Mid Year Freak Out Tag 2020

Hi all! And it’s already June… LOOKS LIKE WE MADE IT! Somehow 😉 It’s a bit of an annual tradition for me to do this tag, so I don’t need an invitation (aka I wasn’t tagged) I’m just gonna go for it!

BEST BOOK YOU’VE READ YET IN 2020

There are quite a few contenders, but I have to go for the simply *exquisite* Ten Thousand Doors of January

BEST SEQUEL YOU’VE READ SO FAR IN 2020

Supernova was such a satisfying conclusion! My review’s coming soon 😊

NEW RELEASE YOU HAVEN’T READ YET BUT WANT TO

I’m going with Aurora Burning because I loved the first ones and I *need* the next instalment!

MOST ANTICIPATED RELEASE FOR THE SECOND HALF OF THE YEAR

The Invisible Life of Addie Larue just sounds so incredible! (and let’s be real, I’m a fan of Schwab’s writing, so it’s a must-read for me)

BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT

Queen of Ruin– I just wanted to like this so much more than I did. And it’s the kind of book that I like even less when I think about it

BIGGEST SURPRISE

For pure enjoyment, I have to go with the Diviners series.

FAVOURITE NEW AUTHOR

Patricia McKillip!

NEWEST FICTIONAL CRUSH

Honestly don’t have one, so I’m just gonna plug a (sort of romantic) book I really enjoyed: Enchantment of Ravens

 NEWEST FAVOURITE CHARACTER

Emony from With the Fire on High– she just felt so realistic and likeable to me.

BOOK THAT MADE YOU CRY

I don’t think any book has made me cry (which is a bit of a change) but Wild Swans seriously moved me.

BOOK THAT MADE YOU HAPPY

Bookish and the Beast just MADE ME SO HAPPY!!!

FAVOURITE BOOK TO FILM ADAPTATION

Hmm I think the only one I’ve watched is PS I Still Love You and it was cute (plus I preferred it to the book tbh).

MOST BEAUTIFUL BOOK YOU’VE BOUGHT THIS YEAR

Buying books? That’s a thing you can do?! LOL! Seriously though, I’ve not bought any books since lockdown and the ones I have got aren’t exactly beautiful- so I’m just gonna go with another anticipated release:

(that also happens to look so pretty!!!)

WHAT BOOKS DO YOU NEED TO READ BY THE END OF THE YEAR

I’m being really chill about what I read right now, cos I just think mood reading is the way to go in this (crazy) year. But it’d be nice if I finally read:

Since this is an old one, I’m not tagging anyone specific- just feel free to do it if you like! What I wanna know is what’s your favourite book so far this year? And what are you most looking forward to? Let me know in the comments!

Mid Year Freak Out Tag #3

 

Wow how is it the middle of the year already?!? Where has time gone?! I wasn’t tagged for this, but I was reminded of this annual tradition by the lovely CJR Brit, the brilliant Bibliophalgist and the fab Graphic Novelty– so do check our their posts! Oh and by the way, there will be cheating with the answers, cos I’m a cheeky monkey and can’t help myself 😉 

Best Book You’ve Read Yet in 2019

This would’ve been an impossible choice- but I got round it by seeing what I wasn’t using in other answers 😉 So stayed tuned, cos there are some *fab books* to come!

Best Sequel You’ve Read So Far in 2016

Okay I may be going with two, but they’re by the same author, so it doesn’t count right?!

New Release You Haven’t Read Yet But Want To

There are loads, but this one is everywhere right now and it’s tempting me: 

Most Anticipated Release for the Second Half of the Year

I am literally jittery every time I think about this!!

Biggest Disappointment

No surprises: Atlas Shrugged. Wow, that was painfully hard to get through.

Biggest Surprise

I had a sneaking suspicion I’d like Truly Devious, yet I was surprised by quite how much I enjoyed it! (and how much I want to read on!!)

Favourite New Author

Going with the lovely C. G. Drews/Cait from Paper Fury– I read both her books this year and absolutely loved them!! I look forward to whatever comes next 😀

Newest Fictional Crush

Gotta be Cardan from Cruel Prince– I wasn’t totally sure about the romantic chemistry until I read Wicked King and now he’s got his claws into me!

 Newest Favourite Character

Anyone in a Reid novel. This is gonna be a really strange answer, because I feel like I have a really complicated relationship with these characters, but they just feel so real to me and deserve a *round of applause*.

Book That Made You Cry

Easily Sadie. It reduced me to a puddle on the floor.

