Mid-Year Book “Freak Out” Tag

Hello readers!

So I had been planning on making this blog post, but I got overwhelmed with other things and it totally flew out of my mind. So I am here today to finally get to it.

I wasn’t really tagged, but who cares. I’ll do what makes me happy!

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1. Best book you’ve read in 2017 so far?

So this year I have already read 54 books. Therefore I keep adding to my reading challenge, so it feels like an actual challenge. It’s gone from 75 to 100 to 125… I need to stop. There is no way I can do more than that this year!

Anyways, to the actual question…

I didn’t realize, but this year I’ve read a lot of great books. So many great books that I don’t know what my favourite was… so I narrowed it down to 3.

      

I hope you all understand why I had to mention three books and not one.

Nevernight by Jay Kristoff was everything I imagined it would be, and more. I had been anticipating this novel ever since I heard about the plot (assassin school – uh amazing!). This novel was easily one of my favourites of the year, and I am anxiously awaiting Godsgrave – the sequel.

Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo is an obvious choice. I read this novel pretty early on in the year and then I followed it up with the sequel – Crooked Kingdom. This duology was action packed and filled with amazing characters I grew to love very quickly. It is one of my favourites, entirely due to those reasons!

Empire of Storms by Sarah J. Maas is up there because I wanted a way to represent the entire Throne of Glass series – except I read Throne of Glass a couple days before New Years Day, so I couldn’t include it. The Throne of Glass series was something that I didn’t really know about – until I knew about it. It was such an amazing story that was unexpected, but so so so needed. I didn’t know what to expect with the first novel, and after being pleasantly pleased with that one, everything that followed was amazing as well. I know this series isn’t loved by everyone but it’s certainly loved by me!

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2. Best sequel you’ve read so far?

Since I’ve already mentioned the entire Throne of Glass series, I will refrain from mentioning Crown of Midnight as the best sequel I’ve read this year.

The best sequel I have read this year was Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo. This novel was an amazing conclusion to the Six of Crows duology, and it just made me love the characters so much more than I already did after the first novel. This novel was something that was extremely action packed and eventful, and it always kept me on the tip of my toes, which is another reason for it being so fantastic.

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3. New release you haven’t read yet, but you want to?

A new release that I really, really want to read ASAP has to be Roar by Cora Carmack. I first heard about this novel when one of my friends on Goodreads was RAVING about it. Following that I read the plot summary and have been in dire need of owning and reading it. Since I am a poor university student, it will be a while before I do read it (my TBR pile is too high for me to justify buying more books), but when I do read it, oh lord it will be great!

 

 

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4. Most anticipated release for the second half of 2017?

I’m going to cheat on this too and mention three new releases for the second half of 2017 that I am so excited to come out.

          

One Dark Throne by Kendare Blake is the sequel to Three Dark Crowns! I am anticipating this sequel so bad, mainly because the last novel left off at such a cliffhanger than I don’t know what would happen next, but I need to know. This novel comes out on September 19th, 2017.

Godsgrave by Jay Kristoff is an obvious choice; I read Nevernight last month and it was amazing. Ever since I read this novel, I have been anticipating the sequel because I know it’s going to be just as great as the first novel in the series. This novel comes out on September 15th, 2017.

Tower of Dawn by Sarah J. Mass is the next installment in the Throne of Glass series and it is going to be a novel following Chaol instead of Aelin. I’m interested to see how this storyline plays out, but knowing Sarah J. Maas, it’s obviously going to be a masterpiece and I will probably love it! This novel come out on September 5th, 2017.

As you can see all of my most anticipated novels are all being released in September. This is going to be great for my university student wallet…

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5. Biggest dissappointment?

My biggest dissappointment for the first half of 2017 has to be The UndergroundRailroad by Coleson Whitehead. For those of you who don’t know the premise of this novel; basically, it follows two slaves that escape their master by riding in an underground railroad to a different city. That is the plot, in it’s most basic sense. I, for one, was very interested to see how Whitehead would portray this underground railroad, seeing as how in real life it wasn’t actually an underground railroad. This novel was just a huge miss for me. It was all over the place and I didn’t understand the point of any of the plot points. So yes, biggest dissappointment. 

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6. Best surprise?

I would have to say that my best surprise was The Lunar Chronicles by Marissa Meyer. I know, I know, how could I ever be surprised that this series is amazing. Well, let me just admit that I didn’t think the concept of this novel sounded promising at all. I saw that there were cyborgs and that turned me waaaay off from the idea of reading this series. But then it went on sale for an amazing price and I thought “what the hell, why not?” I’m so glad I gave this series a chance. It really blew my expectations out of the water, I don’t know why I hesitated in the first place.

 

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7. Favourite new author?

I would have to say that my new favourite author, after reading only one of her novels, has to be Lesley Livingston. I know it’s weird to love an author after only one book, but The Valiant was something that I read not too long ago (as in a week ago) and it really blew me away. The concept was something entirely new to me (the whole gladiator thing) and I really loved how it played out in the novel. So yes, go Lesley!

 

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8. Newest fictional crush?

I don’t really have crushes on guys from novels I read. That’s not to say I don’t love them when I’m reading about them, but I just don’t carry that love on after I’m done the novel. 

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9. New favourite character?

I don’t have a favourite character as much as I have a favourite type of character. My favourite type of character is a strong female lead who can hold her own in a fight. Many women fit that role, so take your pick!

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10. Books that made you cry?

This is a no brainer. When Breathe Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi. This is a novel abouta neurosurgical resident who discovers he has cancer, and his process of dealing with his diagnosis and his resilience when faced with life changing news. This was a re-read for me this year and everytime, without fail, I cry during this novel. It’s so bare in it’s emotions you can’t help but feel what the narrator’s feeling. This is one of my all time favourite novels and I highly recommend everyone to read it. 

 

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11. Books that made you happy?

 

I think I’m going to go with Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (IllustratedEdition) by J.K. Rowling & Jim Kay for this one. This illustrated edition of Harry Potter was just so fun to read. Being able to see all the illustrations to go along with the story that I love was something that made me very, very happy. 

 

 

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12. Favourite book to movie adaptation?

This goes to The Martian by Andy Weir. I listened to this novel on audiobook and itmade my experience 10x better than I think it would have been when reading the novel (which I still plan on doing). After reading the novel I watched the movie and I thought it was very well done. Obviously the book had moments that were a bit funnier, but the adaptation was done very well. 

 

 

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13. Favourite review you’ve written?

Seeing as how I started this blog a couple days ago, I haven’t written many reviews so far. Out of those I’d like to say my review for Nevernight by Jay Kristoff is my favourite so far. 

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14. Most beautiful book you’ve bought this year?

 

I have to give this to the Saga Series by Brian K. Vaughan & Fiona Staples. All of these novels have the most beautiful illustrated covers and I love all of them. My favourite thus far is Saga, Vol. 2. 

 

 

 

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15. What books do you need to read by the end of the year?

 

I think these four books are at the top of my list to read by the end of the year, and I will for sure be doing that. 

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Alright you guys, that concludes my Mid-Year Book (Freak-Out) Tag. I tag whoever is reading this to do this tag, it’s really a lot of fun!

Comment down below what your most anticipated books of the (rest of the) year are! 

Thank you so much for reading!

Until next time,