Bookish Academy Awards 2020

It’s time for the Oscars this weekend, so I thought this is the perfect time to do this post, with our own version of the Academy awards for books and I’m so excited to share all my winners with you. I’m using the same questions that I chose in my last year’s awards post, which you can find here.

The tag was originally created by BOOKadoodles.

Best Actor:
“Best Male Protagonist”

 

This was actually a pretty easy choice to make from among all the books I read last year, but I still couldn’t choose between Ian Graham from The Huntress who dedicates his life to catching Nazis who’ve been able to escape after WWII, and Silas Bershad from Blood of an Exile who is an exile with the only duty to kill dragons. So, basically my award goes to a Nazi hunter and a dragon slayer.

Best Actress:
“Best Female Protagonist”

 

This was actually a tougher category for me because I read too many books with amazing female characters and I love all of them. But ultimately I chose two amazing women who have to fight the world to get what they deserve and are the epitome of resilience – Lady Tea from The Bone Witch trilogy and Rin from The Poppy War.

Best Cinematography:
“Best Plot Twist”

 

Both Descendant of the Crane and Jade City had some amazing twists and turns that made me anxious and kept me on my toes every step of the way.

Best Costume Design:
“Best Book Cover”

There are many gorgeous looking book covers among my 2019 reads but the golden beauty of King of Scars is unbeatable.

Best Supporting Actress and Actor:
“Best Male and Female Sidekicks/Supporting characters”

 

Titania from A House of Rage and Sorrow, and Kitay from The Dragon Republic are undoubtedly my favorite side characters of the year because the way they support Esmae and Rin respectively is absolutely amazing and that’s the kind of friendship I love unfolding on the page.

Best On-Screen Kiss:
“Best Couple/Romance”

Now this is the easiest question ever because no one can beat my darlings Alex and Henry from Red, White and Royal Blue. I love them so much.

Best Original Screenplay:
“Most Unique Plot/World”

 

Three Parts Dead has one of the most unique worlds I read in 2019 whereas This is How You Lose the Time War has one of the most imaginative plots I read, so I had to choose them both. And the lovely coincidence is that they both share the same author.

Best Adapted Screenplay:
“Best Book-to-Movie Adaptation” OR “A book that should be adapted into a film”

I happened to watch The Witcher last year and absolutely loved it, and it was actually the show that made me want to read the books. I’ve only recently managed to finish The Last Wish but I’m very excited to read the rest before we get season 2 of the show next year.

Best Animated Feature:
“A book that would work well in an animated format” OR “Best Graphic Novel” OR “Best Children’s Book”

I didn’t read many Graphic novels last year but the very relatable and poignant Good Talk was definitely the most memorable.

Best Director:
“A writer you discovered for the first time”

 

I’ve known about both Ronan Farrow and Ta-Nehisi Coates for a while but never got the opportunity to read their writings until very late 2019, and why am I not surprised that they are considered so prolific. Their writing is very thought provoking and extremely important and I can’t wait to discover more of their work.

Best Short Film:
“Best Novella” or “Short Book”

I actually read quite a few novellas and short books last year but nothing really messed with my mind as much as The Test did. Now when I think about this book after last year’s UK election results, it scares me even more.

Best Picture:
“Best Stand-Alone”

Another easy choice because Sorcery of Thorns is one of my favorite YA fantasies of the year and I kept wishing there would be more in this world.

Best Documentary:
“Best Historical Fiction” OR “Best Non-Fiction”

I read many amazing non-fiction books last year but one I haven’t talked about much on the blog yet is Killers of the Flower Moon. It’s a harrowing read and the author brings light to one of the most horrific time periods of 20th century Oklahoma.

Best Original Soundtrack:
“Best Audio book” or “Best Book in Verse”

Rachel Maddow narrates Blowout with her signature meandering storytelling style and I was utterly captivated. Definitely my favorite audiobook of the year, but Michelle Obama’s Becoming is a very close second, though I didn’t finish it in 2019.

Best Foreign Film:
“Best diverse author” OR “Best book with Diverse Representation”

I actually had a great year reading diverse books and it was difficult to choose between them all, but I’m going for Steel Crow Saga because it depicts the diversity within an Asian inspired world. This was important to me because many people ignore the fact that Asia is not a monolith and I loved seeing the reality represented a little. And this book also has a very queer normative world and I loved it. I’m so glad to have discovered such a wonderful author.

I Tag:

Dany || Ahana || Krisha || Jane || Prachi || Anyone else who enjoyed reading this post.