The Third Annual 2019 Book Blogger Awards: RESULTS!! The Official 2019 Winners!!!

Hello this is a very exciting post!!

I’m not even going to write any kind of intro because I know you all are just going to skip this and scroll to see who the winners of the 2019 Book Blogger Awards are, but before you go!!!:

Please read what I write in the beginning of this post. I have a lot of things to say, so it will be a bit long, so either go look at the winners now and come back, or continue reading. What I have to say is really important to me, so I hope you listen!

*NOTE* I decided against announcing the runners-up, because some categories only had three nominees, so you’d know who got the least amount of votes and I didn’t want that.

(Also this is an extremely long post. As in, 4,000ish words long. I’m sorry. I can’t help myself from spouting my love for book bloggers.)

TO ALL BLOGGERS:

Before I announce the winners, I want to make it clear that if you didn’t win any awards, or were not nominated for any, you are not any less of a blogger. Your worth doesn’t come from an award, and you are all so so amazing, no matter what.

And of course, these awards are for fun! There aren’t any prizes, and it’s not an ~official blog award~. These bloggers 100% deserve the appreciation and recognition they received, and these awards not being serious doesn’t diminish that, but the point still stands.

Honestly, I can only look back on this and think of all the things that went wrong and how to improve them for next year. But I really am happy that I asked Joce to host the awards this year, because it’s so touching to see bloggers get so happy from kind words from others, and to see bloggers be appreciated. Plus, it’s been a great way for me to find new bloggers!!

As promised, I compiled of all the nominees into a spreadsheet, to make it available for those who wanted to discover some amazing bloggers. All their blogs are linked and I truly hope you find it useful, or I might actually combust because it took me hours to do everything. CHECK IT OUT HERE!! (The URL is bit.ly/2019BBANominees.)

TO THE WINNERS:

I only have short quick things to say! First of all, so many congratulations, and I’m very happy for you all for getting the recognition you deserve for your work! Second of all, I don’t believe one of you would be rude in any way about this, but just a gentle reminder to be kind. 💗 And be sure to look out for an email from me in the next week or so about winner’s badges!

CHANGES FOR 2020 & FEEDBACK

I’ve done a lot of thinking about this year’s awards. I don’t think I could ever achieve perfection, but there was definitely a lot of room for improvement this year. I’m super sorry I couldn’t apply these things to 2019’s awards, but I hope it makes 2020 a better experience!

Most of these changes are ones I’m definitely making, but the last one is the one I’m not sure about and I would leave to hear feedback on it. If you want to give any feedback in general, please do so in the form embedded below or here!!

CLICK TO SEE!! It’s a little long, so that’s why it’s under a toggle button, but I really encourage you to read them all.

Making all categories mandatory to vote in. I’m doing this so people check out the blogs that were listed, instead of just picking and choosing which categories they want to vote in or which bloggers they want to vote for.
Leaving the voting round open for 2 weeks to allow you to check out all the blogs in order to vote in all categories.
Limiting the amount of times a blogger can be in a category in the voting round. There was… definitely an issue with repeating bloggers this year, and I thought people would try to vote for different people, but that didn’t happen. I’m thinking 2 as the limit!
Letting bloggers only win 1 award. I want to recognize bloggers as many times as I can! I thought I would be fine with bloggers winning multiple categories since it’s been like that in the past, but moving forward I do want to change this.
Allowing for the TOP 4 bloggers of each category to be voted for in the voting round, unless there are bloggers with the same amount of noms so I couldn’t fairly choose one—I would do top 3 or top 5 instead, but not the wild 7 I had going on.
Requiring email AND name to be able to vote (will not be shared). There were some suspicious things with a person voting more than once. Emails are mostly anonymous, but it was obvious the same person voted more than once. If you’re dishonest, I’m going to have to change the rules to prevent that in the future, sorry.
Listing one small book blogger in every category in the voting round if there isn’t already one. This would be adding a blogger and not taking the spot away from another (so top 4 bloggers + small blogger, unless small blogger was in top 4). This would be to make sure that small bloggers are getting the love and not just big ones, but I don’t know if it would be entirely fair?? But I mean small bloggers are already put at a disadvantage so??

