Hello!

As we’re in the midst of awards season, I’ve seen a lot of shortlists for book awards coming out and despite being incredibly active in the bookish corner of the internet, I will admit I’ve only heard of maybe one or two of the books on each list and I find that really intriguing.

My immediate thought is that it’s because I don’t read a lot of, nor particularly enjoy, literary fiction as a genre – it’s just not something that I’d reach for over a romance or fantasy book – I wondered if maybe my perception of the industry is skewed by algorithms favouring my preferred genres or I’m not following the right pages. But I’m also aware that whilst TikTok and Instagram will try to feed me content I’m more likely to engage with, the books I see on the Bookseller website, in the charts section of W.H.Smith or on the tables in Waterstones are not tailored to my personal preferences.

Yet I still haven’t really heard of many of the books being nominated.

So it got me thinking about why so many of the book awards – whether it be from the Bookseller itself, the Women’s Prize for Fiction, the Booker Prize or even the Nobel Prize for Literature – are so focused on literary fiction and don’t appear to take into consideration the books that have found more commercial success?

I guess a similar question could be asked of the Oscars and a similar conclusion drawn – that it’s about the ‘art’ of literature, the experimentation; taking risks, writing about insightful topics, forcing a reader to think and find their own interpretations… Which is everything I hate about literary fiction. My personal taste leans more to relatable romances, expansive fantasy worlds that go beyond human capabilities and writing that makes me feel something without having to sit with a dictionary to interpret all the words – personally, I would say those things are more worth celebrating than flowery writing that sometimes leans too far into being incomprehensible but that I can recognise is entirely due to my preferences.

And my point isn’t that these literary books shouldn’t be celebrated – many readers get the same emotionally evocative reaction from their Booker prize stories and Oscars films that I do from my contemporary romance and urban fantasies, but why aren’t a broader range of genres celebrated in these prestigious awards? Do they think acknowledging smutty romance books will tarnish their reputation? Is fantasy considered ‘ridiculous’? Are horrors and thrillers too ghastly for them?

To me, it reeks of elitism – ‘if you don’t find enjoyment in the titles we deem intellectually stimulating, then we consider you lesser educated’ – but I circle back to my point that it’s not the books that see more commercial success that are included in these celebrations of literature.

(to be honest, I’m still thinking that the whole discussion may be null and void and I’m just unobservant about popular books)

But at the end of the day, everything about reading is subjective – a book that one would consider intellectually stimulating, complex and addressing controversial themes, may be considered to have an easy-to-read writing style, simple plot and everyday themes by another. What one considers cringy, cheesy and overly smutty, another might call heartfelt, sweet and romantic. So does that make all awards null and void? Every book that’s ever been written is going to be considered a 1 star DNF by one reader and a 5 star masterpiece by another, so do these literary awards actually mean anything, when I have more emotional connection with Hannah Grace’s latest college hockey romance than an ambiguous statement on loneliness or Sally Rooney’s latest speech-mark-less chess adjacent release?

I’ve very much answered my own question in a way I didn’t think I would be able to – although commercially there are very different books that are deemed successful, most of these literary book awards are about celebrating ‘art’ and ‘groundbreaking literature’ (which I, personally, would call pretentious, but no judgement…), but at the end of the day everyone’s opinions are just that – opinions, which are completely subjective and actually show little to no indication as to whether you and your precisely unique little brain box will think or feel the same way.

Maybe the Goodreads Choice Awards are on the right lines – they pick the most shelved books in every genre (inclusive) and let their readers decide on which one they enjoyed the most (reflecting the majority public opinion) – I don’t want to praise Amazon, especially as someone who doesn’t even use Goodreads, but I must say I think they are doing at least this one thing right.

What do you think? Do you think the most famous, prestigious book awards are a good reflection of quality or are you more likely to go by the average rating on your book tracking app and the general vibes on TikTok? I’d really love to know!

Thank you for reading,

Sophie xx