Tag: Golden Squirrel Awards

Golden Squirrel 2020 Indie Book Awards

Book Squirrel announced the third annual Golden Squirrel Independent Book Awards on December 28th, 2020.

These are the books or series that Book Squirrel has deemed the best in their genre from those read and reviewed on this blog in 2020. 

This is not a voting or popularity contest. It’s entirely subjective, based on Book Squirrel’s excellent taste. Book Squirrel has been as fair and impartial as a squirrel can be in awarding the winners with a 2020 Golden Squirrel Gold or Silver Award. 

There is a Gold and Silver award given by genre, and an award for Book of the Year. 

Best Children’s Books

Ronaldo and the Flying Reindeer Academy by Maxine Sylvester

Book Squirrel’s Review

Lucy Evans Instaexplorer: Dragons Rock by Millie Slavidou

Book Squirrel’s Review

Best YA  Fantasy

Mya by Missy Sheldrake

Book Squirrel’s Review

Miss Mabel’s School for Girls by Katie Cross

Book Squirrel’s Review

Best YA Paranormal

13 Ways to Midnight series by Rue Volley

Book Squirrel’s Review  

Dead by Morning by Kayla Krantz

Book Squirrel’s Review

Best YA Urban Fantasy

Foul is Fair by Jeffrey Cook and Katherine Perkins

Book Squirrel’s Review

Kennedy Awakens by Greg Alldredge

Book Squirrel’s Review

Best Audiobooks

Ice and Embers by Melanie Karsak

Book Squirrel’s Review

The Damien Dickens mystery series by Phyllis Entis

Book Squirrel’s Review
Book Squirrel’s Review

Best Cozy Mystery

Cirque de Slay by CeeCee James

Book Squirrel’s Review

The Marquesa’s Necklace by PJ MacLayne

Book Squirrel’s Review

Best Short Story

A Dark Covenant by F.B. Hogan

Book Squirrel’s Review

All The Children On The Porch by Dona Fox

Book Squirrel’s Review

Best Fairy Tale

Ice and Embers by Melanie Karsak

Book Squirrel’s Review

Eye of the Beholder by CH Clepitt

Book Squirrel’s Review

Best Fantasy

The Hollow Crown by Jeff Wheeler

Book Squirrel’s Review

A Moth in the Flames by S.E. Turner

Book Squirrel’s Review

Best Historical Fiction

The Day I Saw The Hummingbird by Paulette Mahurin

Book Squirrel’s Review

The Secret Diary of Eleanor Cobham by Tony Riches

Book Squirrel’s Review

Best Holiday Themed Book

A Queer Old Christmas by CH Clepitt

Book Squirrel’s Review

A Haverton Christmas by TL Clark

Book Squirrel’s Review

Best Horror

Dead Lake by Darcy Coates

Book Squirrel’s Review

The Malan Witch by Catherine  Cavendish

Book Squirrel’s Review

Best in Diversity

My Dream Woman by CH Clepitt

Book Squirrel’s Review

Promise of the Opal by Lyra Shanti

Book Squirrel’s Review

Best Mystery

The Spyglass File by Nathan Dylan Goodwin

Book Squirrel’s Review

Footprints In The Sand by Pam Lecky

Book Squirrel’s Review

Best Paranormal

Fallen Captive by Aliya DalRae

Book Squirrel’s Review

Red Dot Capers by C.A. King

Book Squirrel’s Review

Best Romance

Regency Love by TL Clark

Book Squirrel’s Review

Sweet William by Sherrie Hansen

Book Squirrel’s Review

Best Science Fiction

The Auctioneer by J.S. Frankel

Book Squirrel’s Review

Andora Pett and the Oort Cloud Cafe by Richard Dee

Book Squirrel’s Review

Best Steampunk

Webley and the World Machine by Zachary Chopchinski

Book Squirrel’s Review

The Last Temptations of Iago Wick by Jennifer Rainey

Book Squirrel’s Review

Best Urban Fantasy

Bentwhistle the Dragon: A Threat From the Past by Paul Cude

Book Squirrel’s Review

The Unhuman Series by Wilkie Martin

Book Squirrel’s Review

Book of the Year


For its combination of original story line, characterisation, excellent writing, and ability to carry the reader to a different time and place, the award for BOOK OF THE YEAR 2020 goes to

‘Mya’ by Missy Sheldrake

Book Squirrel’s Review

Congratulations to all the winners!

