Mid-Year Book Freak Out Tag 2019

It’s hard to believe that we are finally in June which means we are halfway through the year already! The older I get the faster the year seems to go.That means it’s time for the mid-year book freak out tag! I did this tag last year and it was fun to see what books I chose for the questions so I decided to do it again this year!

Best Book You’ve Read So Far

I’ve actually had REALLY good luck with my reading so far this year so picking my favorite is going to be pretty hard. I don’t think I can choose between my top two, so I’ll just list them both! I absolutely loved The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon and despite it’s size, I flew through this book! I’m really hoping that she writes more about this world because it was such a large world that I just want more! The other book I fell in love with was Foundryside by Robert Jackson Bennett. I didn’t think that I would like this book because it’s got a more steampunk/technology based magic system, but it was honestly one of the best books I’ve read so far this year. This is also the book that convinced me that my favorite very specific trope is talking objects and people who can hear the thoughts of objects.

Best Sequel You’ve Read So Far

Despite my love of series, there have only been three continuations of series that I’ve read this year which tells me that I really need to get my butt in gear and continue some of the series that I’ve started! Of the three that I read, my favorite was hands down The Reluctant Queen by Sarah Beth Durst. I love how unique this world is, with all the spirits and the single queen who can make them obey and behave. This installment had so many twists and turns and Daleina is still one of my favorite female protagonists ever!

New Release You Haven’t Read Yet, But Want To

Like last year, every new release that I have on my shelves that I haven’t read yet are ones that I really want to read. (Sidenote: all four books I mentioned last year I haven’t read yet! I’m horrible at sticking to TBRs). Some of the new releases I have that I’m really excited to read are: We Hunt The Flame, The Ruin of Kings, Master of Sorrows, The Candle and the Flame, and Peace & Turmoil.

Most Anticipated Release for the Second Half of the Year

I don’t even know what books are really coming out for the rest of the year, so I’m officially the worst book blogger ever. Looking at goodreads, I would need to say I’m most excited for Starsight which is the sequel to Skyward by Brandon Sanderson (which was my third favorite book I’ve read so far this year). I’m also excited for The Storm Crow and The Merciful Crow (there seem to be a lot of crow related releases coming up!)

Biggest Disappointment

Last year I had two books that I really disliked, but this year I’ve had almost no books that I’ve disliked or anything like that. Of all the books I’ve read so far, The Winter Sister was a thriller that I didn’t find very thrilling, and to be honest at this point I don’t even really remember what all happened. I also was expecting to love Isola which was a graphic novel where a queen was turned into a tiger, but there really isn’t much explanation or backstory as to what was going on so I was really confused. I also had some trouble with In An Absent Dream by Seanan McGuire, which was really disappointing since I’ve really enjoyed the rest of the Wayward children series.

Biggest Surprise

I already mentioned that I wasn’t expecting to love Foundryside and it ended up being one of my favorite books of the year so far, so other than that the biggest surprise for me was probably The Diviners. I was a little on the fence about the time period and it being more paranormal fantasy than what I normally read, but I loved how atmospheric and creepy the setting was, and I loved the inclusion of period slang and Evie was such a fun character!

Favorite New Author

If we are talking new to me authors, then Samantha Shannon and Robert Jackson Bennett would be on this list since I read my first books from them this year and loved them. In an attempt to make this list NOT about those two books, I’ll chose some other authors as well! I’ve read two books by Sebastien De Castell this year, Spellslinger and Traitor’s Blade. Spellslinger is the first in his YA series and Traitor’s Blade is the first in his adult series and I am so pumped to continue on with these series because I loved them both so much! I also read both Daisy Jones & the Six and One True Loves by Taylor Jenkins Reid this year, and while she is definitely outside my comfort zone, I’m convinced that I will love anything she writes since all three books I’ve read by her have knocked it out of the park.

Newest Fictional Crush

I’m not really the kind of person who falls in love with book characters, although there have been some exceptions. There haven’t really been too many books this year that I would say reach the ranks of new fictional crush since that would mean they would need to be on the level of say, Rhysand. If I had to choose someone, I’d say Loth from The Priory of the Orange Tree.

Newest Favorite Character

Last year I chose Daleina as my new favorite character, and if I could choose her again I would! BUT since she isn’t a new character, I’ll chose someone else and I’ll try to chose a different book than Priory and Foundryside (but just know that I love each of those characters!) The characters that stand out to me the most as new favorites would probably be the crew from Aurora Rising. Maybe it’s because its the book I finished most recently, but I loved the interactions and relationships between all the characters and how they eventually came to mean so much to each other.

Book That Made You Cry

I don’t often cry while reading books, but if I’m gonna be honest the ending of Aurora Rising made me get pretty teary eyed. I hate repeating books for prompts like this, but this was the ONLY book so far this year that has brought tears to my eyes. I can’t explain why I cried, but if you’ve read the book then you definitely know the part I’m talking about. I didn’t think they would go there with the first book in a series, but I should’ve known after hearing how brutal Kristoff and Kaufman can be when it comes to their characters.

Book That Made You Happy

I think I’m going to go with a slightly different take on this question and mention a book that made me happy because I liked it so much. That would be The Written by Ben Galley, which I read for an upcoming blog tour (keep an eye out for that!) I was a little afraid going into it because while you can find some real gems with self published books, you always take the risk that it may not be something you love. Of course, you run that risk with traditionally published books as well, but I feel that traditionally published books have more eyes on them, you know what I mean? I want to save all my thoughts for my review, but just know that I LOVED this book and it made me so happy that I enjoyed it so much!

Favorite Book to Film Adaptation You Saw This Year

Like last year, I haven’t read and watched any book to movie adaptations. However, I have watched adaptations without reading the book so I’ll mention that! I watched Crazy Rich Asians this year because I don’t really have any intentions of reading the book, and I’m glad I watched the movie because seeing all the bright colors and the story brought to life was amazing! I’m not sure what the book is like, but I’ve seen some people say it is really wordy with descriptions which is why I think film may be a better format for the story.

Favorite Review/Post You’ve Written This Year

Hmmm this is a tough one! I had a lot of fun with my YA and Adult Fantasy discussion, and I always find myself going back to my post on Self Published Fantasy to see what to buy next! I may do a new post on more self published fantasy in the future because there are so many that I didn’t get a chance to add to the list because I discovered them too late to include in the post.

Most Beautiful Book You’ve Bought So Far This Year

I think this one is a tie between the collector’s edition of Throne of Glass and the illustrated edition of A Game of Thrones! They are both books I love so much and they are both stunning!

What Books Do You Need To Read by the End of the Year?

All of them? Honestly I think my answer for this is the same as last years: I have bought far too many books already this year and I want to read them all ASAP. So here is a photo of my shelves, and you can just say that I want to make as big of a dent as possible in my TBR!

 

Normally I don’t tag people, but I would love to see you all try this tag so if you’ve gotten this far through the post, consider yourself tagged!