I keep saying this so often, but I do these tags super irregularly. However, I took the time to put something up last year and want to try and keep this going … So, this is me doing the Mid Year Book Freak Out Tag on the most semi-regular basis ever. Enjoy!

*By clicking on the covers, you’ll be re-directed to the Goodreads pages of the books!*

BEST BOOK YOU’VE READ YET IN 2022

Tough call, tough call. I’ve had some really lovely reads this year already. One of the books that I was most excited about and that luckily turned out to be just phenomenal is The Dead Romantics by Ashley Poston. I’m so glad I got to read that book! It had me crying, laughing and falling in love with the characters.

BEST SEQUEL YOU’VE READ SO FAR IN 2022

Wow, I genuinely haven’t read a single sequel so far this year. I might continue with the Wayward Children series, which I thought had a fantastic start! I’ve mentioned it before though, but the books are super expensive, so I don’t have an actual plan on when I will get to the continuation.

NEW RELEASE YOU HAVEN’T READ YET BUT WANT TO

I’ve read only a couple pages of an ARC for Before Takeoff by Adi Alsaid so far, so I’m going to count it for this prompt. It sounds like something right up my alley, it’s just been a time issue so far and the book was only released a couple weeks ago.

MOST ANTICIPATED RELEASE FOR THE SECOND HALF OF THE YEAR

Okay, do I really need to say it? I have to say it! The Atlas Paradox! I’m one of the biggest fangirls of this series (as proven by this post) and cannot wait to finally get my babies from the Atlas Six back. I miss them so much, even if most of the story is just vibes.

BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT

Hmmm … I suppose Watermelon Sugar was a disappointment. I don’t really understand how it has so many fans, because it makes zero sense. It just says … nothing.

BIGGEST SURPRISE

Open Water by Caleb Azumah Nelson was … unexpected. Told in second person POV, I don’t necessarily think it’s for everyone, but I found it really immersive and touching. I can see great things from this author!

FAVOURITE NEW AUTHOR

Tia Williams convinced me and gained me as a fan with Seven Days in June! No doubt about it! Her writing had such excellent humor, but also so much heart and realness. I’m looking forward to reading more books by her.

NEWEST FICTIONAL CRUSH

Not me having to reuse an answer by picking The Dead Romantics again, but – BENJI ANDOR!!! The man is amazingly attentive, but also driven and a literary editor. I just loved his whole vibe and wish we had gotten more of him in the book. Like, that’s my complaint, not enough Benji.

BOOK THAT MADE YOU CRY

I’m picking a lot of books that deal with the death and/or sickness of a parent. It’s like these stories just find me and every single one of them made me cry. The latest one was This Time Tomorrow by Emma Straub – absolutely fantastic with a sci-fi twist!

BOOK THAT MADE YOU HAPPY

My Mechanical Romance was penned by the same author as The Atlas Six, however, under a different pseudonym. I just love the writing style so much, even though I’ve sort of stepped away from YA a little bit as of late. It had girls in STEM, rivals to lovers and just really cute conversations. I smiled through so many parts of it.

FAVORITE BOOK TO SCREEN ADAPTATION

I have to name two, I can’t stop myself! One for a TV show and one for a movie, because … this is all I ever talk about, right? You can’t just make me choose. Also, I want to note that these are adaptations that I’ve actually read prior to watching, otherwise my selection might have been different.

TV Show: Conversations with Friends – it was really faithful to the material again, just like Normal People, but also expanded on everything and made it a little more in depth or relatable. These characters are still very much flawed, but not as exhausting as in the books. At least to me. Read my full post here.

Movie: Along for the Ride – this was my first experience with a Sarah Dessen story and while I wasn’t super impressed, I really enjoyed the movie. It was cute and lovely and from the looks of it, Netflix keeps pumping out YA adaptations, so, I’m here for it. You can find my full length thoughts here.

FAVORITE POST YOU HAVE DONE THIS YEAR

I know that people would likely suspect that my favorite post of the year so far would be one of my many reading experiments, but it’s actually a spin-off feature in the realm of my blog celeb book club – Books I’d Recommend to Celebs Based on THEIR Taste!
I always complain that I think that the actors pick rubbish books and that I could give them better reads and I stand by that. It was so fun to come up with recommendations based on what I had learned about them and I hope to do more along the lines of this soon.

MOST BEAUTIFUL BOOK YOU’VE BOUGHT THIS YEAR

Have you SEEN the character illustrations in The Atlas Six? Gorgeous. Beautiful. Memorable. My faves.

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

I don’t like to put that kind of pressure on myself, so I’ve done away with “must reads”. Whatever the mood strikes and maybe some stories for experiments. We shall see.

I TAG THEE

I tag whoever wants to do this as well! If that’s you, then I tag YOU!!!

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What did you think of my answers for the prompts this year? How is your reading year going so far? Let’s catch up in the comments!