The Mid-Year Freak Out Tag – 2019 Edition

I’ve been seeing this tag pop up this past week (you can check out Shanah @ Bionic Bookworm’s post here) and I was so shocked that the year is already half way over! I feel like it’s gone by so quickly, and yet it doesn’t feel like it in other ways (like at work!).

This being my first year blogging, I think this tag is a nice little marker for me to look back at later to see how I’ve done over the course of my first half a year blogging!

Though I’ve been plugging away at my challenges, I feel like there are still so many books left for me to get to! Besides, my TBR is exhaustively long, as always. But let’s go ahead and take a look at how 2019 has been so far:

1. The Best Book You’ve Read So Far in 2019:

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A thing you should know about me: never ask me to pick a favorite of ANYTHING! I can’t narrow stuff down. I just can’t. So feast your eyes: my top 5 favorite books I’ve read so far this year. All for different reasons. It’s been really great, so far! And already, I know if I’m ever pressed to pick a favorite book of 2019…I’ve already failed. Oh well!

2. Your Favorite Sequel This Year:

I was really happy with the first book (Kiss Quotient) and I was pleasantly surprised by how much I loved the sequel, too! I’m counting it as a sequel, even though it deals with completely different characters – it exists in the same world and the main characters of the first are in this one as well. So there! If you haven’t checked out either of this books, you should! They’re amazing.

3. A New Release That You Haven’t Read Yet But Really Want To:

I’ve heard a lot of hype for this book, plus Elizabeth Acevedo just won some major awards for her other book, The Poet X, namely the Printz Award and the Pura Belpré. Pretty major stuff! Plus, this book is about a woman who loves cooking, which I’m super into. So when can I get my hands on this book?!

4. Your Most Anticipated Release for the Second Half of the Year:

Since I got to read a sneak peak of this book, it’s sort of whetted my appetite for more. Plus, its Rowell’s first graphic novel, so I’m really curious how she’ll do. I really like Hicks’ illustrations for it, it looks super cute, and it’s got that fall feel, which is so amazing. I’m excited for October already! Why does it seem so far away?!

5. Your Biggest Disappointment:

I was super excited about the premise of this book – but it just fell flat for me. It relied too heavily on typical YA cliches (like love triangles!) to really appeal to me. I was also disappointed to learn that it’s to be a series, so now I have to decide if I want to invest more of my time with these characters. I’m really on the fence about this, because a part of me doesn’t like incomplete tales, but another part of me really, really didn’t like this book. Sigh.

6. Your Biggest Surprise:

I put this book on my TBR a loooong time ago and had forgotten about it, until I was planning out books to read for my reading challenges this year and it happened to fit a prompt. And I was pleasantly surprised by it. I didn’t expect much from it – I mean, it’s not a very hyped YA book. But I really, really enjoyed it. The audiobook was amazing, by the way, and I just really fell in love with it. I have seen some pretty negative reviews of the following books in the series, but I liked this book so much that I am willing to give them a try anyway. How’s that sound?

7. Your Favorite New-To-You Or Debut Author:

I’m going with new-to-me in this case. I had never heard of Christina Lauren, hadn’t read a single one of their books, but man oh man did I love this book! And I promptly snagged an arc of The Unhoneymooners and devoured that, too! Needless to say, I’m now a fan and will be working my way through the rest of their books and eagerly anticipating any new ones.

8. Your New Fictional Crush:

Hmm, I think there are a couple I could pick for this, but I’ll go ahead and put Josh Im from Josh & Hazel’s Guide to Not Dating! He’s super smart, cute, and adorable. Plus, I have a thing for Korean guys…so there’s that.

9. Your New Favorite Character:

I’m going with Harper Lacy from A Curse So Dark and Lonely by Brigid Kemmerer. I think she’s spunky, loyal, and independent, all qualities that I value. Plus, I think she has a good head on her shoulders and doesn’t fall into the many cliched traps that crop up in YA novels. She’s intelligent, but isn’t a Mary Sue and has her own flaws and weaknesses that keep her from being this superhuman, unattainable role model. She’s awesome and I love her.

