Bookish Academy Awards 2016

The Oscars were on Sunday. I don't watch them. I go on the Internet the next day and look at all the pretty dresses, but I don't actually watch the Oscars. Regardless, I like the history of the awards, and I love movies. Not in the same way I love books, but I can appreciate beautiful cinematography with the best of them, as well as witty dialogue and beautiful costumes. And, well, I'm a sucker for musicals. Anyway, this isn't really a tag, but I thought I would host my own Bookish Academy Awards here on Bookworm Basics. This was created by Little Book Owl. I changed some of the categories to fit me, so I'll put a little asterisk next to the ones I changed. To make things simple, I will only use books I read in the year of 2016, hence the "2016" in the title. Maybe I'll do this yearly.

And so, here is: The First Annual Bookish Academy Awards here at Bookworm Basics!

Best Actor: Cameron Wolfe (Underdogs)
(Best Male Protagonist)
I love Cameron Wolfe from Underdogs by Markus Zusak. There's just something about this boy that went straight to my heart. Zusak has the most lovable main characters I've ever read, and Cameron Wolfe is no exception. 
Also in the running were: 
Alexei Kalugin (The Tsar of Love and Techno)
Aaron Rowe (The Dead I Know)
Kaz Brekker (Six of Crows/Crooked Kingdom)
Count Alexander Rostov (A Gentleman in Moscow)

Best Actress: Citra Terranova (Scythe)
(Best Female Protagonist)
Neal Shusterman knows how to write female characters better than most female authors do. I loved Citra; she reminded me of a female version of Connor Lassiter. She was smart and funny and utterly badass. Hands down my favorite female protagonist of the year.
Also in the running:
Kady Grant (Illuminae)
Inej Ghafa (Six of Crows/Crooked Kingdom)
Joana Vilkas (Salt to the Sea)
Sadie Kingston (The Lies About Truth)

Best Cinematography: The Tsar of Love and Techno by Anthony Marra
(Best Writing)*
Here's another one I changed because I couldn't for the life of me figure out a book with a good plot twist. So I went with best writing because it fit better and also because I loved this book so much it needed acknowledgement. If you haven't read this book it comes highly recommended.

Best Costume Design: Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo
(Best Book Cover)
I feel like Six of Crows is that movie that everyone loves and expects to clean up but only ends up winning like one or two awards-and one of the awards is Costume Design. I say this because at least something from Six of Crows always came up whenever I thought about any of these categories, but there was always just another book that did it better. But this book is well deserving of best book cover. Everything about it is just beautiful, and I gasped out loud when opening the Amazon box it came in for the first time. Definitely a winner.
Other contenders include:
Glitter (Aprilynne Pike)
Illuminae (Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff)
Shadow and Bone (Leigh Bardugo)
The Night Circus (Erin Morgenstern)

Best Supporting Actor and Actress: Jesper Fahey (Six of Crows/Crooked Kingdom) and Ella Malikova (Gemina)
(Best Male and Female Sidekick)
One boy and one girl for this one. Jesper because I love him, and Ella because she's such a badass.
Other contestants:
Earl Jackson (Me and Earl and the Dying Girl)
Genya Safin (The Grisha Trilogy)
Ruben Wolfe (The Underdogs)
Ruth (Never Let Me Go)
Scythe Faraday (Scythe)
Mona (The Memory of Light)
AIDEN (Illuminae)
Mel Mitchell (The Rest of Us Just Live Here)

Best Original Screenplay: Burial Rites by Hannah Kent
(Most Unique Plot)
I just put down the first book I could think of, because it was wholly unique and honestly, I can't think of any other book to fit this category.

Best Adapted Screenplay: Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller
(Best Play)*
I wasn't sure what to say for this one because I only watched like one movie adaptation in the year of 2016 and it kind of sucked (it was A Walk in the Woods, if you're curious). So I changed it to best play, even though I only ever read one play. However, it was a damn good one, so I decided to honor it with this award. I'm sure the estate of Arthur Miller is greatly honored.

Best Animated Feature: Sisters by Raina Telgemeier
(Best Graphic Novel)*
I read two graphic novels last year and that was enough for me. This was one of them. As someone who has a sister, I liked it just fine.

Best Director: Anthony Marra
(A writer you discovered for the first time)
For an author I didn't discover until December, he sure shot up my list of favorites. His writing style is perfect, and he is honestly now an auto buy. His work is perfection.
Other possible choices include:
Amor Towles
Leigh Bardugo
Courtney C Stevens
AS King

Best Visual Effects: The Grisha trilogy by Leigh Bardugo
(Best Action in a Book)
Yeah, I didn't know what to say for this one, but I liked the magic system in this trilogy, so I guess that counts for action?

Best Musical Score: TS Eliot
(Best Poet)*
Another one I didn't know what to say for! Because again, I don't watch movies based off books. So I went with best poet, because this year was the year I discovered the work of TS Eliot, who is now probably my favorite poet. Hollow Men is my favorite poem of his, I think. And since tomorrow is Ash Wednesday, I think my choice is appropriate. 

Best Short Film: The Dead I Know by Scot Gardner
(Best Novella or Short Book)
I really loved this book. It's an obscure Aussie book, so it's kind of unknown, but damn Aussie authors know how to write! I've only ever come across one Australian author who hasn't worked for me.
Other possible candidates were:
Anna and the Swallow Man (Gavriel Savit)
The Last Execution (Jesper Wung-Sung)
The Ocean at the End of the Lane (Neil Gaiman)
Shackled (Tom Leveen)

Best Picture: The Road by Cormac McCarthy
(Best Stand-Alone)
The reason I chose this book should be obvious. It was beautiful and bleak and heartbreaking and highly, highly recommended.

Best Documentary: Please Kill Me by Legs McNeil and Gillian McCain
(Best Non-Fiction)
I love nonfiction, but haven't read much this year. This book was great. Seriously the most punk rock book I've ever read. Highly recommended, but viewer discretion is advised.

So what are some of your choices for these categories? Do you agree? Disagree? Talk to me!