Mid-Year Freakout Tag 2019
Can’t believe we’re more than halfway through the year! I usually track my reading via Goodreads and look at my overall read at the end of the year. But I think checking in midway through the year is good too. It’s nice to look back on my previous reads and plan for my future reads.
So far, I’ve read 20,828 pages across 65 books this year, which blows my mind because my target is 80 books! According to Goodreads I’m 20 books ahead of target which has never happened before. Since starting this blog and joining the #bookstagram community I’ve been more motivated to read and it makes me really happy. In comparison, my overall total for 2018 was 22,729 pages across 77 books.
The mid-year freakout tag was created by ReadLikeWildFire and Earl Grey Books and I’m just following in their footsteps!
The best book you’ve read so far this year
It would have to be a tie between Bearskin by James A McLaughlin, I Am The River by T.E. Grau and The Lost Man by Jane Harper. I’m late to the party as always so the first two books were actually released last year.
The best sequel you’ve read so far this year
Not exactly a sequel but A Book of Bones is part of the Charlie Parker series by John Connolly and it’s an excellent read.
New releases you haven’t read yet but want to
Too many to count! The ones that come to my mind now are Theme Music by T. Marie Vandelly, The Hunting Party by Lucy Foley, Little Darlings by Melanie Golding and Recursion by Blake Crouch.
Most anticipated releases for the second half of the year
The Fearing: Book Two – Water and Wind by John FD Taff, The Butterfly Girl by Rene Denfeld, Full Throttle by Joe Hill, The Institute by Stephen King. Also apparently Adam Nevill has a new book coming out too so I’m looking forward to that!
Biggest disappointment
Admittedly I can be a tough critic but I felt let down by The Hunger by Alma Katsu and If You Can See Her by Ania Ahlborn.
Biggest surprise
I really liked Planetfall by Emma Newman! The description made it sound like it would be hard sci-fi which I’m not fond of, but it’s nothing like that.
Favorite new to you, or debut, author
A favourite new to me author I discovered this year is Michelle Paver – I loved both Dark Matter and Wakenhyrst.
Newest fictional crush
This question made me laugh! Probably Agent Brad Wolgast from The Passage by Justin Cronin, I was upset when his story ends early and the rest of the book is set 90 years later. I even watched the tv series – he’s played by Mark-Paul Gosselaar which is perfect, so of course the show got cancelled.
Newest favourite character
Korede from My Sister, The Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite. I felt like I could relate to her so much.
Book that made you cry
I Am The River, that book put me through an emotional rollercoaster and gave me book hangover for like a week.
Book that made you happy
Carry On by Rainbow Rowell is really cute! I also enjoyed The Dark Game by Jonathan Janz, it’s a super fun horror book.
Favorite book to film adaption
From the new books that I’ve read this year none have been turned into film yet!
Favorite post you have done this year
I started my blog this year so I don’t have a lot of posts yet but here’s a couple:
9 Upcoming Movies Based on Horror Books
Pet Sematary: Then and Now
Most beautiful book you have bought this year
I bought The Monsters We Deserve by Marcus Sedgwick solely because of its gorgeous minimalist cover.
Books you need to read by the end of the year
I have about 15 ARCs/review copies (A Killing Fire by Faye Snowden and The Retreat by Sherri Smith among others) and about 40 physical books of my own to read. Not to mention I keep adding books I’m interested in to my Goodreads TBR which has now reached over 100 books! Help!
That’s my 2019 mid-year freakout tag! Have you read any of the books I mentioned? Do you have any recommendations? Let me know your thoughts!
4 Comments
Anne Simonot
I love Michelle Paver; Wakenhyrst was incredible. Totally my kind of book… creepy, supernatural elements, secret diaries, Gothic vibe. I’d like more people to read it.
I’m a big fan of Jane Harper too, and thought The Lost Man was her best yet. I’m looking forward to Little Darlings… reading it soon, I hope. Also, Planetfall is on my TBR list. In my humble opinion, though, don’t waste your time on The Hunting Party. A few readers (Goodreads, I think) commented on how much it reminded them of Ruth Ware’s first novel, In a Dark Dark Wood, & I thought that was accurate. Only not as good. It left me feeling pretty “meh”.
Love your blog!
Aina
I agree, both Michelle Paver and Jane Harper are fantastic and they’re on my auto-buy authors list now. Good to know about The Hunting Party, I’ll be sure to adjust my expectations. I actually have Ruth Ware’s books on my TBR so I have those to look forward to! Thank you for reading my blog!
Barb (boxermommyreads)
Great tag. I liked Brad from The Passage too and was also sad that he wasn’t in more of the book. I didn’t know the series was canceled but given I only watched the first 4 episodes or so (the rest are on DVR), it didn’t really hold my interest. Do you plan on continuing on? I own books 2 and 3 so maybe I’ll read book 2 in January – The Passage was my first read of 2019 so it might be fitting.
I didn’t care for The Hunger either but can definitely recommend The Hunting Party. I really liked that one.
Aina
Thank you! The show expands the first part of the book and ends at the part 90 years into the future. I have no plans to continue Book 2 and 3 at the moment, but who knows I might change my mind! Looking forward to reading The Hunting Party!