Best character name: Sir Bonamy Ripple, "False Colours" by Georgette Heyer
Best book you could use as a weapon: "The Counte of Monte Cristo" by Alexandre Dumas
Best 'how dare you write a first novel this good?': "I Keep My Exoskeletons to Myself" by Marisa Crane
Best book picked up because of a social media post: "If An Egyptian Cannot Speak English" by Noor Naga
Best tragic only novel because the author died of a brain tumour soon after publication: "The Auctioneer" by Joan Samson
Best book I read then gifted to a niece: "Zachary Ying and the Dragon Emperor" by Xiran Jay Zhao
Best book I could never read aloud: "Everything Abridged" by Dennard Dayle
Best book I lent to a friend with a warning not to read one story because of the main character using a sword to pleasure himself: "The Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation" by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu
Best book by an author I discovered because of John Finnemore: "Headlong" by Michael Frayn
Best mystery novel with a detective who's a little weirdo: "The Village of Eight Graves" by Seishi Yokomizo
Best book in which someone is crushed to death by giant gears: "The Mill House Murders" by Yukito Ayatsuji
Best book with an autistic protagonist in spite of when it was written: "Brother to Dragons, Companion to Owls" by Jane Lindskold
Best book with a main character who shares the name of a friend: "The Jasmine Throne" by Tasha Suri
Best book set in a parallel dimension: "Ada or Ardor: A Family Chronicle" by Vladimir Nabokov
Best book I've owned for 20 years and finally read: "Dragon Sword and Wind Child" by Noriko Ogiwara
Best sequel: "The Dragon Republic" by R.F. Kuang
Best book in translation from a translation: "The Howling Miller" by Arto Paasilinna
Best book where a tiger mauls a clown: "Stars of Chaos" by priest
Best tiny collection of short stories: "Instead of Three Wishes" by Megan Whalen Turner
Best book where talking about it gave me an excuse to mention Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service: "Guardian" by priest
Best memoir by a man who tried to kill Peter Sellers: "Adolf Hitler: My Part in His Downfall" by Spike Milligan
Best work in translation about how much Agamemnon sucks: Emily Wilson's translation of Homer's "The Iliad"
Best book by someone I first knew of through old school webcomics: "The Twisted Ones" by T. Kingfisher
Best road trip novel: "The Road to Roswell" by Connie Willis
Best book I subscribed to a service for the purpose of reading: "Healthy Choices" by Lydia Bugg
Best dinosaurs: "Cosmonaut Keep" by Ken McLeod
Best 'huh I forgot I preordered that' book: "Beast in the Shadows" by Edogawa Rampo
Best book by an author living her best life: "Ascendant Sun" by Catherine Asaro
Best book with a protagonist who definitely isn't gay: "The Talented Mr Ripley" by Patricia Highsmith
Best book I was explicitly told to read by a friend: "A Psalm for the Wild-Built" by Becky Chambers
Best manga: Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service
Best book with multiple clowns: "Nights at the Circus" by Angela Carter.
Best book where a man finds out his hand has been cut off when it’s thrown at him: "Heaven Official’s Blessing" by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu.
Best book by an author who tried to do a military coup: "Life for Sale" by Yukio Mishima.
Best manga: Kurosagi Corpse Delivery Service.