Book That Made You Happy

Night of Cake and Puppets had me grinning from ear to ear!

Favourite Book to Film Adaptation

Just caught Good Omens on Prime and thoroughly enjoyed it- but more on that another time 😉

Favourite Post You Have Done This Year

Hmm probably How (Not) to Read Reviews– made myself laugh/*cackle maniacally* when I wrote it 😉

Most Beautiful Book You’ve Bought This Year

Hands down this lovely copy of King of Scars (which also counts as a new release I still need to read…)

What Books Do You Need to Read by the End of the Year

*Coughs awkwardly* Some of you may notice books that have been there a while (years, guys, it’s been years…)

Moving swiftly on… I tag:

Kelly @Another Book in the Wall, Katie @Never Not Reading, Rivermoose Reads, Journey into Books, Dani @Perspective of a Writer, Bookworm Muse, Hammock of Books, Sophie and Bookmark Your Thoughts

That was fun- I didn’t even cheat as much as I thought I would 😉 Anyway, what are the best books you’ve read this year? Which ones made you laugh and which ones made you cry? Let me know in the comments!

Mid Year Freak Out Tag

So I’ve just realised it’s June and we’re coming up to the middle of the year now… AND HOW THE HELL HAS THAT HAPPENED?!!? Be prepared for lots of exclamation marks and CAPITALISATION because I am having a *freak out*!!!

I kind of wanted to do this post before I went away (#priorities), but didn’t think I’d been tagged… until I checked and saw that I was tagged last year and didn’t do it *coughs awkwardly*. So belated thanks to the wonderful Calliope the Book Goddess for tagging me!

BEST BOOK YOU’VE READ YET IN 2018

I’ll admit, I cheated by doing the whole post first and then seeing what I’d left out- because THIS IS TOO HARD A QUESTION!!! Basically any book I talk about as the “best” in this post has a good chance of taking the title at the end of the year (unless I read even better books– which I’d hardly complain about). And even after this preamble, I want to put two books in this category- one fiction and one non-fiction:

 

BEST SEQUEL YOU’VE READ SO FAR IN 2016

Again- choosing one is too difficult- so I’m going with two:

I read and LOVED Girl in the Tower earlier in the year and recently finished Grey Sister (review coming soon) which I liked EVEN MORE than the first one.

NEW RELEASE YOU HAVEN’T READ YET BUT WANT TO

Oh gosh, there are so many, I’m not exactly on top of new releases. But given it’s floating about the blogosphere a lot at the moment and I liked the author’s other book, I’m particularly eager to read Circe

MOST ANTICIPATED RELEASE FOR THE SECOND HALF OF THE YEAR

I actually have an answer memorised for this: Muse of Nightmares- obviously after reading Strange the Dreamer I cannot frickin wait for the sequel!!

BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT

Ah I desperately wanted to like Lonely Hearts Hotel– but it ended up really not being for me. I was recently asked if I read it knowing I wouldn’t like it- the answer to that is obviously not– I don’t go looking for books to dislike. I just think this is really miss-marketed as similar to the Night Circus when it has very different content and reminded me more of Lolita.

BIGGEST SURPRISE

I’ll admit it- I judged The Hating Game very harshly before I read it, but ended up LOVING it!

FAVOURITE NEW AUTHOR

One author that I’ve read a lot of this year, that’s kinda new to me is Rick Riordan. I’ve whizzed through the rest of the Percy Jackson series and can’t wait for more!

NEWEST FICTIONAL CRUSH

That’s gotta be Lazlo Strange from Strange the Dreamer! He’s exactly the kind of character I always get a soft spot for.

NEWEST FAVOURITE CHARACTER

Lira has to be one of my favourite kickass characters of all time- plus it was her voice that called to me and made me fall in love with To Kill a Kingdom!

BOOK THAT MADE YOU CRY

I don’t think I’ve cried over a book as much as Words in Deep Blue EVER before- I basically wept buckets the whole way through the book. If you want to have your heartstrings tugged, man, this is the book for you!

BOOK THAT MADE YOU HAPPY

I laughed so hard at My Lady Jane– I think it’s by far one of the funniest books I’ve ever read!

FAVOURITE BOOK TO FILM ADAPTATION

Ermm I haven’t seen any… in fact I haven’t seen any new releases this year. BUT I did fall in love with the Last Kingdom (which is technically a TV show, but whatever, still counts) even if I read the books after watching it.

