Published posthumously, I'll Be Gone in the Dark is Michelle McNamara's nonfiction account of her journey to unmask The Golden State Killer—a serial killer who wreaked havoc in California in the 1970s and '80s. This book is meticulously researched, as McNamara spent years putting together the pieces of this tragic, true-crime puzzle that ultimately eluded her grasp. The silver lining? Her book created renewed interest in the case that may have helped lead to an arrest.

2018 Rules & Eligibility

The 2018 Goodreads Choice Awards have three rounds of voting open to all registered Goodreads members. Winners will be announced December 04, 2018.

Opening Round: Oct 30 - Nov 04

Voting opens to 15 official nominees, and write-in votes can be placed for any eligible book (see eligibility below). Our special “Best of the Best” category features the 170 past winners of the Goodreads Choice Awards. Write-in votes can not be placed in this category.

Semifinal Round: Nov 06 - 11

The top five write-in votes in each of the categories become official nominees. Additional write-ins no longer accepted. For our special “Best of the Best” category, the top 20 books become semifinalists.

Final Round: Nov 13 - 26

The field narrows to the top 10 books in each category, and members have one last chance to vote!

2018 Eligibility

Books published in the United States in English, including works in translation and other significant rereleases, between November 16, 2017, and November 15, 2018, are eligible for the 2018 Goodreads Choice Awards. Books published between November 16, 2018, and November 15, 2019, will be eligible for the 2019 awards.

We analyze statistics from the millions of books added, rated, and reviewed on Goodreads to nominate 15 books in each category. Opening round official nominees must have an average rating of 3.50 or higher at the time of launch. Write-in votes may be cast for eligible books with any average rating, and write-in votes will be weighted by the book's Goodreads statistics to determine the top five books to be added as official nominees in the Semifinal Round. A book may be nominated in no more than one genre category, but can also be nominated in the Debut Novel category. Only one book in a series may be nominated per category. An author may receive multiple nominations within a single category if he or she has more than one eligible series or more than one eligible stand-alone book.