Book Talk, Etc. — “Inside the Goodreads Choice Awards and Tina’s Mystery & Thriller Reading Challenge”
Hosts: Tina (@tbretc) & Hannah (@hanpickedbooks)
Date: December 2, 2025
Episode Overview
Tina and Hannah dig deep into the Goodreads Choice Awards, share behind-the-scenes insights on how they select and rank books, and bring a round of fresh book recommendations—many pulled directly from the Choice longlists. Tina also details her personal challenge to read all 20 Mystery & Thriller longlist nominees, while both reflect on trends, surprises, and frustrations in the annual reader-voted awards. Notable discussions include thoughts on category fairness, diversity, voting ethics, and their favorite (and not-so-favorite) reads across genres.
Key Discussion Points & Insights
1. The Podcast’s Community Vibe and Patreon Offerings
- Patreon exclusives: End of year mood reader happy hour, “Niche Novels,” a mailbag episode on upcoming releases, and a live reaction event to the Goodreads Choice Awards (06:00).
- Special events: 2025 Winter Reading Guide, and a “Battle of the Winter Blues” readathon in January, involving teams and reading sprints (03:30).
- Emphasis on community: “Our Patreon Group is truly such a wonderful, supportive community of readers and if you've ever wanted your reading experience to be a little more social, this is a great way to find that connection.” (01:00, Tina)
2. Inside Tina’s Goodreads Mystery & Thriller Challenge
- Tina set out to read all 20 books from the Mystery & Thriller longlist.
- As of recording: “I actually just finished my 15th book. So now I have five left to go out of the 20, and I’m pretty proud of it.” (05:44, Tina)
- Challenge inspired episode structure: both hosts share themed recommendations and reading experiences off the longlists.
3. Loving Lately — Bookish Finds and Creators
- Tina: Flypaper Products (bookish merch for gifts; candles, literary-themed items, women-owned, based in Ann Arbor, MI). “This is my podcasting candle. Every time we record, I come downstairs, I light my candle... it just gets me in the podcasting mood.” (07:44, Tina)
- Hannah: Matthew Bounds (@yourbarefootneighbor), content creator who transitioned from TikTok crockpot recipes to publishing a cookbook, and active in charitable giving. “My favorite thing about him is, like, come get you a plate. And he's Southern.” (10:58, Tina)
Book Recommendations & Mini-Reviews
4. Mystery & Thriller: “Don’t Let Him In” by Lisa Jewell (12:48)
- Tina: “I’m a Lisa Jewell [fan]... someday I’d like to read all of her books.”
- Premise: Con artist infiltrates grieving families; multiple timelines and POVs.
- Critique: Confusing audio due to many characters/timelines; revealed references to popular TikTok con stories. “If you want a thriller that is a little bit lighter, this could be good... there’s gaslighting and manipulating, of course, but there’s not outright violence.” (15:35, Tina)
- Star Rating: 3.75
- Ranking: “Falls currently right in the middle” of the 15 finished.
5. Romance: “In a Holidaze” by Christina Lauren (17:20)
- Hannah: “A classic Groundhog Day novel... compulsively readable... saccharine.”
- Tina agrees: “Did you really love it? Can you believe it?... wait a minute, this is addicting. It’s really good.” (21:02)
- Love interest described as “a little bit bland,” but the coziness/family dynamics deliver big holiday feels.
- Both hosts recommend for Hallmark-style, lighthearted romance.
6. Meta Reflection: Do Goodreads Awards Matter to Readers? (22:09+)
- Tina: Likes seeing “Choice” or “Oprah’s Book Club” on covers.
- Both acknowledge: It’s more of a “popularity contest” than a guarantee of quality.
- Voting process discussed: “At the end of the day... the Goodreads Choice Awards are very much a popularity contest.” (23:22, Tina)
- Prediction Games: Tina matched 14/20 Mystery & Thriller nominees (25:01).
“Of course, immediately my brain... am I going to beat that next year? Why does it matter?” (25:09, Tina)
7. Goodreads Choice Awards Mechanics, Critiques, and Trends
- Category quirks: Some authors (Frieda McFadden) have 3 books in one category—a possible missed opportunity for wider representation (26:37).
- Shortlist process: Minimum 3.5 star rating required; “want to read” clicks likely factor (27:34, Hannah).
- Diversity Issues: Noted via Book Riot article that lack of diversity persists despite millions voting (28:44).
- Annual timing: Books released just after the cutoff may feel misplaced in next year's awards; sometimes books are nominated before release (30:34).
8. Award Categories Deep Dive (31:01+)
Horror
- Tina: “I think horror was missing some good ones. I was not surprised to see Stephen King on here, although… I think people will just… vote for the name.” (31:36)
- Votes and favorites: “My vote was Bat Eater and Other Names for Corey Zhang… one of my favorite books of the year, let alone favorite horror books.” (32:37)
- Hannah: Disappointed “The Staircase in the Woods” didn’t make the list, though eligible (33:04). Looking forward to “Lucky Day” by Chuck Tingle.
