Hello and once again it is time for the Mid Year Freak Out Tag! Oh yes, we are already mid way through 2018. Are you as surprised as I am? Now, while I wasn’t actually tagged for this I picked up the questions from The Orangutan Librarian so be sure to check out her blog.

BEST BOOK YOU’VE READ YET IN 2018

Typically, this is such a hard type of question. Having to pick your favorite anything is often a difficult experience. But, this time, I had no trouble coming up with an answer.

I absolutely, completely, and unequivocally adored this book. Daughter of the Pirate King blew me away with the quick pace, lively cast, well developed plot, and strong female characters. Fantastic read.

BEST SEQUEL YOU’VE READ SO FAR IN 2016

If Daughter of the Pirate King knocked my socks off, then Daughter of the Siren Queen put them back on again just to rip them off once more. Oh yeah, bad imagery is my game here at LW. This book was a perfect followup to Pirate King and I could not have been more pleased with how this duology wrapped up.

NEW RELEASE YOU HAVEN’T READ YET BUT WANT TO

This series is honest fantastic. I read the first two, An Ember in the Ashes and A Torch Against the Night, in May and fell in love with Tahir’s writing. This book just came out and I’m trying to wait for it to pop up in my library but the wait is hard. I want to read it so very badly.

MOST ANTICIPATED RELEASE FOR THE SECOND HALF OF THE YEAR

The first audiobook I ever listened to was Strange the Dreamer (Strange the Dreamer #1) by Laini Taylor and I was lost in the world that Taylor had created. It was beautiful and brutal and engrossing. I can’t wait for Muse of Nightmares to come out so that I can lose myself again with Lazlo Strange.

BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT

What. Garbage. I was so looking forward to A Court of Frost and Starlight so as soon as it arrived at my doorstep I dove in. This book turned out to be little more than fluffy filler for the ACOTAR series and I could definitely have done without.

BIGGEST SURPRISE

Before Invictus, I had never read a book by Ryan Graudin. I picked this up on a whim because the blurb sounded a little different and I was bored with the same old fantasy I had been reading. The reviews I had read for it were very mixed so I wasn’t really sure what to expect. I am so glad I grabbed this because it became one of my favorite books that I will be reading again and again. Absolutely wonderful.

FAVOURITE NEW AUTHOR

Sarah Glenn Marsh‘s debut novel Reign of the Fallen came out early in 2018 and it was a very intriguing read. No, it wasn’t perfect and certainly had some slow moving bits but overall I enjoyed it. Very much looking forward to seeing more from Marsh in the future.

NEWEST FICTIONAL CRUSH

Dorian from Maas’s Throne of Glass series. Lets be real here, I really don’t enjoy this series. In fact, I am currently a little more than half through Tower of Dawn and I just want it to be over with already. Why do I keep reading? Dorian. His character has grown so much and been in such pain and I HAVE TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENS TO HIM. Everyone else can bugger off, I just want a whole book of Dorian.

NEWEST FAVOURITE CHARACTER

 

Call me crazy but I love Helene from this series. Granted, I haven’t read A Reaper at the Gates yet but in the first two books, Helene was my star. She had to make such difficult decisions that were at war with her own feelings and hopes and dreams and I just felt for her. Nothing came easy and it seems like everything is stacked against her. Can’t wait to read more about her in Reaper.

BOOK THAT MADE YOU CRY

I have nothing for you here. Sorry. Closest I can get is going back to Invictus because the solution to the character’s overall problem pulled at my heart strings but that is as close as I can get.

BOOK THAT MADE YOU HAPPY

I would be the first to jump up and say that Caraval was one of my biggest disappointments from 2017. In fact, I disliked it so much that I have no intention of continuing the series. Lo and behold, the universe had other plans for me when it dropped an unrequested ARC of Legendary in my lap. What happened when I read it? I fell in love. The story was mesmerizing, the writing flowing and beautiful, and the characters entrancing. I am so happy I read this book and now can’t wait for the third in this trilogy, Finale, to be released.

FAVOURITE BOOK TO FILM ADAPTATION

I only know, off the top of my head, one book that has been made into a film this year and that is Love, Simon. However, I didn’t read the book or watch the movie. Not a big movie watcher overall, to be honest.

FAVOURITE POST YOU HAVE DONE THIS YEAR

Why, this one of course, you silly goose! No, but really, I enjoy most of the posts I write but it has been enjoyable going back and looking at the first part of my year in books.

MOST BEAUTIFUL BOOK YOU’VE BOUGHT THIS YEAR

Everless by Sara Holland may not be beautiful in the traditional sense but it is absolutely eye catching. I love the imagery of the sand city flowing through the hourglass with the delicate metallic scroll work framing the edges of that hourglass. It is beautiful and striking work by the artist.

WHAT BOOKS DO YOU NEED TO READ BY THE END OF THE YEAR

I don’t set a definite TBR, I am very much a mood reader so I can’t really say what I need to read by the end of the year. A few books I’m fairly certain I’ll read by the end of the year are Ruin of Stars (Mask of Shadows #2) by Linsey Miller, The Dark Descent of Elizabeth Frankenstein by Kiersten White, and My Lady Jane (The Lady Janies #1) by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton, Jodi Meadows.

That is it for the first half of 2018! I really loved doing this tag and I hope you all do it, too. I don’t often specifically tag people for these things but this time, I think I will make an exception.

I tag

• Swetlana @ The Caffeinated Bookworm Life
  
• Amanda @ Metal Phantasm Reads
• Brittany @ Perfectly Tolerable
• Steffy @ Little Booky Nook