Hello and welcome to the Mid-Year Book Freak Out Tag, co-created by Ely @ Earl Grey Books and Chami @ Read Like Wildfire. Am I freaking out? Maaaaybe… ? I’m not complaining because I’ve read a lot of great books already this year but I do feel like I haven’t been reading as much as other years. I have a lot going on these days so it makes sense that I’m not able to read as much, but we’ll see how things go for the rest of the year. First let’s get into the Mid-Year Book Freak Out Tag!
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Best book you’ve read so far in 2021
This is a really hard question already. Like I said I’ve read a lot of great books already this year so I can’t just pick one. I narrowed it down to three books, though:
A Court of Silver Flames by Sarah J. Maas
The Mary Shelley Club by Goldy Moldavsky
The Wolf Den by Elodie Harper
Best sequel you’ve read so far in 2021
I’ve got to go with Chain of Iron by Cassandra Clare. It was an amazing sequel and I can’t wait to read the third and final book. The little appearances of Will and Tessa will always be the highlight in these books. I love them so much!
New release you haven’t read yet, but want to
There are many but the first one coming to mind is Rule of Wolves by Leigh Bardugo. I’m not quite sure why I haven’t read it yet but I guess I just haven’t gotten around to it.
Most anticipated release for the second half of the year
Without a doubt it has to be The Good Kings: Absolute Power in Ancient Egypt and the Modern World by Kara Cooney. It releases in November so I’m hoping to read it for Nonfiction November. I love Kara’s work so much!
Biggest disappointment
Sadly enough my biggest disappointment this year so far is Like a Love Song by Gabriela Martins. It fell totally flat for me.
Biggest surprise
Mentioning it for the second time but The Mary Shelley Club has been the biggest surprise. It’s not my go-to genre but I ended up absolutely loving it.
Favourite new author (debut or new to you)
Elodie Harper, author of The Wolf Den. I loved this book so much and I’m very excited for the sequel (it’s a trilogy!) and whatever next the author comes up with. Books set in the ancient world written by female authors are not very common, although there are more and more lately, so I was just really happy with Elodie!
Newest fictional crush
Actually not a totally new crush but we saw a whole new side to Cassian in A Court of Silver Flames so that alone deserves a mention.
Newest favourite character
Robin Page from The Guild Codex: Demonized Series by Annette Marie. I love Robin because she’s a lot like me and I love her interactions with Zylas, who’s a demon. Shout out to Lindsey @ Lindsey Reads for introducting me to The Guild Codex world. I love it so much!
Book that made you cry
Does a book that almost made me cry count? Because then it’s Het dorp van de zwaluwen by Marc de Bel. This is a book in Dutch by a Belgian author. If I translate the title to English it’s called The Village of the Swallows. It’s based on true events, a massacre by the Nazis, that happened in the little French village of Oradour-sur-Glane in 1944. It was heartbreaking.
Book that made you happy
Devil’s Daughter by Lisa Kleypas made me really happy. It was book #5 in The Ravenels series and finally my favorite character’s time to shine. This series always makes me smile.
Most beautiful book you’ve bought or received so far this year
The most beautiful book I’ve bought this year is Greek Mythology: The Gods, Goddesses, and Heroes Handbook by Liv Albert. After anticipating it for the longest time I finally got my hands on it in April and oh it’s simply gorgeous. The illustrations are some of the most unqiue I’ve ever seen. MUCH LOVE!
Which books do you need to read by the end of the year?
So freaking many! But I’ll just stick to naming these three. I absolutely want to get to them this year:
Kingdom of Shadow and Light by Karen Marie Moning
The Seven Sisters by Lucinda Riley
Broken French by Tasha Boyd
How is your reading year going so far?
Here’s hoping November comes quickly! ? The covers of the Codex make me so curious about this series too (And Robin!)
YES! It’s my favorite month of the year even. It’s just perfect.
I’m posting my tag tomorrow, I love doing this post! You’ve reminded me that I really want to read The Mary Shelley Club. Hopefully the second half of the year will be good too?
READ IT TAMMY! 😀
I keep seeing The Wolf Den on my TBR and I really must make time for it!
It’s really good and so unique!
How are we halfway through 2021 already, I just don’t understand… 😀
Yay to Robin and the Guild Codex world! I’m so happy you’re enjoying the series <3
The Wolf Den and Greek Mythology are both on m TBR, so I'm glad you loved them so much!
After I finish For the Wolf I’m gonna read book 3 of Demonized. 😀
Oo, I loved reading your answers to this! It also reminded me that The Mary Shelley Club is still on my TBR, I’ve been meaning to read that one for ages so I’m glad to hear you liked it x
I loved The Mary Shelley Club SO MUCH! And it was so unexpected because it wasn’t my usual genre.
This is a fantastic list! Greek Mythology looks like such a gorgeous book to add to a collection. I really need to get into the Cassandra Clare books sitting on my shelf soon, too! They are so mammoth and intimidating to me, but I know it will be worth it. 🙂
I fully remember your reviews for Wolf Den and Greek Mythology, and they’re sitting high up there on my TBR list. But now I also have to add on Good Kings, which sounds awesome. Do you participate in Non-Fiction November too? Super, let’s swap more stories — ahem, more non-fiction — then!