Hi guys, I hope you are all well. It’s the end of the year, which means it time for me to do the bookish academy awards tag. I’ve done this for the last couple of years and I think it’s a great way to round up the year of reading. There are 13 questions in this tag, all about the books you’ve read in the past 12 months. I apologise in advance for the repeat answers but I couldn’t help myself. Let’s get started.
Best Actor: (Best Male Protagonist)
I couldn’t pick just one, so the first is Shen Tai from Under Heaven by Guy Gavriel Kay, and the second is Corban from the Faithful and the Fallen series by John Gwynne. Both of these characters are fantastic.
Best Actress: (Best Female Protagonist)
Sarine from the Ascension Cycle by David Mealing, Cywen from the Faithful and the Fallen series by John Gwynne and Elin from The Beast Player by Nahoko Uehashi.
Best Cinematography: (Best Plot Twist)
There are so many possibilities for this one but I’m going with the Fitz and the Fool trilogy by Robin Hobb. There were so many twists within this trilogy and while reading you never know what is going to happen next. It was such a fantastic trilogy.
Best Costume Design: (Best Book Cover)
There were so many fantastic covers this year, I couldn’t choose just one. Instead I have six of my favourites to share with you guys.
Best Supporting Actress and Actor ( Best Male and Female Sidekick)
For best female sidekick I would have to say Wei Song from Under Heaven by Guy Gavriel Kay. She is such a fantastic character and I would love a book all about her. Sorry for using all the same books but for the male sidekick I’m going with Dath for the Faithful and the Fallen series – he’s just such a loyal friend, I had to include him.
Best Original Screenplay: (Most Unique Plot/World)
The first book that comes to mind is The Beast Player by Nahoko Uehashi. It is unlike anything I’ve read before and found it quite refreshing in that way. I absolutely adored this book and I loved the world.
Best Adapted Screenplay: (Best Book-to-Movie Adaptation)
I haven’t actually seen a lot of book-to-movie adaptations this year – I think I’ve only seen a few. My favourite adaptation is Annihilation, based on the book of the same name by Jeff Vandermeer. It does diverge from the book a bit but it was fantastically shot and the acting was so good. I definitely recommend watching it. I also loved To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before, but I haven’t read the book.
Best Animated Feature: (A book that would work well in animated format)
The Spellslinger series by Sebastien de Castell would work really well in an animated format. Four books are currently out and each of them have been so enjoyable to read. These books would translate wonderfully into animation and they could do some really cool stuff with the magic system. I would definitely watch this show.
Best Director: (A writer you discovered for the first time)
Once again I couldn’t pick just one… so my favourite first time authors include Guy Gavriel Kay, Nahoko Uehashi, David Mealing and Sean Russell.
Best Visual Effects: (Best Action in a Book)
Once again I’m sorry for the repeat answer but the first books that come to mind are the Faithful and the Fallen series by John Gwynne. The battle scenes are so well done. Another book that does battle scenes really well is The Wolf by Leo Carew.
Best Short Film: (Best Novella or Short Book)
I haven’t actually read any novellas this year, so let’s move straight on to the next questions.
Best Picture: (Best Stand-Alone)
This one has to go to Circe by Madeleine Miller, which is about the sorceress from Greek mythology. I loved this book and I would highly recommend checking it out, especially if you love Greek mythology. Coming up with this answer actually showed me I don’t actually read a lot of standalones. Maybe I’ll try to read more next year.
Best Documentary: (Best Historical Fiction or Non-Fiction)
I continued reading the Shardlake series by C. J. Sansom and I just love these books so much. The characters are so well written, the time period is interesting and the plot is always compelling. If you love historical fiction mixed with mystery then you need to check these books out – they are so good.
That’s it for today. I love doing this tag to round up the last year of reading, although I have to admit that looking back I haven’t read as widely as I wanted to. Ah well maybe next year :). What are your favourite books from 2018? I hope you are all having a wonderful day and I will see you next time.
thelittlebookowl 