Mid-Year Book Freak Out Tag | 2018

I've had the beginnings of this post sitting in my draft folder for weeks, just waiting to find the time to finish it. So here we are in the second week of July and I figure if I don't do it now it's going to turn into something like the Two-Thirds of the Year is Gone Book Freak Out. And since that doesn't exactly flow off the tongue, I better get busy and get this done.

1. BEST BOOK YOU'VE READ SO FAR IN 2018

    
I'm totally cheating (yes, on the very first question) but I'm picking one adult novel and one YA. Because after agonizing for the last five minutes between these two... why not go with both. I'm living on the edge, people. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo is a total tour de force from Taylor Jenkins Reid. I feel like she should just retire now (#notreally) because how could she possibly ever top this? Autoboyography by Christina Lauren gave me All. The. Feels. I fell in love with Tanner and Sebastian and my heart ached for both of these special people. This became an instant favorite.

2. BEST SEQUEL YOU'VE READ SO FAR IN 2018

I'm going with the second book in Emma Chase's Royally series. Henry and Sarah from Royally Matched were both characters I loved and their story was priceless. Plus, the audio narration was sheer perfection.

3. A NEW RELEASE YOU HAVEN'T READ YET BUT WANT TO

      
Uh, how much time do we have... ? I'll keep it to just three: The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah, Leah on the Offbeat by Becky Albertalli and 9 Days & 9 Nights by Katie Cotugno. I've been meaning to read these but various factors have prevented that. You know, Life and whatnot. ("Life is not whatnot." Sixteen thousand bonus points if you can name the movie that quote came from.)

4. MOST ANTICIPATED RELEASE FOR THE SECOND HALF OF 2018

Easy-peasy. Jennifer L. Armentrout's continuation of the Lux series. The Darkest Star releases on October 30, 2018.

5. BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT

That would probably be Here So Far Away by Hadley Dyer. It really fell flat for me.

6. BIGGEST SURPRISE

Y'all know that I'm not typically a fantasy reader. It's just not my genre of choice and it takes a lot for me to pick up a fantasy novel. But the synopsis of The Cruel Prince grabbed me and I took a chance. And it ended up being my biggest surprise of the year (so far). I loved this tale that crossed the mortal and Fae worlds, where plotting, scheming and political intrigue was the order of the day.

7. FAVORITE NEW-TO-ME AUTHOR

    
The writing duo of Christina Lauren has me firmly under their spell. Autoboyography became an instant favorite and Love and Other Words sealed the deal. I'm excited to read more.

8. NEWEST FICTIONAL CRUSH

I'll go with Mal from Kylie Scott's Stage Dive series. His book, Play, was my favorite of the series and I loved his big heart and crazy sense of humor.

9. NEWEST FAVORITE CHARACTER

Auggie from Wonder. So, so precious.

10. A BOOK THAT MADE YOU CRY

Again, how much time do you have? I cry in half the books I read. LOL But for the sake of brevity (like I'm really concerned with that at this point - bahaha!) I'll go with Autoboyography. I remember shedding some serious tears for Sebastian during one scene in particular.

11. A BOOK THAT MADE YOU HAPPY

Love Scene, Take Two was All Kinds of Adorable and I read most of it with a big smile on my face. Teddy and Bennett were so sweet and basically the epitome of the heart eyes emoji.

12. FAVORITE BOOK-TO-MOVIE ADAPTATION

It's not like I've seen a lot of movies this year - in fact I think I've only been to the theater twice. And - surprise, surprise - both times were to see the same movie. :) So picking my favorite adaptation is easy. But even if I'd seen all the adaptations this year, my answer would be the same: Love, Simon. They did an ah-mazing job at translating one of my favorite books to the big screen and managed to capture all of its charm and sweetness and humor and heart. 