10. A Book That Made You Cry:

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So far, no book this year has physically made me cry, but these books made me cry on the inside. They made my heart hurt. I was really emotionally wrecked after reading them, for different reasons. Asking For It made me cry for all the women who have been sexually assaulted and not believed or supported when they come forward, and for all the boys/men being brought up thinking they can treat other people this way and get away with it. As for Buried Beneath the Baobab Tree, not only was it horrifying to read about the kidnapping of all these girls, but also reading about the things they’re subjected to, the brainwashing they undergo, and the brokenness they feel – not to mention that this book is based on real events – the girls kidnapped by Boko Haram have still not been returned. Do not forget this.

11. A Book That Made You Happy:

As I said earlier in this post, I was pleasantly surprised by this book. I really, really loved it. Khai and Esme are so cute together and I giggled numerous times throughout this book as I got to watch them fall in love. If you’re looking for a light, breezy summer romance read, this book hits all the spots. It’s the bomb. I had so much fun with it.

12. Your Favorite Book-To-Movie Adaptation That You’ve Seen This Year:

I find myself shocked to say that my favorite adaptation this year was the BBC mini series of Les Miserables! For those of you who don’t know, I do. Not. Like. Les Miserables. Not the book or the musical, though I’ve not read the book (have you seen how long it is?). I just have not interest in the story or the characters. I’ve seen the musical performed live and was underwhelmed. Unpopular opinion, I know, but it’s the truth. Please don’t hate!

But surprisingly, this mini series, done by the BBC, (and without music, I might add!) was amazing. I’ve heard it’s very book-loyal, and even though I do not enjoy the story or the characters, the actors and the production crew did a good job of bringing me back each week to watch the next episode! I cared! I was shocked! It was a really well done production and if you have any love for Les Mis at all, you’ll want to check this out.

13. Your Favorite Blog Post You’ve Published This Year:

Since this is my first year blogging, I’ve been fortunate enough to be able to try my hand at a lot of different posts and content. It’s been an amazing journey so far and I credit my connecting with so many other awesome book bloggers as a huge part of that. So I am going to tweak this a little and say that my favorite posts have been my Harry Potter-themed Top 5 Tuesday posts, thanks to the wonderful Shanah @ the Bionic Bookworm, who comes up with these themes each and every week. Please check out her blog if you haven’t already! And you can take a look at the aforementioned posts down below!

Top 5 Book Recs for Gryffindors

Top 5 Book Recs for Ravenclaws

Top 5 Book Recs for Hufflepuffs

Top 5 Book Recs for Slytherins

14. The Most Beautiful Book That You’ve Bought/Received This Year:

I was lucky enough to receive the arc of this book, but as soon as I’d read it, I had to anxiously wait for it to be published so I could get my hands on this baby! I love the art deco look of the cover, the book is fabulous, and I’m thrilled that I now own it. If you haven’t checked out this book, you really should. Maybe save it for some spooky reading in October, if you like. But isn’t it gorgeous?! I am a big fan of minimal gold foiling and color style, so this book…it gets me.

15. What Are Some of the Books That You Need to Read by the End of the Year?

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A handful of the books I need to get to this year. I have several that I need to read to satisfy Reading Challenge prompts, several arcs, and some books that I just want to read for my own pleasure this year. It’s a mighty long list, but I wanted to highlight a few that I’m looking forward to reading the most.

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Thoughts & Thanks

Whew! This was a lengthy post, but I’m so glad I did it. I had a lot of fun putting this together and I hope you enjoyed reading it!

Though I like participating in tags, I’m bad at tagging people. My favorite thing is just to say, if you’ve read this post and like it, please consider yourself tagged! And please link back to me so I can check out your post! I’d love to see how you’ve done in your half a year of reading.

As always, thank you for visiting and happy reading!