2011 Rainbow Award Winners

This year was the biggest yet for the Rainbow Awards. Run by the wonderful Elisa Rolle, the awards are judged by volunteers from all over the world. This year there were more than 300 books nominated, and over 100 judges involved!

I've worked with Elisa as a judge for the past 2 years, and I really like the way the program works. Each judge reviews up to 5 books, and assigns a score (1-10) for Setting Development, Characters Development, and Writing Style. Instead of a committee debating their favourites, and swaying each other's opinions, multiple judges review each book independently, and the aggregate score is used to determine the winners.

If you're looking for a new read, take a few moments to check out the complete list of winners. As or the the categories I always watch, the winners were:

Best Bisexual/Transgender Contemporary

1) Justine Saracen - Sarah, Son of God
2) Ryan Loveless - Building Arcadia
3) Ben Monopoli - The Cranberry Hush

Best Bisexual/Transgender Sci-Fi / Paranormal / Fantasy

1) L.A. Witt – Static
2) Penelope Friday – Thrace
3) Lauren P. Burka - Up For Grabs 2

Best Bisexual/Transgender Debut Novel

1) Ryan Loveless - Building Arcadia
2) Elliott DeLine – Refuse
3) Ben Monopoli - The Cranberry Hush

Best Bisexual/Transgender Novel

1-tie) Justine Saracen - Sarah, Son of God
Catherine Ryan Hyde - Jumpstart the World
2) Ryan Loveless - Building Arcadia 
3) Elliott DeLine – Refuse


Congrats to all involved! I've already had the pleasure of reading a few of these reads, and I'm definitely adding a few others to my TBR pile.♥