Midyear Book Freakout Tag

 Welcome back, dear reader

It's been a mortal age since last I did a book tag, hasn't it. This is in part because there are only so many out there. However, reader, I have been looking forward to this particular tag since this little blog's inception. It was originally a little too late in the year for me to do this tag when I started posting.

As you might have guessed from the title, this is the Midyear Book Freakout Tag. I've seen so many of the bookish types here on the web do this tag and I never tire of seeing it. Hopefully you feel the same reader.

From my few seconds of googling it seems that the original creators of the tag are Booktubers Earl Grey Books and chami back in 2016. I'm not a viewer of their content, reader, but their tag has quite the reach. Let's begin, shall we?

Midyear Book Freakout Tag

• Best book you've read so far

We've started with the hardest one first it seems, reader. There are several books vying for this spot but I believe I shall give it to Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia.

Much of this blog has been me easing myself into the horror genre. Horror is not something I gravitate towards normally, reader. The reasons for why that is are varied, but I always felt I should give it a chance. I'm glad I did, reader, because I might not have picked up Mexican Gothic otherwise. 

I read this book back in January and it has haunted me to this day, reader. In a good way. I've found that the horror I enjoy best has a supernatural element to it and is very atmospheric. Mexican Gothic certainly has atmosphere. And supernatural elements. And mushrooms. 

That is the major caveat to this book, reader. If you don't want mushrooms on people, do not pick this one up. I know two people who absolutely hate seeing or reading about this type of thing. It's a great book, but fair warning. Mushrooms, reader. 

Honorable mention goes to Six of Crows, and Ex Libris. 

• Best sequel you've read so far

So far I have read only a few sequels. The one that sticks out as the best is Grave Importance by Vivian Shaw. I also read this book back in January and it remains a favorite. I'm thinking of purchasing all three books so I can hold them and highlight all the bits I loved. Reader, if you're looking for modern-day vampires, the dubious ethics of museums housing stolen artifacts, and mummy healthcare I have an excellent series for you.

I must confess reader, I love vampires. I love them so much. I love reading stories about them, I love reading literary analyses of those stories. I may not be an authority, reader, but I do like to pretend. 

I think the second book is my actual favorite, but I technically read that last year. It was the one with the Paris catacombs. Which honestly? Unfair to any competition, reader. I love catacombs.

• New release you haven't read yet, but want to

This was another difficult question because I have so many new releases that I want to read. Objectively I have too many. If we want to put numbers to it I have gotten to 36 out of 1200. Or so. Keep me in your dark thoughts and grim rituals, reader. 

The representative I've chosen for this is The Infinity Courts by Akemi Dawn Bowman. It's Science Fiction, which is always a draw, and I've seen it making the rounds on bookstagram. I don't have much to say about it, since I haven't read it yet, reader. Soon. Maybe. Hopefully.

• Most anticipated release for the second half of the year

This reader, is a tie between A Psalm of Storms and Silence by Roseanne A Brown and Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao. I preordered Zhao's book already. I'm a simple creature, reader. An author tells me her book has Pacific Rim energy I immediately purchase it. 

Psalm is the sequel to A Song of Wraiths and Ruin, a book I enjoyed reading. I have to wait until November for this book, reader. 

• Biggest disappointment

Finally, reader. An easy question to answer. Hyde by Danial Levine. Let me set the scene for you reader.:

I'm in a spooky little book shop outside of San Francisco. There is an inflatable Halloween cat outside their door. They have a reprint copy of the AD&D Dm's guide. I find a Doctor Who novel that I've spent months looking for. I'm absolutely in love. This bookshop could not get any better. And then I see it, reader. A hardcover book about Jekyll and Hyde, my current hyperfixation. With trembling hands, I flip to see when it came out. 2014. It's just come out this year. I make my way to the counter, clutching this book to my chest. I can't wait to read it.

Smash cut to March 2021. I still have not read this book. It's moved with me to college, to an apartment, to a house. We're still in the middle of a global pandemic and it's been roughly a year since we first went into lockdown. I finally read Hyde. 

I don't, to put it lightly reader, have a good time.

I've only given two books a 1/5 on this blog and Hyde is one of them. It would have been a mediocre story at best if it weren't for the fact Hyde's 'love interest' is a teenager. That's what pushed it over the edge. Not at all what I wanted from a Jekyll and Hyde story. I will spare you my stream of consciousness essay about my thoughts on the original story, reader.

• Biggest surprise

I want to preface the question with this, reader. I used to read manga a lot as a teen. I don't so much anymore. I am also mildly obsessed with Les Mis. 

My two lovely partners decide to get me a joke gift: the Les Mis Manga Classics book. I am delighted and a month later I read the dang thing.

And you know what, reader? It's an excellent abridgment of Les Mis. I tell you this, reader, because if you want to read Les Mis but don't have the energy to make it through Victor Hugo's Brick, you should check out this manga. I wish there was more focus on Les Amis de l'ABC, but I understand why the ten pages worth of description was left out. 

• Favorite new author (debut or new to you)

I've read a lot of new authors this past year, reader, so it's hard to pick one. I'm going with Talia Hibbert, in part because she's new to me, and because she writes in a genre that's also new to me. Her writing is so lovely, reader.

• Newest fictional crush

The answer to this question, reader, is Essek Thelyss. You know, the NPC from Critical Role. No, technically he isn't a character in a book, but I'm not usually one for fictional crushes.

• Newest favorite character

Would you hold it against me if I said the Crows in Six of Crows, reader? If forced to choose between them, I would say Kaz Brekker is my absolute favorite. But that's like asking me to choose a favorite tea. I have at least five of those, reader. I digress. Kaz is a misanthropic little mood.

• Book that made you cry

That, reader, would be Chasing a Ghost. That brick of a book that follows Enjolras and Grantaire's children. It was an emotional time, reader. Much weeping was involved. Though I must say, I cry very easily. For example, the background music on my partner's PlayStation is Aerith's theme from Final Fantasy VII and I will begin to tear up if I think about Aerith for too long.

• Book that made you happy

That would be Act Your Age, Eve Brown. I so rarely see positive portrayals of neurodivergent characters in any fiction, let alone the Romance genre. That and I just enjoy the Brown sister's books.

• The most beautiful book you've bought so far this year (or received)

Typically I purchase mass market paperback editions of the books I want to read, so any book that's remotely fancy stands out in my modest little collection. One exception is the copy of Dracula I acquired from Barnes & Noble. Their edition is lovely, reader. It's also nicely typeset in addition to the beautiful red cover and black-edged pages. 

• What books do you need to read by the end of the year

There are a few I want to finish before 2022, reader, but Dreams of Gods and Monsters and Crooked Kingdom head the list. They're both the last book in their respective series and I've read the first twenty or so pages of both of them. I could certainly add more books here, reader, but if I put all the books I want to read I might just end up giving you a catalogue of my collection. (That's an idea, reader. A text-based bookshelf tour.)

• Favorite book to movie adaptation you've seen this year

Minor cheating is going to happen in this question, reader, since technically the Netflix adaptation of Shadow and Bone isn't a movie. It's also not really an adaptation of Six of Crows, but I'm putting it here anyway. A slightly more on-topic answer would be the three Fear Street movies, adapted from RL Stine's books of the same name. Those were some excellently put-together horror movies, though it wasn't the favorite. I just love the Crows, reader,

And thus ends the tag, dear reader. I had hoped to post this much earlier in the month, but I was stuck down with a case of schedule reorganization and general job busyness. Hopefully I'll post my July wrap-up and August tbr soon?

Until next time, reader 🎃