Fiction
- Tina: Behind on 2025 fiction, but shouts out “Wild Dark Shore” by Charlotte McConaghy (35:20).
- Hannah: “I have read six from the fiction section… thanks to the podcast, I’ve been prioritizing new releases more.” (35:30)
Debut
- Tina: Loved “Woodworking” by Emily St. James and “Home Seeking” by Carissa Chen, but top vote goes to “Dominion” by Addie Kitchens: “If you haven’t read Dominion yet, can you please add it to your TBR?” (36:59)
- Hannah: “I ended up voting for the names under the debut category.” Soft DNF for “Juni" due to magical realism not clicking (37:25).
9. Ethics of Voting in Categories Unread
- Hannah: Doesn’t vote in categories where she hasn’t read a nominee: “I personally won’t, but I don’t have any strong opinions on the ethics of that.” (38:14)
- Tina: May still give a vote to boost a book/author she supports, even if unread (38:25).
Memorable Quotes & Moments
- “At the end of the day, of course, the Goodreads Choice Awards are very much a popularity contest. I think they are a fun thing to follow. We are unapologetically just nerds about it...”
—Tina (23:22) - “There is a lot of characters and that's okay... not only do you have different characters, you've got different timelines too... I was like, Where am I in time? Who am I following?”
—Tina, on Lisa Jewell’s Don’t Let Him In (14:12) - “He's got a cookbook now, and I just think that he's worth paying attention to and supporting.”
—Hannah, on @yourbarefootneighbor (09:10) - “We love Oliver. We would die for this dog. Okay, okay.”
—Hannah, about the dog in Amity (47:45)
Additional Book Reviews and Recommendations
10.
Mystery/Cozy: “Vera Wong’s Guide to Snooping on a Dead Man” by Jesse Q. Sutanto (40:14)
- Tina: Unexpectedly loved this “cozy with a kick,” strong heroine, light food elements, darker themes than anticipated.
Historical: “Amity” by Nathan Harris (43:51)
- Hannah: Civil War/post-emancipation; multiple POVs, adventure, dog Oliver is a standout.
- Genre debate: Is it a western? “It’s definitely a story of the land... fires, kidnappings, runaway wagons and plenty of adventures.” (44:01)
- Clarification on "Western" genre (48:29-49:19).
Mystery/Thriller: “We Are All Guilty Here” by Karen Slaughter (50:05)
- Tina: Initially DNF’d, but on retry: “I loved this book. I loved it very much.”
- Police procedural, large cast, “badass female characters.”
- “There are twists to the very end... I gave it five stars.” (52:45)
Historical/Debut: “The Lilac People” by Milo Todd (54:36)
- Hannah: Set in 1930s Berlin queer community, details on trans ID cards. “It was so sad. It was absolutely devastating... It was just this really important piece of history that was really hard for these people.”
- Audio performance highly recommended.
Shelf Additions: 2026 Early Releases
- Tina: The Valley of Vengeful Ghosts by Kim Fu — “Therapist, storms, creepy house… is it mental illness or is there ghosts? Like I am ready for this one.” (59:24)
- Hannah: Like Family by Karen O. White — Complicated, interconnected family relationships, dramatic secrets, upstate New York setting. “It just sounds… complicated. Exactly, which, you know, I love a complicated family story.” (62:45)
Important Timestamps
- 00:57 — Patreon, December events, and Winter Reading Guide
- 05:14 — Tina’s Goodreads Mystery & Thriller reading challenge
- 08:43 — Loving Lately: Flypaper Products & @yourbarefootneighbor
- 12:48 — “Don’t Let Him In” by Lisa Jewell mini-review
- 17:14 — “In a Holidaze” by Christina Lauren mini-review
- 22:09 — Goodreads Choice Awards meta commentary
- 26:54 — Discussion on nomination fairness, author caps, and diversity
- 31:36 — Deep dive into Horror, Fiction, and Debut categories
- 40:14 — “Vera Wong’s Guide...” by Jesse Q. Sutanto review
- 43:51 — Hannah on “Amity” by Nathan Harris
- 50:05 — “We Are All Guilty Here” by Karen Slaughter
- 54:36 — “The Lilac People” by Milo Todd
- 59:24 — Shelf Additions: upcoming 2026 titles
Tone & Takeaways
Warm, chatty, candid, and deeply nerdy, Tina & Hannah embrace the thrill—and futility—of reader-voted awards, highlight both unsung gems and blockbusters, and inspire listeners to explore beyond their usual genres. The episode encourages participation in their communal reading adventures and celebrates the continued growth of their passionate book-loving audience.
Closing sentiment:
“Everything's better with books.” (63:24)