Since it’s around the middle of the year, I’ve decided to do the Mid-Year Book Freak Out Tag. This tag focuses on all the books you read in the first half of the year. So far this year, I have read 64 books surpassing my goal of 45. You can see more about my reading challenge here if you’re interested.
Best Book You’ve Read So Far in 2020
This was the hardest question of this tag because I’ve read so many amazing books, but I decided to just pick three that I haven’t mentioned previously (Here is my last post on some recent reads where I mention two other favorites of the year). The three I chose today though are, Challenger Deep by Neal Shusterman, The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde, and A List of Cages by Robin Roe.
New Release You Haven’t Read Yet But Want To
There’s been a lot of new releases that have caught my attention lately but the three I’m looking forward to reading quite soon are Circe by Madeline Miller, King and The Dragonflies by Kacen Callender, and You Should See Me in A Crown by Leah Johnson. (I actually have this last one on hold at my library, so I’m very excited to get to it soon.)
Most Anticipated Release For The Second Half of The Year
Two books that I’m looking forward to are Lies Like Poison by Chelsea Pitcher and The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V. E. Schwab. I haven’t read books by either of these authors before, so I’m excited to try them out.
Biggest Disappointment
Sadly I didn’t really like Tin Man by Sarah Winman. The book felt like it was dragging on and nothing really happened the whole story. I did enjoy some of the descriptions of the French countryside, because that was beautifully done, but nothing else in the book really caught my attention.
I also didn’t love A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness. I’ve read from him before and liked some of his other works (Release, The Rest of Us Just Live Here, and The Ocean Was Our Sky), but I felt a disconnection from the characters in this one.
Biggest Surprise
A List of Cages by Robin Roe was a great surprise. I wasn’t quite sure what to think of the book as I started it, but it was beautifully written and had such an emotionally charged storyline that I loved.
Favorite New Author (Debut or New to You)
After reading The Picture of Dorian Gray I immediately picked up more works by Oscar Wilde and I have loved them all. So far I’ve read nine works by him, a mixture of his essays, plays, letters, and poetry and I’ve enjoyed them all. My favorites, besides Dorian Gray, would be The Ballad of Reading Gaol, The Philosophy of Dress, and The Soul of a Man Under Socialism.
His writing is elegant and he tells such great stories. He’s definitely become my new favorite author.
Newest Favorite Character
I have a couple for this one. Hamlet, Basil Hallward (from The Picture of Dorian Gray), Cordelia (from King Lear), and Emma (from Emma). All of these characters were written incredibly well and I felt a deep connection with them.
Book That Made You Cry
There’s been a bunch of emotionally driven books I’ve read this year, but since I’ve already named many of them already, I would say Deposing Nathan by Zack Smedley, especially the end of it.
Book That Made You Happy
Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe by Benjamin Alire Sáenz was an adorable and fun read. I also heard that there’s going to be a sequel to this, so I’m excited to see where the characters will go.
The Most Beautiful Book You’ve Bought/Received So Far
This has to be Circe by Madeline Miller, Wilder Girls by Rory Power, and Crier’s War by Nina Varela. I haven’t read any of these yet, but they all have such gorgeous covers and I’m looking forward to reading them soon.
Books You Need/Want to Read by The End of The Year
By the end of the year, I’m really hoping to read This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar, Dracula by Bram Stoker, Circe by Madeline Miller, Frankenstein by Mary Shelley, and Persuasion by Jane Austen. I’d also like to read a couple more Shakespeare plays, I’ve read four so far this year, but I’m not exactly sure which ones I want to read yet.
This tag was a lot of fun to complete, and if you did/plan to do this tag feel free to leave a link to your post, I’d love to see your answers! If you haven’t done/aren’t planning to do this tag, I’d love to know what your favorite book has been so far this year.