The Mid-Year Book Freakout Tag | 2019

This is my third year doing this tag and it's a fun one. I like pausing mid-year to take a look back at what I've read in the last six months. Which books have been real stand-outs, which authors have knocked my socks off, and what books I'm looking forward to in the coming months. So let me pull up my GoodReads shelves for reference and we'll get started.

1. BEST BOOK YOU'VE READ SO FAR IN 2019

Always starts with the toughest question! I mean, does anyone choose just one book? (If so, I tip my hat to you. Well played.) I'm not even going to try and choose one. Because all five of these were total stand-outs and 5 star reads. Mrs. Everything by Jennifer Weiner, The Girl He Used to Know by Tracey Garvis Graves, Long Shot by Kennedy Ryan, How To Save a Life by Emma Scott, and Daisy Jones & The Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid.

2. BEST SEQUEL YOU'VE READ SO FAR IN 2019

     

That's a toss-up between two. (Yes, I'm going with more than one book again. Let's just assume that's a given for the entire tag, m'kay?) Wild Country by Anne Bishop was a fantastic revisit to my favorite urban fantasy world and The Wicked King by Holly Black was a thrilling follow-up to The Cruel Prince. And that ending!

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

   

This question might as well be called Reader Hall of Shame. Because let's be real - those new releases keep cranking out every single Tuesday and maybe some of you speedy readers can keep up but I can't! I won a paperback copy of What the Wind Knows in a giveaway and I kept putting it off so I could read the physical copy. But that's been a couple months now and I should face the fact that it's not going to come. *sobs* I have it on my Kindle so I'll read it that way. Tucker's YA contemporary Be the Girl and another collab from Bowen & Kennedy, Top Secret, are two more that I desperately want to read soon.

4. MOST ANTICIPATED RELEASE FOR THE SECOND HALF OF 2019

     

Easy-peasy. Colleen Hoover's Regretting You (December 10) and The Queen of Nothing by Holly Black (November 19).

5. BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT

Albertalli's Leah on the Offbeat wasn't a bad book by any means. But it wasn't at all what I'd waited and hoped for and ultimately was disappointing.

6. BIGGEST SURPRISE

I downloaded the audio version of Intercepted by Alexa Martin as something and pass the time on my commute. I expected a fun romance and nothing more. Instead I found myself sucked right into the story and was 100% invested in Marlee and Gavin. Absolutely LOVED IT.

7. FAVORITE DEBUT OR NEW-TO-ME AUTHOR

   

When Amber (@ du Livre) told me I had to listen to Long Shot I just shrugged and downloaded it from Hoopla. And was promptly blown away. I immediately downloaded the next book. And then the next. Kennedy Ryan is by far my favorite new-to-me author this year. 

8. NEWEST FICTIONAL CRUSH

Sweetest/Swooniest Boyfriend Award (aka newest fictional crush) goes to Archer Hale. ♥

9. NEWEST FAVORITE CHARACTER

Alex Claremont-Diaz. Brilliant, snarky, funny, clever, idealistic, impulsive, romantic. McQuiston created a one of a kind character when she wrote Alex.

10. A BOOK THAT MADE YOU CRY

How much time do you have? I cry in half the books I read. ;) But these four come to mind. Ben de Backer in I Wish You All the Best was precious and his situation touched my heart. Morgan in Birthday absolutely broke me. I shed some serious tears throughout that book. Sugar & Gold had two characters who suffered through no fault of their own. And while Built was not a sad book, there was one scene that moved me to tears.

11. A BOOK THAT MADE YOU HAPPY

I think I read this entire book with a big, goofy smile on my face. Josh & Hazel's Guide to Not Dating is feel-good romance at its finest. 

12. FAVORITE BOOK-TO-MOVIE ADAPTATION

Ummm... *crickets.* I haven't even been to the theater this year, much less seen a book to movie adaptation. So I'm going to stick with my same answer as last year, Love, Simon, because I've rewatched it several times this year. :) 

13. FAVORITE POST YOU'VE DONE THIS YEAR

Gah! This is always such a tough question. But after browsing six months of posts *yawn* there are a couple that I really enjoyed writing and was happy with the outcome. In March I interviewed author Lora Richardson in conjunction with her release of Vanishing Summer. That was a lot of fun and I loved chatting with Lora. In April I wrote a Top Ten Tuesday post where I talked about things that make me pick up a book. I had such a good time thinking about what tropes and settings and keywords were my kryptonite. And lastly, I was really pleased with my review of The Girl He Used to Know by Tracey Garvis Graves. I was able to find the words I wanted to share my love for that story. Always a good feeling.

14. MOST BEAUTIFUL BOOK YOU'VE BOUGHT THIS YEAR

Probably Girl In Luv by Rebecca Yarros and Jay Crownover. It's just dreamy. 

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

      

      

Can I just say All The Books and leave it at that? No? Okay then, here's a teeny tiny sampling of the ones I really, reallllly want to read sooner rather that later.

What's the best book you've read so far in 2019?
What was your biggest surprise or disappointment?