Seeing as the Olympics were recently upon us (though I didn't watch it and won't be able to see the USA skate team when they go on tour, boo), I thought it would be fun to snurch this tag from Katja! I've seen it making the rounds lately and it looks delightful. Therefore I'm going to attempt to remember all the books I read last year (thank you, GR Year in Review 😆) and hand out some awards to the characters contained within said pages.

(Now that we're past my rambly speech, the basic idea is that you answer the questions using characters from new-to-you books that you read in 2025 (no rereads).)

And, uh, I may be reusing some books for these awards, because I didn't read nearly as many books as Katja, and some of them could fit several of these 🫣 also last year I read a lot of nonfiction and rereads! Ack!

Most Relatable Character

I'd say Thalassa D'Acton from A Noble Companion by Katja 😉 We both struggle with body image - I HATE being a five-foot, overweight little dumpling - self-doubt, depression, and the like. And we're both single, though I really haven't struggled with that at all.

Most Pure Animal Companion

Kalil the penthomoth from Sir Quinlan and the Swords of Valor (Chuck Black). I love Androcles-type friendships, and Kalil is highly lovable in his very ugly way 😆

Fiercest Fighter

Sir Rowan in Sir Rowan and the Camerian Conquest (also Chuck Black) - him and Sir Lijah both. Read it and you'll know what I mean.

Am I Surprised That I Love You?

Dally from The Outsiders (again, hehehe). In all seriousness, though, I didn't like him at first, but he really grew on me as more layers were revealed, and in the end I loved him (loved him even more after a reread). He made me cry more than once 😭

Best Sassmaster

Mitch in Preacher on the Run by Jayna Baas. He's delightfully hilarious, and some of his banter reminds me of my boss. 😂 ALSO, he's a circuit rider, so in addition to his sass and little-brother-ness, he's thoroughly grounded in the Word of God.

Best Antihero

Dice from The Guild of Thieves by Jaiden Phillips. Ack, I loved that kid 🥰 (and I need to start the ARC of Book 2!)

The Best Friends of All

Hands down, the gang in The Outsiders. Found family (yay!) and they're all really realistic characters with more layers revealed the more you think about them (yay!) and SUPER devoted to each other (yay!) . . . 'nuff said. 💛

The Best Villain to Hate

The camp commander (I think? I can't for the life of me remember his name) from The Auschwitz Escape by Joel Rosenberg. At any rate, the guy who pursued the escapees and tortured other prisoners for information after their breakout. I believe he was a real person (or based on someone), so it makes sense how evil he was, but yikes. 😬

Best vs. Worst Parents

Best parents: the Knies from Trains and Tulips by Savannah Jane McCrary. They're loving and involved and actively doing stuff to help the Resistance along with their kids!

Worst parents: the Cades in The Outsiders. They were simply horrid (even though Mrs. Cade only made one thankfully brief appearance) and I don't see how in the world any parent could hate their own child like that. ☹️ Johnny never did anything to deserve that! All he wanted was love, it hurt him that they didn't care when he ran away, he'd even rather have them yelling at him or hitting him because it meant he wasn't being ignored. 😭

Most Swoonworthy Ship

Robert and Magdalen Booth from Preacher on the Run. They're the sweetest married couple and I love them 🥰

And I know, technically a married couple isn't a ship, and they're more sweet than swoony, but I actually read very few books last year with any shipping potential in them. So there.

Most Precious Must Be Protected

JOHNNYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY

Johnny is a precious smol bean and must be protected at all costs 🥹 #staygold 💛 #doitforjohnny 🫶

Honestly Surprised You're Still Alive

Dice again! The poor kid got dreadfully beat up, shot and stabbed, wandering around in the rain while wounded, and at death's door multiple times. By rights he should be dead several times over. 😅

Award for Making the Worst Decisions

The Hardy Boys in plenty of their books, lol. 😆 Some books are worse than others - The Bombay Boomerang was pretty bad, but I can't remember if they were exceptionally dumb in that one.

Most in Need of a Nap

Tom Swift Jr. from the series of the same name. That guy works like a madman with nowhere near enough sleep. (Hey, hey, stop looking at me like that . . . I'm not as bad as he is!)

Want to Read More About You

Lol, there are several I could choose, but I'll go with the Trains and Tulips crew! As long as the book was, I wanted to read more about them, especially the shenanigans they got up to in the Resistance. 😊

I'm not going to tag anyone specifically but snurching is highly encouraged! 😁