot in Zanzibar. Maybe she’s making people laugh on TV. But all Chrissy Teigen really wants to do is talk about dinner. Or breakfast. Lunch gets some love, too.

Best Graphic Novels & Comics

WINNER 32,937 votes

Adulthood Is a Myth by Sarah Andersen

These comics document the wasting of entire beautiful weekends on the internet, the unbearable agony of holding hands on the street with a gorgeous guy, dreaming all day of getting home and back into pajamas, and wondering when, exactly, this adulthood thing begins.

Best Poetry

WINNER 22,560 votes

The Princess Saves Herself in this One by Amanda Lovelace

A poetry collection divided into four different parts: the princess, the damsel, the queen, & you. the princess, the damsel, & the queen piece together the life of the author in three stages, while you serves as a note to the reader & all of humankind. Explores life & all of its love, loss, grief, healing, empowerment, & inspirations.

Best Debut Goodreads Author

WINNER 24,445 votes

Rebel of the Sands by Alwyn Hamilton

Rebel of the Sands reveals what happens when a dream deferred explodes—in the fires of rebellion, of romantic passion, and the all-consuming inferno of a girl finally, at long last, embracing her power.

Best Young Adult Fiction

WINNER 29,122 votes

Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys

Inspired by the single greatest tragedy in maritime history, bestselling and award-winning author Ruta Sepetys (Between Shades of Gray) lifts the veil on a shockingly little-known casualty of World War II. An illuminating and life-affirming tale of heart and hope.

Best Young Adult Fantasy & Science Fiction

WINNER 57,776 votes

A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas (Goodreads Author)

As Feyre navigates its dark web of politics, passion, and dazzling power, a greater evil looms—and she might be key to stopping it. But only if she can harness her harrowing gifts, heal her fractured soul, and decide how she wishes to shape her future—and the future of a world torn apart.

Best Middle Grade & Children’s

WINNER 46,348 votes

The Hidden Oracle by Rick Riordan

After angering his father Zeus, the god Apollo is cast down from Olympus. Weak and disorientated, he lands in New York City as a regular teenage boy. Now, without his godly powers, the four-thousand-year-old deity must learn to survive in the modern world until he can somehow find a way to regain Zeus’s favour.

Best Picture Books

WINNER 16,433 votes

The Thank You Book by Mo Willems

In The Thank You Book!, Piggie wants to thank EVERYONE. But Gerald is worried Piggie will forget someone . . . someone important.