And now without further ado… the winners!

BEST TEEN BLOGGER

VICKY @ VICKY WHO READS

Vicky truly is a shining example of how much wisdom (and impact) teens can have. She has so much insight to add to conversations, and her intelligence is unmatched!! And you can really tell how much love she has for books in the relentless way she is always supporting, boosting, and promoting them. This is a truly deserved award!!

“Vicky is just a force to be reckoned with. Not only is she extremely passionate, but she knows her stuff, and isn’t afraid to call out those of us who screw up. She creates such interesting discussions on her blog, and she opens my eyes to things I hadn’t thought about. She’s also educating. She’s just bloody brilliant, really.” —Jo @ Once Upon a Bookcase

BEST ADULT BLOGGER

CW & JOCE @ THE QUIET POND

The bloggers at The Quiet Pond are constantly doing amazing work! One of their most notable features is The Pond News, in which the week’s book news are summed up in a post, and it’s such a great way to keep up with all the latest announcements. And let’s not forget to mention how creative The Quiet Pond is (and how adorable the characters are!).

“CW is just a wonderful book blogger, and someone I love with my whole heart. She is constantly educating her readers and the community as a whole, and really made me question my perspective on certain topics. CW is also a brilliant artist, which you can see from her art […] and also from the design of the Quiet Pond as a whole.” —Taasia @ Librae Paints Pages

YOUNG ADULT

RAIN @ BOOKDRAGONISM

Rain’s blog is a gold mine of well-written, entertaining reviews of a multitude of Young Adult books! She’s always putting out amazing posts recommending the best YA books, and manages to do it so convincingly. Here’s a recent YA book review she posted, and also this amazing list of almost all-YA Asian book recommendations!

“Rain is so good at hyping up books (in the best kind of way!), and every time she reviews something, I really want to read it! I probably get most of my anticipated YA releases from Rain. She’s a great YA book blogger, and an awesome bookdragon in general.” —Xandra @ Starry Sky Books

MIDDLE GRADE OR YOUNGER

LAURA @ GREEN TEA AND PAPERBACKS

Laura does amazing work promoting and boost Middle Grade books, especially diverse ones! So many of the middle grade books I’ve heard of (which are unfortunately low in number) have come from her. Here is a Middle Grade releases recommendations post Laura wrote recently that I think is absolutely amazing!

“When Laura recommends a middle grade, I buy or request, no questions asked.” —Lili @ Utopia State of Mind

NEW ADULT / GENERAL ADULT

MELANIE @ MEL TO THE ANY

Melanie is an ANGEL in this community, and her book recommendations are to die for. And that’s especially true when it comes to adult books, because she has stellar taste and also is extremely convincing in her book reviews! And she just so happens to be the kindest person ever, and the entire book community is a Melanie fan club, in my opinion.

“She’s a blogger, Youtuber, Instagrammer, gamer… I mean, you name it and this girl does it! I love people who share so many of their interests with the world and I think that’s what makes Mel so well-loved in the community. She’s such a friendly and open person, and she has the best New Adult / Adult reviews.” —Sophie @ Blame It on Chocolate

ROMANCE

SOPHIE @ BEWARE OF THE READER

Sophie’s brand is romance and I love it—her blog is just full of romance reads and detailed book reviews! She also posts discussion posts about romance books as well (though it wasn’t posted super recently, I really loved this discussion post in particular). If you’re looking for recommendations, definitely check her blog out!

“Any time you are in a mood to read something light and enjoyable, look no other than Sophie. She reads the best romances and you will never fall short of options.” —Simant @ Flipping Through the Pages

SCIENCE FICTION / FANTASY

LILI @ UTOPIA STATE OF MIND

Lili won the SFF award last year, so her winning it again this year shows just HOW deserving she is of all the appreciation for her work! I truly feel like if you bring up a SFF title, Lili will have already read it (and wrote an amazing review for it). A recent SFF book review of hers includes her review for A House of Rage and Sorrow!

