2019 Mid Year Book Freak Out Tag/Mid-Year Roundup
I’m not really in the habit of doing book tags (too many reviews to write, too little time!) but for this one I decided to make an exception. For one thing, I think it serve as a great jumping off point for a mid-year roundup post, featuring some pretty interesting categories that are fun to think about. Also, normally I would be scheduling a Bookshelf Roundup for today, but seeing as I’m still on vacation (I’m drafting this in advance), it wouldn’t be possible to do my usual “Stacking the Shelves/Recent Reads” summary and I figured this would be the perfect alternative.
So here we go!
Best Books I’ve Read So Far
Although it feels like I’ve been much pickier this year, I still have quite a few 5 star books. So I figured I would spread the love a little, and pick a favorite from each genre: The Wolf in the Whale (Fantasy), The Poison Thread (Horror), Three Laws Lethal (Science Fiction).
Best Sequels I’ve Read So Far
Some say it’s rare for a sequel to live up to or even outperform the original, but here are a few books that beat those odds.
New Releases I Haven’t Read (But Want To)
Um, yikes. We’d be here forever if I listed all the new books I want to read but haven’t gotten to yet, so let’s just pull my top three from the past month or so.
Most Anticipated Releases for the Second Half of the Year
Easy. I’ve known these were my top three since the beginning of the year.
Biggest Disappointments
These books I had high hopes for, but ultimately they did not live up to the hype or my expectations.
Biggest Surprises
It takes a lot to surprise me, but whenever I come across a book I enjoy in a strange genre or one that traditionally doesn’t work for me, that’ll do it.
Favorite New Authors
I’ve been reading a lot more thriller, mystery and suspense this year, so it’s not surprising that I’m adding a bunch of new authors to my auto-buy list.
Favorite Characters
Since I don’t do fictional crushes, I’ve changed these next two questions to favorite characters/least favorite characters. Favorite new characters: Aubrey Finch from Wherever She Goes by Kelley Armstrong, Nick Hayes from One Word Kill by Mark Lawrence, and Aunt Charlotte from The Witch’s Kind by Louisa Morgan.
Least Favorite Characters
Least favorite new characters: Red from The Girl in Red by Christina Henry, Rone from Smoke & Summons by Charlie N. Holmberg, and the entire Quinlan family in The Homecoming by Andrew Pyper.
Books That Made Me Cry
I rarely cry when it comes to books, but so far a few this year have touched me or at least managed to make me tear up.
Books That Made Me Happy
These books have either made me laugh, cheered me up, or filled me with a sense of pleasure and warmth.
Best Tie-Ins
This category is originally “Best Book To Film Adaptation”, but I’m modifying it somewhat to suit my reading habits. Time to admit I don’t get to watch TV or go to the movies as much as I would like to these days…but I do read a crap ton of media tie-ins.
Favorite Post
I mostly only write reviews on this blog, peppering it with a few memes and update posts on occasion. I did however have a lot of fun putting together some advice for new audiobook listeners in this Top Ten Tuesday post: Top Ten Tuesday: Thinking of Trying Audiobooks? Ten Tips for New Listeners. Hope it was helpful!
Prettiest Books I Received This Year
I make no apologies for being a complete cover whore, and I’m not gonna lie, I tend to be drawn to colorful, artistically detailed and aesthetically striking covers that are original and distinct.
Books I Need to Read By the End of the Year
Um, a lot! But will you look at that, I just so happened put together a handy list in my 2019 Rewind Challenge post last week! Check it out to see all the books I’m planning on reading and reviewing before the year ends!
The BiblioSanctum 
I do not think a book has made me cry this year, hmm, no
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It takes a lot, so when a book makes me tear up, I know it’s special.
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The Dragon Republic is one of my most anticipated too! Just a few weeks now!
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Yes! Not much longer to wait!
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Loved reading your answers!
(www.evelynreads.com)
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Thanks, I had fun doing this tag 🙂
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Ooh. I really should do some kind of mid-year thing. I have all kinds of stats, this year!
