Mid-Year Freak Out Tag

BEST BOOK YOU’VE READ IN 2019

With the Fire on High by Elizabeth Acevedo – Such a fresh take on YA. Rooted in reality, real life issues, a fierce heroine and rounded out by great supporting characters and food descriptions that will make you drool. Also very little romance – it’s there but not the focus.

BEST SEQUEL YOU’VE READ IN 2019

In a total shock to me – I’ve only read a few sequels this year. I’m steering clear of series lately so my pick was the cute little novella – As Kismet Would Have It by Sendhya Moon.  This follows up on Dimple & Rishi, who have very differing ideas about marriage and what that means for their future. I loved seeing this discussed in YA!

NEW RELEASE YOU HAVEN’T READ YET, BUT WANT TO

This is hard – I haven’t been paying attention to new releases, instead reading backlist titles. I’ going to pick two that Shannon from It Starts at Midnight reviewed recently – The Wilder Girls by Rory Power & The Last Word by Samantha Hastings.

MOST ANTICIPATED RELEASE FOR THE SECOND HALF OF 2019

I may not be paying attention to upcoming books too much but there are two that I’m DYING to read!

The Queen of Nothing by Holly Black – if it sucks I will cry & Ninth house by Leigh Bardugo – I hope it’s as creepy as they say.

BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT

The Girl in red by Christina Henry. I’ve been wanting to try her books for a long time and I thought for sure this was up my alley and everyone LOOOOVED it, but I barely made it through.

BIGGEST SURPRISE

The Dreamer series by Adriana Herrera. I read these based on Olivia’s Catastrophe’s reviews expecting the usual romance tropes but was wowed by how well written and complex this series is. Herrara does this neat little thing where she gives the couple a HFN early on and then makes them work for it! Diverse characters, wonderful family and friends – I just adore it! And it was fantastic on audio!

FAVORITE NEW TO YOU OR DEBUT AUTHOR

Hands down – Elizabeth Acevedo. I was blown away by  the intensity of The Poet X and then by the lighter, but no less impactful, With the Fire on High. You must read her books on audio because Acevedo’s narration takes things to the next level!

NEWEST FICTIONAL CRUSH

via GIPHY

Ummmm….I don’t get fictional crushes but I adored Emoni from With the Fire on High and Nesto from American Dreamer. Both have so much integrity and perseverance – moving forward despite the odds.

NEWEST FAVORITE CHARACTER

See above!

BOOK THAT MADE YOU CRY

via GIPHY

I’m a cold hearted bitch – I rarely cry. The Poet X, and The Fever King by Victoria Lee got me pretty close though. What the children went through in those two books broke my heart.

BOOK THAT MADE YOU HAPPY

The ending was a bit of a dud for me – but The Unhoneymooners by Christina Lauren made me laugh and smile most of the time so I’ll go with that one.

FAVORITE BOOK TO FILM ADAPTATION

I don’t really watch them so I’ll stick with Love, Simon which I did a re-watch of last month and love.

FAVORITE POST YOU'VE DONE THIS YEAR

Another tough question for me – I’m a pantser – so I write them at the last minute and then mostly forget what I wrote soon after lol

I enjoy doing the Tell Me Something Tuesday posts because I get to vent a little, people tend to comment on them more and I love hearing other blogger pov’s

I also like random posts where I talk about things outside of books.

*Note: I'm horrible at self promotion, as you can see.

MOST BEAUTIFUL BOOK YOU'VE BOUGHT THIS YEAR

I haven’t bought many books but Death Prefers Blondes by Caleb Roehrig is gorgeous and bright in person.

I didn’t buy it (I received it for review) but The Fever King is STUNNING!

BOOKS YOU NEED TO READ BY THE END OF THE YEAR

All of them???? lol

I’ve been tackling my TBR for over a year now. I started at about 149 physical books and I’m down to about 50. (moving cross country does a real good job cutting that number down. You’re welcome for the influx of donated books FL library. lol)

Here's my full Goodreads list of what I read for 2019 so far.

And my reading challenge progress:

2019 Reading Challenge

Karen has read 42 books toward her goal of 50 books.

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42 of 50 (84%)

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