“Who else could I possibly nominate for this? Have you seen all the amazing SFF books Lili reviews on her blog? Have you seen how many she READS? To be honest, she’s my go-to whenever I’m looking for specific SFF recs and I trust her opinions a lot.” —Fadwa @ Word Wonders

LITERARY FICTION / CLASSICS / POETRY

HOLLY @ NUT FREE NERD

Holly is truly one of the first bloggers I think of when I hear the word classics!! Even though I’m not particularly entertained by classics themselves, I’m certainly thoroughly entertained by the posts she writes about them. And she also has a really creative feature called Classic Couple that is definitely worth checking out!

“My friend Holly reads a lot of classics and has a wonderful blog with eloquent reviews, a bit of adventures at times and a lot of wonderful recommendations and interesting discussions, too!” —Marie @ Drizzle and Hurricane Books

MYSTERY / THRILLER

KRYSTIN @ HERE’S THE FUCKING TWIST

Krystin writes detailed, engaging book reviews of mystery, thriller, and horror books, and they are so entertaining to read. And not only does she blog about crime books (and mysteries and thrillers of course), but she also has a feature called True Crime Tuesday and I think it’s super cool how she takes things to a whole other level!

“Krystin’s reviews are honestly comedy gold to read. She also does true crime on her blog, which I find absolutely fascinating to read.” —Kal @ Reader Voracious

BEST BOOK REVIEWS

CHAIMA @ RUN AWAY WITH DREAM THIEVES

If you don’t know who Chaima is, you should, because she’s one of Goodreads’ best reviewers—and for good reason! She is so eloquent and artistic in the way she writes her reviews, and she manages to capture your attention right from the start and hold you in a trance until the end of the review. Some recent book reviews she’s posted include ones for Crier’s War and Gideon the Ninth!

“I think that I love 70% of Chaima’s book reviews more than I love the actual books. She’s so thorough and meticulous in the way she reviews, but she also has a magical way with words and her reviews always end up being a perfect mix of poetic (yes! poetic!) and funny, which is everything I’ve ever wanted.” —Fadwa @ Word Wonders

BEST BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS

VICKY @ VICKY WHO READS

Vicky somehow finds the time to read an extraordinary amount of books, so it makes sense that she has some pretty great recommendations out of the wide selection of books she’s read! Some amazing recommendations posts she’s written include an Emoji Mashup Bot inspired post and underrated LGBTQIAP+ books!

“I think that Vicky is the perfect choice for the book rec award. Not only do I feel like I like a lot of the books that Vicky talks about on her blog, but I also love the detailed recommendation posts that Vicky obviously puts so much time and effort into.” —Annie @ Blossoms and Bullet Journals

BEST DISCUSSION POSTS

SHRI @ SUN AND CHAI

You can always count on Shri to be stirring up conversation on a new topic she brings up, or shedding light on a whole new perspective! She is extremely insightful and thoughtful, and she writes her discussion posts with so much eloquence and depth. Just a few posts you might want to check out include: Ode to the Quiet Woman and Siblings: Hard to Write, More Like Hardly Written!

“Shri is a new but up and coming force in the community, and that’s because she’s such a great advocate for diverse books and voices. She always asks the hard questions and masterfully dissects them in her discussions, but sometimes her rambles are incredibly heartwarming […] Her writing is a delight to read, and it flows so well!” —Caitlin @ Caitlin Althea

BEST BLOG AESTHETIC

KAT @ NOVELS AND WAFFLES

I think we all have to agree that Kat’s blog could be considered one of the wonders of the world! It has such a great design, with graphics to die for. And to make Kat even more extraordinary, she’s done commissioned blog designs for many other bloggers, and they all turn out so beautiful. Check out her shop here! (P.S. She also has a great how-to series on how she manages to make such amazing graphics!)

“She recently changed her blog’s look and even before she did, it was an amazing and gorgeous place that always made me crave waffles!! And her new mini reviews on sticky notes are just so! adorably!! gorgeous!!! She’s also amazing and really nice and it always makes me smile reading her comments!” —JR Lynn @ Eternity Books

BEST BLOGGING / WRITING VOICE

CAIT @ PAPER FURY

Cait truly takes the cake (get it) for one of the staples in the blogging community, and a hilarious one at that!! She’s so entertaining in everything she does, and you can’t help but fall in love with her and her writing voice. Her posts are always so much fun to read and her personality truly shines through her content!

