The Frankie Awards are given by a one-judge panel, the judge being me - Frankie Boyko. These are the books that have stayed with me since I opened their covers. They have changed the way I think and see the world, and they are the books I could return to over and over again. On the left you’ll find my top three series, and on the right my top three stand-alones.
The Beartown Series
By Fredrik Backman
Book 1: Beartown
Book 2: Us Against You
Book 3 The Winners
Why I Love It:
Backman writes about humanity more honestly, beautifully, and harshly than any writer I’ve had the pleasure of reading. The characters of this book feel like my family, my friends, my enemies at times, and my neighbors. This series is equal parts devastating and hopeful.
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The Haunting of Hill House
By Shirley Jackson
Why I Love It:
The Haunting of Hill House opens with the single best paragraph in all of literature. Jackson’s mastery of language leads to an eerie, haunting tale that drags you in with every world. I have always loved the gothic’s use of horror motifs - especially that of the haunted house - to interrogate topics like mental illness, grief, and loneliness. Hill House is the book that started this love affair. I read this every year around Halloween, and it scares me to my bones every time.
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The Mirror Visitor Quartet
by Christelle Dabos
Book 1: A Winter's Promise
Book 2: The Missing of Clairedelune
Book 3 The Memory of Babel
Book 4: The Storm of Echoes
Why I Love It:
Intricate worlds, decadent language, and loveable characters to boot - what more could one want from four, thick fantasy books? This series is a sweet treat, translated from the original French, and an absorbing read from page one.
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This Is How You Lose The Time War
By Amal El-Mohtar & Max Gladstone
Why I Love It:
This is one of those books that you simply cannot comprehend the incredible imagination a writer must have to even come up with such a concept, let alone execute it so perfectly. A book told in letters between time traveling agents, this sci-fi novel weaves one of the most beautiful and devastating love stories I’ve ever consumed. Don’t be scared off by the sci-fi of it all, it’s not my typical genre either - but the beauty and simplicity of this novel makes it an approachable step into the genre.
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The Carls
By Hank Green
Book 1: An Absolutely Remarkable Thing
Book 2: A Beautifully Foolish Endeavor
Why I Love It:
It is rare to find a book that actually shifts the way you see the world, and I didn’t expect it to come from a book about a 20th century taxonomist obsessed with fish. Lulu Miller examines her own approach to life alongside the story of David Starr Jordan, producing a modern philosophical text. It helped me understand my own relationship with mortality, with chaos, with the world at large in all its uncertainty. And in addition, it has some beyond gorgeous illustrations.
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Why Fish Don't Exist
By Lulu Miller
Why I Love It:
I know I’ve said that sci-fi isn’t my usual genre, so maybe it’s odd that there are two from sci-fi reads on my awards list. But sci-fi at its best shows us something about the human condition, and these books made me feel seen and brave. True, these books tell an incredible story, but they’re also just fun to read. I have a blast every time I pick them up!
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