13. FAVORITE POST YOU'VE DONE THIS YEAR

Oh geez, seriously? I feel like I've already been working on this post for a year and a half and now I'm supposed to peruse every post from the last six months? Gah! Without actually looking (not happening), two come to mind: my review of Autoboyography and my post about my father

14. MOST BEAUTIFUL BOOK YOU'VE BOUGHT THIS YEAR

One of my favorites covers so far this year. The Boy & His Ribbon by Pepper Winters.

15. BOOKS YOU WANT TO READ BY THE END OF THE YEAR

         
         
Um, all the books? Is that an acceptable answer? No? Okay, then I'll go with: Full Tilt by Emma Scott, The Crown's Fate by Evelyn Skye, Archer's Voice by Mia Sheridan, More Than We Can Tell by Brigid Kemmerer, Roomies by Christina Lauren, Tides of Honour by Genevieve Graham, Restore Me by Tahereh Mafi, and The Smallest Part by Amy Harmon.

Have you read any of the books I've talked about? 
What's the best book you've read so far in 2018?

32 comments

  1. Two-Thirds of the Year is Gone Book Freak Out - that's a good one! I was getting dangerously close to that as well!! You've reminded me that I REALLY need to read Autoboyography. SO MANY BOOKS to read!!

    Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction

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    1. I hope you'll love Autoboyography as much as I did, Nicole!

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  2. I loved this post! As if I didn't already have the desire to see Love, Simon, reading that you loved it so much that you saw it twice makes me want to see it even more.

    Lauren @ Bookgirl Secrets

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    1. I hope you'll have a chance to see it soon, Lauren! They did such a great job with it. :)

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  3. Great picks! I loved Evelyn Hugo and Autoboyography too. Christina Lauren's books are so good! Cruel Prince was a pleasant surprise for me too!

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  4. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo is one of those books I love so much I have been pushing everyone and their mothers to read it. Autoboyography was SUPER-GOOD, and wow, I'm also incredibly excited for The Darkest Star, and I'm hoping it'll receive more buzz as we get closer to the pub date. Luc is one of the most epic characters JLA has created, imo. So glad The Cruel Prince was a positive surprise - that's one of my favorites of the year. And yes, Auggie is SO PRECIOUS, I loved both the book and the movie. More Than We Can Tell is phenomenal, not as good as the first book, imo, BUT still a strong read. Great post & good luck on your reading goals for the rest of the year. :)

    Veronika @ The Regal Critiques

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    1. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo blew me away. And the audio version was done so well. I am crazy excited for The Darkest Star and you're so right - Luc *is* an epic character! He had so many great scenes/lines in the previous books. :) I still need to see the movie version of Wonder.

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  5. I haven't read any of these but I want to read Leah and The Great Alone. My favorite book this year so far is Freshwater by Akwaeke Emezi. Thanks for sharing this post!

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    1. I'm really excited to start The Great Alone. Krisitn Hannah never disappoints.

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  6. The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo is one that has surprised me how much people love it. I definitely want to read that one before the end of the year because I feel like I'm missing out on something special.

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    1. It really got a lot of attention and became such a huge hit. And is *still* getting attention. What's great is that it's all totally deserved. :) I hope you get a chance to read it soon!

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  7. You read The Seven Husbands! I just put myself on a waitlist for that book because I’ve seen it EVERYWHERE recently. I’m waiting for The Cruel Prince, too. I don’t love fantasy either, so it’s good to know that another fantasy non-lover enjoyed it.

    Aj @ Read All The Things!

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    1. I totally made an exception for The Cruel Prince - and am so glad I did. I will say that I thought the first 50 pages or so were a little slow (after the initial chapter which was pretty exciting). I ended up switching to the audio version and that did the trick. From that point on I was hooked.

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  8. Autoboyogrophy...yeah. That was a good one!

    I didn't love The Cruel Prince as much as everyone but was still surprised but how much I did. I don't read fantasy or fae books very often.

    Karen @ For What It's Worth

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    1. Fantasy rarely appeals to me. I like my books rooted in reality, thank you very much. :) But for some reason The Cruel Prince just worked for me.