“Cait’s blog was one of the first that I discovered, when I started blogging again, so it will always have a special place in my heart! I really love her blogging voice, it’s so distinct and engaging that I always find myself drawn to her posts and excited when I see another one going up!” —Caro @ Book Cheshire Cat

MOST ENGAGED IN THE COMMUNITY

MARIE @ DRIZZLE AND HURRICANE BOOKS

Marie is an amazing person in general, and she’s just full of kindness and compassion for everyone. She deserves so much recognition for all the time, effort, and energy she puts into making sure everyone feels welcome. I truly don’t get how she does it (she’s superhuman), and I think the entire community can agree that the way she is so active is genuinely extraordinary!

“Marie is so wonderful and always has amazing content, but what impresses me the most is how much time and effort she takes to blog hop and speak to so many other bloggers in the community, it’s really incredible! She makes everyone feel so welcome whether they’ve been blogging for years or are just starting out!” —Becky @ Blogs of a Bookaholic

BEST SOCIAL MEDIA INFLUENCER

CAIT @ PAPER FURY

A second win for Cait! I think every blogger and their mother knows of her, because not only is she an amazing blogger, but she also is on so many platforms and EXCELS on all those platforms. She writes hilarious tweets, posts beautiful Instagram photos, writes fun Goodreads reviews, and publishes entertaining blog posts!

“Cait not only writes amazing novels herself, but she writes fantastic blog posts, hilarious tweets and takes the most gorgeous instagram photos that I am beyond envious of!! […] Cait also adds an unseemly number of books to my TBR every time she posts, so I’d say she’s a pretty good influencer.” —Meeghan @ Meeghan Reads

BEST PERSONALITY

MAY @ FOREVER AND EVERLY

[hides face] Oh hey it’s me.

I feel extremely weird speaking highly of myself, or even copy-pasting something someone else said about me, so I’m just leaving it at this! (But thank you all so, so much. Truly. It means the world to me that my content/I could touch you in some way.)

FRIENDLIEST MEMBER OF THE COMMUNITY

LILY @ SPRINKLES OF DREAMS

I think everyone who has ever talked to Lily for even a second can agree that she just has a genuinely kind and sweet soul. She’s like sunshine in the shape of a human, and she’s truly so supportive of everyone. And she’s always so friendly, willing to cheer you on, and just a delightful person to talk to at any given moment!!

“Lily is so supportive, encouraging, and is always there if I need to talk. She’s such a welcoming person and truly is so sweet. She also has the loveliest blog content and wow, I just love her and her blog so much!!” —Olivia @ Purely Olivia

BEST AT PROMOTING DIVERSE BOOKS

SHEALEA @ SHUT UP, SHEALEA
& FADWA @ WORD WONDERS

It’s fitting that Shealea and Fadwa both tied and won this award, because they both do so much in promoting diverse books and are equally deserving of it!! (And it’s absolutely legendary of them.)

Shealea is constantly promoting diverse books, such as this underrated LGBTQIAP+ recommendations post, and it’s so admirable. She even runs her own book tour company, called Caffeine Book Tours, which puts a focus on diverse (especially Asian) books and encourages others to support these books as well!

“When I think of champions for diversity in the book community (and also for life in general), Shealea’s name immediately comes to mind. […] Shealea is someone who I admire endlessly for her vocal support of diverse reads in the community.” —Tiffany @ Read by Tiffany

Fadwa is always reading and talking about diverse books, whether it be through well-written, thorough reviews or official recommendations posts. One of her most remarkable diverse book features is her TBR Expansion series, where she includes SO many amazing books that fit under a certain theme!

