July 3, 2019

Mid Year Book Freak Out Tag

It is time to review the first half of 2019 in books! We'll start with the Mid-Year Book Freak Out Tag and go from there. I have read 59 books so far this year. Considering that that was my goal for the whole of last year, I'd say I'm doing quite well. Also, it might be hard to answer some of these questions with that many books.

  1. Best book this year. - I have two: Sherwood and A Curse So Dark and Lonely. The character development in Sherwood is extraordinary and A Curse So Dark and Lonely is just brilliant.
  2. Best sequel this year. - I've literally read one sequel this year, and I'm not sure if it counts because I haven't read the first one. But since it's the only one, I'll mention it here: The Boy Next Story.
  3. New release you haven't read but want to. - Naturally Tan by Tan France. This came out in June, and my library doesn't have it yet. It's not like I have all the reading time in the world.
  4. Most anticipated release for second half of 2019 - The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern. Squee!
  5. Biggest disappointment so far. - What Every Girl Should Know. This claimed to be about Margaret Sanger who founded Planned Parenthood, but it didn't go into how she did that. It only talked about her miserable childhood.
  6. Biggest suprise. - A Curse So Dark and Lonely. I expected this book to be really obnoxious. My copy even started to fall apart. But man, was I surprised!!!
  7. Favorite new author. - Meagan Spooner. I mean, she's written other books, but I haven't read any.
  8. Newest fictional crush. - Gray from A Curse So Dark and Lonely. And I'm excited that the next in the series might be from his perspective.
  9. Newest Favorite character - I have two again: Rayne and Delilah from Rayne and Delilah's Midnite Matinee. They were smart, sassy, fun, teenage girls.
  10. A book that made you cry. - Rayne and Delilah's Midnite Matinee. I cried through almost the entire last half of this book. It was so good.
  11. A book that made you happy. - Bunnicula. I read this book repeatedly as a kid. I thought it was so funny. Especially the descriptions of the rabbit. It was fun to relive that.
  12. The most beautiful book you've bought this year. - Courting Darkness by Robin LaFevers.
  13. What books do you need to read by the end of the year. - Ha! How about all of them? Well, all the award books, anyway. Also, I'd like to finish up the Book Riot Challenge.

Now, let's see how I'm going on my challenges:

  1. Read 100 books: I'm over halfway to that goal, so I would say I am on track to meet this one.
  2. Complete the Book Riot Read Harder Challenge: There are 24 challenges on this larger challenge. I have 9 left. I am ahead of the game on this one, too, and I have a plan for most of the rest of the challenges.
  3. Re-read five books: I've re-read two books. That's better than I expected to be doing at this point. One of them was for book club and one was for a Read Harder Challenge. I think I have found a way to work them in with my monthly reading. I am honestly less committed to this goal. If I don't get there, I won't beat myself up. At this point I don't even remember which 5 books I wanted to re-read.

I mentioned reading book club books. So far, I only haven't read one book, so I think that's ok.

Also, I've started a new challenge for myself to read one book that's been sitting on my TBR for way too long. I'm starting that in July, so I'll be keeping track of that from now on.

I don't normally think of myself as having a Type-A personality, but when it comes to books and reading, I am extraordinarily organized.

Did you set any reading goals this year? How are they going? Do you have any answers for my tag?