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Yeah, I don’t do a lot of tags, but one that is focused on a mid year summary seemed very helpful to me 😀
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Glad to see you break out the mold.
Hope the rest of your vacation goes swimmingly…
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Thank you! It was wonderful and relaxing to get away from it all for a week. Just getting back into the rhythm now 🙂
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What an impressive line-up! 🙂
Just to choose a couple of titles, I can strongly recommend Velocity Weapon, one of the year’s best picks so far, and as far as Storm of Locusts goes, I’m reading Trail of Lightning and totally loving it, so I have huge expectations for its sequel – it’s rare that I fall for a UF series from book 1, but that’s the case here, indeed…
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I just finished Velocity Weapon and I had so much fun with it!
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I’m glad you did this tag, it’s a lot of fun to look at your reading mid way through the year. I agree about Recursion, it was so unexpectedly touching and emotional!
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Yeah, that ending really got to me!
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There’s quite a few here I want to try, and some that I loved as well. Polaris was indeed a nice surprise! Girls With sharp Sticks definitely made Suzanne Young an author I’ll watch as well. Same thing w/ One Word Kill.
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Yeah, I keep checking goodreads for info on the Sharp Sticks sequel! I can’t wait to read more from Young.
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Dunno if you’ve read the Wolf’s Call yet, but it was probably my best surprise this year. It was actually pretty amazing! And thanks, I definitely need to read Recursion now!
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Not yet, but it’s on my list! As soon as I can finish all these other books on my tbr this summer, lol…it might take a while, but I’m definitely excited to check out Ryan’s latest.
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I like the three covers you picked for the prettiest so far-all of them are really good. I like doing this tag and seeing what everyone else picked!
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Haha, you know me, I love my colorful and pretty covers 🙂
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I may attempt this tag, too! I’m so intrigued that Saturday Night Ghost Club made you cry. I can’t wait to squeeze that one in! I really need to read The Poppy War so I can read the new one when it arrives.
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I’m glad you did the tag!
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I still need to read The Girl in Red but I’ll admit, some of the reviews I’ve seen have me scared. I don’t know that I’ll ever find another I love as much as Lost Boy! I love that the whole Quinlan family made your list – is that BOTH of them 🙂 If so, I agree, although I do recall liking that book more than you. Hope you had a great vacation!
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Yeah, I wasn’t crazy about The Girl in Red, but who knows, you should give it a try because you might end up loving it! I know a lot of others did. But I definitely felt it fell short of Lost Boy, which I agree was such an amazing book!
And lol yeah, screw the Quinlans. To hell with them all 😛
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So many great books on here! I really need to read The Wolf in the Whale at some point, think I’d like that one.
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I think you’d enjoy that one a lot, actually! It’s not so much fantasy, though it has some mystical elements, but I just loved the historical aspect of it and the setting!
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Really curious to see your thoughts on Harp of Kings! It recently cropped up on my radar, but I probably won’t have the TBR space to get to it this year. Hoping to read Polaris Rising this year though, I’ve heard it’s a lot of fun!
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Haha, same with me and my tbr space – I probably won’t have time to read HoK until closer to the release date this fall, but I hope we’ll both love it!
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I love this post – simply love it. Such a lot of good books. Perhaps a tag I will also take part in.
Lynn 😀
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It was a fun tag, and I hope you’ll join in! I’m curious about your answers for a lot of these 🙂
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I’m so glad you did this post! 😀 I was wondering if you would. Of course, there are loads here I’d like to try, like the Wolf in the Whale. I got the e-book waiting on me.
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Wolf in the whale was incredible and I loved nick hayes! Really want to read sorcery of thorns as well. Awesome answers!
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I love reading the answers that different people have to these questions (: there’s a fantastic list of books here, a lot of which are already on my TBR. Is Storm Of Locusts the sequel to Trail Of Lightning? I’m intrigued by it and plan to read it soon but don’t think I’ve ever seen it mentioned before.
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