“[…] I love how she goes about promoting not just diverse books, but the diversity and inclusion conversation as well. Her #DiverseBloggersDiscuss feature is amazing and I try to always check back and read those posts. It’s a wonderful initiative!” —Pamela @ Reverie Society

BEST NEW BOOK BLOGGER

XANDRA @ STARRY SKY BOOKS &
CAITLIN @ CAITLIN ALTHEA

Xandra’s content, especially as a newer blogger, is out of this world. (Get it… because space…) She writes such compelling discussion posts, and is also super kind! On top of that, her posts are so much fun to read because of her blogging voice, and it’s crazy to think that she’s only been blogging for less than a year!

“Xandra has such an amazing blog that I always want to read! She has so excellent posts, especially discussion posts, and I know that her blog is going to go far!” —Kay @ Hammock of Books

Caitlin is 100% killing the blogging name, having only started her blog in February! Her posts are super enjoyable to read, and she offers a variety of content, ranging from book reviews to advice posts to discussions. Plus, she is super sweet, and she’s also highly thoughtful and just has so much insight!!

“Her following is small, but I believe that needs to change because dang, girl can blog. Her reviews are highly intelligent, and examine the books at a level beyond superficial enjoyment.” —Kate @ Your Tita Kate

BEST SMALL BOOK BLOGGER

OLIVIA @ PURELY OLIVIA &
TAASIA @ LIBRAE PAINTS PAGE

Olivia is such an extraordinary blogger that you can’t help but be shocked that she has under 1K followers! She consistently posts fun, thought-provoking content, and is also one of the sweetest bloggers I know. Talking to her is truly a pleasure, and she is so well-deserving of this award for all her work!

“Honestly, I was actually shocked that she wasn’t in the 1K+ category! With the wide range of content, her upbeat personality, her outreach initiatives and those LOVELY blog aesthetics … HOW?! Her Instagram account is also incredibly adorable […]” —Jenna @ Bookmark Your Thoughts

LLike Olivia, you truly can’t believe that Taasia has under 1K followers, because her content is absolutely amazing. From her ambitious TBRs to her extremely well-written book reviews, everything on her blog is enjoyable to read and it’s truly a crime she doesn’t have more people following her!!

“I LOVE TAASIA SO MUCH!!! I love talking to her […] and her blog has such enjoyable and cool posts! From her discussion posts to monthly recaps, I adore the content Taasia puts out and how supportive she is! She and her blog are so inspiring and wonderful!” —Ilsa @ A Whisper of Ink

BEST OVERALL BOOK BLOGGER

CW & JOCE @ THE QUIET POND &
MARIE @ DRIZZLE AND HURRICANE BOOKS

CW and Joce put out such great content and are 100% one of my favorite bloggers! CW is always boosting other book bloggers’ posts, and creating projects to uplift their voices, and it’s truly exceptional. Plus, The Quiet Pond in general is loved by so many and for good reason; it’s unique, original, and so comforting. And even more, the book reviews and recommendations posts written are the best of the best, and it’s no wonder that they won this award!!

“With its storytelling narratives and fantasy-themed aesthetics, The Quiet Pond is cleverly unique, wonderfully interactive, and extremely delightful. […] CW is an actual queen to me, and I genuinely aspire to be like her: a relentless champion for diversity and representation, a beacon of hope, and an inspiration to the bookish community.” —Shealea @ Shut Up, Shealea

Marie is also one of my favorite bloggers ever, so I’m a little biased here, but I think the book community will collectively agree that Marie is just an absolutely amazing blogger. She’s an exemplary example of what a well-rounded blogger should look like: kind, supportive, and articulate. From her reviews to her discussions to her book lists, there’s nothing on her blog that you won’t love reading. This award is so well-deserved for all the amazing hard works he puts into blogging!

“Her honesty and the way she makes my own stresses feel more valid and heard is something I don’t experience in many other places in the blogging community. I love the way she writes, her beautiful relationship with her sister, the varied amounts of content she creates, her GORGEOUS blog layout […] and how she isn’t afraid to take the time to respond with honest, heartfelt and sincere comments, not even shying away from writing in-depth comments.” —Nicole @ Thoughts Stained with Ink

I’m exhausted from writing this post (I think it took me at least 7 hours. at least) so I wanna know!! did you find some new blogs through this? what did you think about the awards? be sure to check out the spreadsheet of all the nominees!