We’re in the midst of awards season, with the Golden Globes in January shortly followed by Oscars, Grammys, Emmys, and so on. So allow me to present my own book awards, with totally biased opinions and totally bogus categories.

Best American Author whom You’d Swear was British
Martha Grimes has been writing her British murder mystery series featuring Scotland Yard Superintendent Richard Jury for many years. In fact there are now 25 of them. What distinguishes Grimes from so many other (mostly actual British) writers is her ability to blend murder, humor, character study, and bemused wit into each story. All of the Jury series have unique titles that are names of pubs in London or small English villages, and one big highlight for me is the conversation amongst those who patronize the pubs.

Best Irish Police Procedural with Psychological Twists
Tana French will knock your socks off with her dark and twisty stories. Beginning with “In the Woods” (which caused reviewers to call her “an astonishing new voice in psychological suspense”), you see immediately her gift for characterization. And even when the end has come, you know there’s so much more to learn about her main characters. This is probably why French often takes at least one character from each book to carry over into the next wholly unrelated story. French takes her own time to write, and I’m anxiously awaiting her next book.

Best Proper Southern Lady Series
Ann B. Ross, a North Carolina author, gives us the warm and light Miss Julia series. Miss Julia is the outspoken and possibly self-appointed arbiter of society in her small town of Abbotsville. Ross’ stories put Miss Julia in any number of southern jams which we know she will overcome by her wits and spunk. To introduce yourself to this author, start at the beginning of the series with “Miss Julia Speaks Her Mind.”

Best Uplifting Without Being Smarmy Stories
Goodness, this is a tough one. But I finally settled on Chicago author Elizabeth Berg. Although her books are not related, they have the same features. She writes about what I’d call ordinary people coping with the hangups of everyday life. And they’re put in situations that ultimately lead to personal growth, so the endings — if not happy in the conventional sense — are bubbling up with insight, satisfaction, and admiration for her characters. Oops, I’d like to correct one thing: There are two books that are indeed interconnected. These are “The Story of Arthur Trulov” and “Night of Miracles,” — ­­two that you won’t want to miss.

Best Male Author Who Writes Like a Woman
As I read anything by the very prolific Alexander McCall Smith I have to remind myself that he’s male, but I’m not sure why. At any rate, he has three series that are favorites of mine. The first is the Isobel Dalhousie series set in Edinburgh, Scotland. Isobel has an advanced degree in philosophy and she owns and edits a journal of philosophy. At times her internal musings cause her to get bogged down in the life of the mind, but her husband and two sons often bring her back to earth. The second series is 44 Scotland Street, which follows the lives of the residents of this building and its neighborhood. Reading them is like sitting around with your friends and catching up on all the gossip around town. The third series, the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency, is set in Botswana. They are gentle narratives in which nothing happens — and yet a lot happens. You’d have to read them to see what I mean.

Best Spy/Intrigue Series That I Never Thought I’d Like
This category is way out of my comfort zone. Ian Fleming wrote the James Bond series (which morphed into all those movies) starting in 1953 with “Casino Royale.” Fleming had worked in Naval Intelligence during WWII, so his background in international espionage provided a firm foundation for his fourteen Bond novels. As you would expect, our hero Bond is suave and unflappable in the midst of chaos. The villains — mostly Communists — are what villains are supposed to be. The women are beautiful and one-dimensional (so just get used to that and chalk it up to the era in which the books were written). The settings are glamorous and car chases abound. The action is almost nonstop and carefully plotted out so you can’t guess what’s next. You only know our hero will live to fight another day.

Hope all these weird categories will encourage you to try new varieties of authors outside your comfort zone in 2022. Happy reading!

Kaye West recently retired from the Henry County Library System. She enjoys reading, taking daily walks, and spending time with friends.  She lives in McDonough with her husband.