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
Lucy Evans Instaexplorer: Dragons Rock by Millie Slavidou
Best YA Fantasy
Mya by Missy Sheldrake
Miss Mabel’s School for Girls by Katie Cross
Best YA Paranormal
13 Ways to Midnight series by Rue Volley
Dead by Morning by Kayla Krantz
Best YA Urban Fantasy
Foul is Fair by Jeffrey Cook and Katherine Perkins
Kennedy Awakens by Greg Alldredge
Best Audiobooks
Ice and Embers by Melanie Karsak
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
The Marquesa’s Necklace by PJ MacLayne
Best Short Story
A Dark Covenant by F.B. Hogan
All The Children On The Porch by Dona Fox
Best Fairy Tale
Ice and Embers by Melanie Karsak
Eye of the Beholder by CH Clepitt
Best Fantasy
The Hollow Crown by Jeff Wheeler
A Moth in the Flames by S.E. Turner
Best Historical Fiction
The Day I Saw The Hummingbird by Paulette Mahurin
The Secret Diary of Eleanor Cobham by Tony Riches
Best Holiday Themed Book
A Queer Old Christmas by CH Clepitt
A Haverton Christmas by TL Clark
Best Horror
Dead Lake by Darcy Coates
The Malan Witch by Catherine Cavendish
Best in Diversity
My Dream Woman by CH Clepitt
Promise of the Opal by Lyra Shanti
Best Mystery
The Spyglass File by Nathan Dylan Goodwin
Footprints In The Sand by Pam Lecky
Best Paranormal
Fallen Captive by Aliya DalRae
Red Dot Capers by C.A. King
Best Romance
Regency Love by TL Clark
Sweet William by Sherrie Hansen
Best Science Fiction
The Auctioneer by J.S. Frankel
Andora Pett and the Oort Cloud Cafe by Richard Dee
Best Steampunk
Webley and the World Machine by Zachary Chopchinski
The Last Temptations of Iago Wick by Jennifer Rainey
Best Urban Fantasy
Bentwhistle the Dragon: A Threat From the Past by Paul Cude
The Unhuman Series by Wilkie Martin
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