The mid year freak out tag was created now a few years ago by Ely from Earl Grey Books, and Chami from her channel Chami, formerly Read Like Wildfire. And I’m somewhat grateful to the Book Junkie Trials, as many of the books making the list, I read in July for the readathon. Now, on with the tag! (You can either scroll down and read, or watch it below on YouTube.)
1. What is the best book you’ve read so far this year?
Air Awakens by Elise Kova has to be the best book I read this year so far. It really took me away. As mentioned in my book review, I was a bit worried going in, but I could not stop. I was hooked on this book from start to finish.
2. Best sequel you’ve read so far this year?
I started with a Darker Shade of Magic maybe last year. Then finally picked up A Gathering of Shadows earlier this year, and wow! cliff hanger! So I needed to know what happens. I loved how A Conjuring of Light leads to the end, and then wraps everything up. Best. Sequel. No question.
3. New release you haven’t read yet, but want to.
I don’t even remember when this book was originally released, my days have basically been one big blur for a while now. I didn’t grab the book when it first came out, but I have recently purchased this wanting to pick it up. The hard part is how long the book is. It is a beast. And I don’t have a lot of free time to just sit and read, so I’ve been a little intimidated by the book.
4. Most anticipated release for the second half of the year.
I stumbled across Free the Darkness by Kel Kade last year as a kindle unlimited book. This is the first book of the King’s Dark Tidings series, and it is self published. This book was so good, I immediately grabbed the other books, and Kel Kade has become an auto-buy author. This book, Fate of the Fallen, will be the first book of a new series she is working on for Tor. While I would like to know what happens next in the King’s Dark Tidings, I’m also excited for this new series.
5. Biggest disappointment.
I was excited for this book as it is a bit historical fiction, and takes place in Scotland. My family tree leads back to Scotland and it has such wonderful landscapes. I enjoy books and would like to find more taking place in Scotland. Except when I listened to the audiobook of this, I just could not connect with the characters. I think I made it a little over half way through the book before calling it, and putting the book down for good.
6. Biggest surprise.
I didn’t expect to love this book so much. This book has been on my shelf for several years, and I’ve just never picked it up expecting nothing more than a 2 or 3 star read. Then I ended up giving it 5 stars and towards the end, needed lots of tissues.
7. Favorite new author. (Debut or new to you)
For this I’m going with Elise Kova, author of Air Awakens. She has 5 books in this series, and a bunch of other books. I discovered her in early July when I picked up Air Awakens for the Book Junkie Trials. I was immediately hooked on this book and these characters. I am looking forward to reading the rest of this series and checking out some of her other books.
8. Newest fictional crush.
I don’t have one. Like I don’t have a fictional crush right now.
9. Newest favorite character.
For this, I’m going with Annika from the Guardians trilogy by Nora Roberts. Annika is a mermaid who has been given legs to walk on land and meet up with 5 other people who all end up becoming friends, to find 3 lost stars and return them to a lost princess. She is a bit naive since she has spent her life in the water, she doesn’t know what some things are on land and learns about cooking and ends up loving to cook. She dislikes fighting, but at the same time has this like edge about her.
10. Book that made you cry.
I don’t know what I was expecting when I borrowed My Life Among The Underdogs by Tia Torres from my library. Tia narrates the audiobook which I enjoyed. She talks of life, training animals for movies, and how she got started in rescuing Pit Bulls. Even knowing what to expect for a few of the chapters, as I’ve watched some of the show Pit Bulls & Parolees which follows life at her rescue, Villalobos, now in New Orleans, Louisiana, I still balled my eyes out. Maybe only a few minutes in to the book, I teared up. I started crying so many times, but I still kept going back to the book to find out what else she would talk about.
11. Book that made you happy.
Hunted by Meagan Spooner made me happy just because of how much I enjoyed it, and because of how long it took me to realize and remember it was a Beauty and the Beast retelling. This book took such a twist, I wasn’t reminded of Beauty and the Beast until I was over half way through the book.
12. Most beautiful book you’ve bought so far this year (or received)
Sometimes less is more. I picked up The Red Sea by Edward W. Robertson as a Kindle Unlimited book. I still haven’t read it, but would like to. But as for the beauty I see in the cover, I’ve always liked books with not a lot going on, or almost monochrome color schemes. This one falls into the latter category, where the cover is mostly green, with just a bit of red and some black.
13. What books do you need to read by the end of the year?
Oh so many!
I would like to read The Lord of the Rings books, starting with The Hobbit and all the way to Return of the King. I may have mentioned this a couple times now, but I have yet to read these books, or watch the movies.
I’d like to read Poppy War by R.F. Kuang, which I’ve recently purchased.
Of course I also want to read Fate of the Fallen by Kel Kade. This one may be a bit more tricky to slip in since it comes out November 5, which is basically end of year for us at work and there is always a rush at the end to finish all the projects. No more time for interruptions or other projects to come along. New projects must wait, and most of the projects in progress must be finished.
14. Favorite Book Community Member.
I’m going to name a few here.
Jenna Moreci – author. Provides great advice on writing on her YouTube channel, and has a no nonsense way about it. She’s funny, and won’t hold back on the swearing.
Caz, Little Book Owl – book reviewer. Caz is one of the first booktubers I came across one fateful day on YouTube. I love her recommendations videos, and her reading vlogs.
Beth – book reviewer. I stumbled across Beth from twitter actually. Other people I was following kept liking or retweeting her tweets and they were good ones. She probably has a recent tweet that will make you laugh or at least smile.
Berls – book reviewer. She’s on and off, but when she’s on I enjoy her blog posts.