Golden Squirrel Awards 2019

Book Squirrel has read and reviewed some fantastic books this year. While not every book can receive an award, Book Squirrel presented the third annual Golden Squirrel Awards to books in twenty different genres across a variety of age ranges, interests and styles on December 31st, 2019.

Just to make it clear, this is not a contest that people can vote on. This is an entirely subjective and preference-driven selection process. Book Squirrel knows what he likes, and that’s what he reads. When he reads, he always leaves a review. And here on the Book Squirrel blog, he awards gold, silver or bronze acorns instead of a star rating system. 

At the end of the year, he chooses the best of the books he has read and reviewed, and gives some nice shiny awards to the wonderful authors who entertained and enlightened him in the past twelve months. 

You can be sure that the winners of Golden Squirrel Awards are excellent reads, and worthy of recognition. 

Click on the awards below to navigate to the Book Squirrel review of each book.

And the winners are…

Book of the Year!

Best Children’s Book: 

Best YA  Fantasy:

Best YA Paranormal

Best YA Sword and Sorcery:

Best Audiobook: 

Best Contemporary:

Best Cozy Mystery:

Best Fairy Tale:

Best Fantasy:

Best Historical Fiction:

Best Holiday Themed Book:

Best Horror:

Best LGBTQ+ Book:

Best Mystery:

Best Non-Fiction:

Best Paranormal:

Best Science Fiction:

Best Short Story:

Best Steampunk:

Best Urban Fantasy:

Congratulations to all the winners!

New Release: ‘Mya’ His Majesty’s Elite Book 1 by Missy Sheldrake

‘Mya’ is a standalone prequel to the Golden Squirrel Award winning ‘Keepers of the Wellsprings’ fantasy series by Missy Sheldrake. It is a magical high fantasy adventure for the whole family. 


Find ‘Mya’ His Majesty’s Elite Book 1 here.

Her voice is her power. 

As the daughter of a vagabond scoundrel, aspiring minstrel Mya has spent her childhood wary of her magical voice while traipsing through dangerous jungles in pursuit of her father’s dream—fortune and glory.  

She never imagined Pa’s latest scheme would have her tangling with thieves, sailing across the world on a ship full of pirates, kissing a prince, meeting the foxy elf of her dreams (literally), and dodging the grasp of the most dangerous Sorcerer in Cerion, all the while wondering: Where is Pa? 

A mysterious note promising he’ll meet her soon pushes Mya toward options she never considered before. She could go on living at the mercy of her father’s endless plots, or create the home she’s longed for in Cerion, and finally embrace the power of her own voice.

Find ‘The Keepers of the Wellsrpings’ series here.

Missy Sheldrake is an epic daydreamer and a muse of positivity who weaves worlds full of character-driven, complex fantasy adventures.

In 2014, she dusted off an unfinished, Tassy Walden Award-winning manuscript from her college days, started writing her first novel, Call of Kythshire, and never looked back. In four short years, she completed the five-book Keepers of the Wellsprings series, an epic high-fantasy young adult adventure that was awarded the Golden Squirrel Independent Book Award in 2017 for Best Fantasy!

When she isn’t writing, Missy can be found creating fantastical artworks in paint and clay, wandering hidden forest paths, and concocting plots for imaginary people who are beyond real to her.

Find out what she’s up to next at http://www.missysheldrake.com, on Instagram @m_sheldrake, on Twitter @missysheldrake, and on Facebook as Author/Illustrator Missy Sheldrake