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  9. I OWN Autoboyography so I'm getting a lot closer to reading that. hah I'm pretty sure I'm going to love it though!! I don't really have an interest in The Cruel Prince, but that's awesome you loved it since you don't read much fantasy. It's great when that happens with a genre I don't read or love as often.

    -Lauren
    www.shootingstarsmag.net

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  10. Autoboyography made my faves list last year, but Christina Lauren are on my 2018 list with Love and Other Words. Their books just keep getting better and better. I have so much love for 9 Days - I hope you get to it. Leah was cute. There one thing that I was not too happy about, but overall, it was a good reading experience. Full Tilt = all the tears.

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    1. Hopefully I'll get to 9 Days *soon* because my library *finally* got the print version. (Previously they only had the audio.) I keep seeing mixed reviews on Leah so I'm a tad nervous.

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  11. Your intro cracked me up lol. I've been hearing a lot of amazing things about Evelyn Hugo. I still haven't read Cruel Prince, so I should probably get on that! I love the colors on the Darkest Star cover!

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    1. Evelyn Hugo is one of those rare books that totally lived up to the hype for me. Love when that happens. And The Cruel Prince was quite a surprise for this non-fantasy reader.

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  12. You always remind me that I need to continue the Royally series!

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  13. I really need to read Royally Matched! I loved the audiobook for Royally Screwed. <3

    Autoboyography was such a heartwarming read, and I love Mal from the Stage Dive series! What was he said about breaking her bed? I just remember laughing a lot while I listened to it! Pumpkin! I'm also really excited about The Darkest Star! :)

    L @ Do You Dog-ear?

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    1. Those audio books for the Royally series we *so* well done. Just perfection. And now I see that she's continuing the series - or an off-shot of the series - and that has me ridiculously happy. :)

      Oh my gosh, Mal breaking her bed was hilarious. And him calling he Pumpkin... I just loved him!! :)

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  14. Tanya really I have to meet you one day! Because: The Cruel Prince, Jennifer L Armentrout, Archer's Voice, Shatter me and many, many many more!!!!!

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  15. You finally posted this, Tanya! ♥ I also seriously need to read Leah on the Offbeat, but I'm so scared to since I've been seeing mixed reviews. On the other hand, you're getting me soooo excited over Love Scene, Take Two!!! It sounds so cute GAH.

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    1. Same here, Aimee. I’m seeing mixed reviews for Leah and it’s makes me a little nervous to pick it up. Simon became an instant favorite so my expectations for Leah are already so high. Love Scene, Take Two was sooo adorable! :)

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  16. I absolutely loved this post! It seems like we have very similar tastes when it comes to romance novels, and I got a ton of recommendations from your post. :D I'm actually reading Autoboyography right now and LOVING it! I've been on quite the Christina Lauren kick this year. I've never read from them before, but after reading Roomies and then Dating You/Hating You, I immediately requested their upcoming release from NG (Josh and Hazel's Guide to Not Dating) and loved it! I would recommend requesting it!

    I've been wanting to read Royally Screwed for quite some time now, but my library doesn't have it. I know I'll just have to take the plunge and buy it, but I hate spending money, lol.

    I also had no idea that Jennifer L. Armentrout was continuing with the Lux series! Just added that to goodreads. :D I also added Love Scene, Take Two. It sounds downright adorable!

    Great post! :)

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    1. Book twins! :) I get totally ecstatic anytime I see someone reading Autoboyography. I’m so excited that you’re loving it! I just fell in love with that book and wanted to eat it up with a spoon. :) That was the first I’d read from Christina Lauren and I’ve since read Love and Other Words and loved it, too. Roomies will be happening soon!

      Ugh, that’s lame that your library doesn’t have the Royally series. I used Overdrive and listened to all three books on audio. The audio versions are just perfection!

      Yes, more Lux series! *squeals and flails* This one focuses on Luc (remember him?) but she promises that all the characters we love will make appearances. I am beside myself waiting for that one.

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