So... first off I need to apologize for not updating for MONTHS. I was in the middle of studying for the bar exam and then I started a new job and life got crazy busy! But I am back now - and I will be doing like 6 monthly wrap-ups ASAP with reviews. I PROMISE. But because I've been gone for so long I thought that my first post back should be a wrap-up of the first half of the reading year! For me this is going to be from January to mid-July when I am writing (I know... not technically half the year but GIVE ME A BREAK). So I decided to do the Mid-Year Book Freakout Tag (See Original Tag Video here), which I am not technically tagged to do but WHATEVER I thought I would just do a general overall update about my reading so far this year and this seemed a good way to do it! So on with the Tag!
1. Best book so far of 2018
Circe by Madeline Miller. Hands down. HANDS DOWN. I listened to this on audiobook which I HIGHLY recommend and I was addicted. I stayed up until 4 in the morning listening to it. I adored every single second of this retelling of Circe, famous for her role in The Odyssey. It is a beautiful wonderful, feminist re-telling and I loved it so much that when I finished I immediately went out and bought a hardcover edition and a kindle edition because I need all the media formats of this book.
2. Best Sequel of 2018
So I have two for this one - the best sequel published in 2018 that I've read so far is A Reaper at the Gates by Sabaa Tahir - it was even better than A Torch Against the Night, which I loved! It was addictive and non-stop action and it finally, finally allowed me to like Helene as a character! FINALLY. I get why people like her (though I still love Laia forever and I will fight everyone about this).The best sequel I read that was not published in 2018 was The Silkworm by Robert Galbraith (aka. JK Rowling). I liked The Cuckoos Calling, the first book in the Cormoran Strike mystery series but I absolutely adored The Silkworm and could not put it down. It made the series go from a might-read to a must-read for me.
3. A New release you haven't read yet, but you want to
My Plain Jane by Cynthia Hand, Brodi Ashton and Jodi Meadowes - I loved My Lady Jane and I was so excited for this release. I just picked it up the other day and am only a few chapters in so far.
4. Most anticipated release for the second half of 2018
The Lady's Guide to Petticoats and Piracy by Mackenzi Lee
5. Biggest Disappointment of 2018
Midnight Never Come by Marie Brennan or The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale. Both of these books I expected to love and they have been on my TBR for years. Both have some buzz-words for me - Midnight Never Come deals with faeries in the Tudor era (like HELLO YES PLEASE GIMME), and The Goose Girl is a fairy tale retelling. However I found both of them to be rather dull, and not fast-paced or exciting to read. Midnight Never Come had a terrible romance element and The Goose Girl felt juvenile. I took both series off my TBR after reading these books.
6. Biggest Surprise of 2018
Again I have multiple reads for this, and after narrowing it down I would have to go with 2 books: The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender and Far from the Tree. Both are books in genres I rarely read (Magical Realism for the former, and Contemporary for the latter) but I absolutely devoured both books in like... one day. I found both of them heart-wrenchingly beautiful, and honestly pretty quick reads. I don't often read books like these two but when I like them I love them. Both have stuck with me and are beautiful explorations (in very different ways) of family and love.
7. Favourite New Author (or New to You)
Neil Gaiman - I had never read anything by Neil Gaiman until this year and now I've finished like 5 of his books and I have plans to read pretty much everything he's ever written. He is one of those authors who is so talented and unique that he transcends genre and can write pretty much anything... and he has.
8. Newest Fictional Crush
Galen from Reign the Earth by A.C. Gaughen. I was really surprised by Reign the Earth, I was expecting it to be a boring YA fantasy story but it actually surprised me and I found it very enjoyable. I think the biggest reason was the main love story - I was in the mood for it and the two main characters had great chemistry. And Galen, the main love interest, is just swoon worthy. He's protective but in a way which respects one's choices and decisions. He's also broody (which I always seem to like in my male heroes).
Circe from Circe or Evelyn Hugo from The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo - both are strong, independent women who learned how to make their own lives for themselves in very male-dominated worlds. Circe, a witch cast out by the gods, is not the she-demon of Odyssey legend but is instead a complex character done wrong by multiple men throughout her life but who nonetheless is caring and giving and only lashes out to protect herself. Evelyn Hugo on the other hand is a bitch who know what she wants - to be famous and to stay famous. She is a very complicated character and at times hard to like, but god, she was wonderful to read about. You can't help but fall in love with her the way her fictional fans have (in the book she's the equivalent of Marilyn Monroe).
10. A book that made you cry
Code Name Verity - I was tearing up on public transit and had to stop listening to the audiobook. It was so beautiful but so so sad.
11. A book that made you happy
Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow - I never read middle-grade but after reading all the rave-reviews and comparisons to Harry Potter I had to pick this up. And I loved it! It was funny and whimsical and absolutely endearing. It was such a wonderful tale, with a great message about acceptance and being yourself - all wrapped up in a magical world bubble of good feelings.
12. Favourite book to film adaptation
ummm..... haven't watched any this year honestly. I guess the Shadowhunters TV Show? - That's the only thing I watch and even though I know it is TERRIBLE I still watch it.
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| Ignore my crappy photo and look at the pretty book. |
13. Favourite review you've written?
I've been so bad these past few months with updating so I'm just going to skip this.
14. Most beautiful book you've bought so far
Penguin Drop Caps Edition of Pride and Prejudice. LOOK AT HOW PRETTY. LOOK AT IT. The books edges are sprayed red and the cover is a buttery hardcover and I love it. My Pride and Prejudice collection is getting a bit out of hand at this point honestly.
15. What books do you need to read by the end of the year
My list of books and classics to read in 2018! (See here and here). This is a pretty long list still: The Handmaids Tale, Discovery of Witches Trilogy, Shadow Scale, Queen of the Tearling Trilogy, Ice Like Fire, Frost Like Night, Finish the Raven Cycle, The Hangman's Daughter series , Falling Kingdoms series , Green Rider, American Gods, ACOWAR, Finnikin of the Rock, Anne of Avonlea, Anne of the Island, Little Women, Crime and Punishment, Island of Doctor Moreau, The Time Machine, Phantom of the Opera and A Tale of Two Cities. So yeah - quite a few left to read!
That's my mid-year freakout of books! I promise to update more frequently and hope to have some of my monthly wrap-ups from February to June up very soon! (I PROMISE!)
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