FAVOURITE POST YOU HAVE DONE THIS YEAR

One of the scariest posts I’ve ever done was on my complicated relationship with Harry Potter– I was so terrified that I posted it and ran away from the computer once I’d done it… but you know what, it turned out to be one of the most satisfying posts I’ve ever written!

MOST BEAUTIFUL BOOK YOU’VE BOUGHT THIS YEAR

Well, I had this given to me as a gift, but it still counts:

WHAT BOOKS DO YOU NEED TO READ BY THE END OF THE YEAR

I have a few, but the two books on my bedside table, that I don’t have time to read and am now packing to take away, are my top priority:

Oh and of course my kindle is sitting on top, with a gazillion other books in it that I need to read 😉

COOLIOS! I TAG:

Cynic on Wings, Kat, Marie, Dani, Danielle, Beth, Kelly, Ally, Books of Magic and Sam

That was so fun looking back on a lot of the great reads I’ve had so far this year! So I want to ask you, what’s your favourite of 2018 so far? Let me know in the comments!

Mid Year Book Freak Out Tag

Okay, so it’s the middle of the year and I am officially *freaking out*!!! I mean where did 6 months just go?!? With that in mind, I thought I’d do the mid-year book freak out tag, before I turn around and it’s January or something crazy! Thank you so much to That Girl And Her Books for tagging me to do this!

Best Book You’ve Read Yet in 2016

That is such a hard question- I’m gonna go ahead and say Shadow of the Wind one for now- but that’s subject to change- and thankfully this year I have read *lots* of excellent books (so I’m already well on my way to achieving my goal of reading better books this year)

Best Sequel You’ve Read So Far in 2016

Well I’m gonna go with Morning Star and Golden Son- just cos you know how much I loved that series! And if you don’t know, you can check out my reviews for books 1, 2 and 3.

New Release You Haven’t Read Yet But Want To

That’s a tricky one- I reckon one of the ones I especially wanted to read this year was the new Cassandra Clare book that came out yonks ago- I’m addicted to all Shadowhunter books and I still haven’t read this yet! Shame on me!

Most Anticipated Release for the Second Half of the Year

Well that’s got to be an Empire of Storms– cos I’m addicted to the Throne of Glass series.

Biggest Disappointment

Unfortunately there have been a few of those too- I’m gonna pick an unpopular choice here and say Court of Thorns and Roses– even though I love Maas (see above) I wasn’t that impressed with this one.

Biggest Surprise

Gone Girl– cos even though I knew what was coming- since I’d seen the movie- it still surprised me by being an essentially excellent book.

Favourite New Author

Can I say Pierce Brown even though I already mentioned him? Okay, okay, in the interest of fairness I’ll go with Isaac Bashevis Singer as I haven’t given him a mention yet- that and the fact that I’ve given all the books I’ve read of his this year 5*.

Newest Fictional Crush

No new crushes I’m afraid- although I have carried some old ones across from last year: Kell from A Darker Shade of Magic, Magnus from Falling Kingdoms, and I still love Baz from Carry On!

 Newest Favourite Character

You know what I’m gonna go with Theodore Finch- in part just cos I love the name, and also cos I think he’s a brilliantly drawn character.

Book That Made You Cry

Well- I just finished Me Before You…. So enough said really.

Book That Made You Happy

Honestly- most of them! But this one in particular

Favourite Book to Film Adaptation

Sadly, I haven’t seen many films in the cinema this year- but I am really looking forward to this one

Favourite Post You Have Done This Year

Not gonna lie, it was my Worst YA Plans 1, 2 and 3– I’d planned those posts for ages, but was really nervous about putting it out there. When I finally did I was delighted with y’alls response.

Most Beautiful Book You’ve Bought This Year

That’s hard! I don’t think I’ve bought anything  particularly pretty- this one has a particularly attractive cover though (I’m biased- obviously!)

What Books Do You Need to Read by the End of the Year

Okay, so I have said somewhere that this is the year I plan to read War and Peace– and in case you haven’t heard me say that, I’m saying it again now- so you can all hold me to that before the year is out!

And a gazillion other books besides!

That was a lot of fun! I tag:

Marie

Donna

Catia

Zezee

Codie

Kat

Jill

Rose Read

The Quirky Book Nerd

Angies Books Blog

kimmie.gg

Maya the Book Explorer

And *EVERYONE* else!

(unless you’ve already done it)

Hope you all enjoyed that and see you all soon. Until then- can anyone tell me- where has this year gone???