Mid-Year Book Freak Out Tag & Reading Stats | 2022

It’s time for my favorite tag of the year: the Mid-Year Book Freak-out! As always, it’s a bit late but I always post it in August so here we are! This time, I decided to squeeze-in some reading stats because I love reading stats and I have a weird obsession with Excel sheets and dynamic tables.

HOW MANY BOOKS HAVE YOU READ THIS YEAR?

So far, I have read 38 things in 2022 ranging from novels, novellas, short fiction magazines and anthologies! It’s not my best reading year number-wise but I have been enjoying reading a lot so, I’m very happy with that. It’s funny to see that my most-read genre is romance! I’m pretty sure it’s the first time ever!

WHAT IS THE BEST BOOK THAT YOU’VE READ SO FAR IN 2021?

It’s hard to pick a single book because I loved several books for different reasons so, I’m going to pick two titles.

I loved Skyward Inn by Aliya Whiteley because of how quiet and atmospheric it was. I can’t exactly pinpoint what worked so well in this novel but I knew it was going to be a favorite of the year after a few chapters! I am thinking of re-reading it soon in order to gush about it.

The other book I loved for a completely different reason was Legendborn by Tracy Deonn. It was compulsively readable and I haven’t enjoyed YA in years but I had a blast reading it. and I CAN’T WAIT for the Bloodmarked. I haven’t been this hyped for a sequel in a long time!

WHAT HAS BEEN YOUR FAVOURITE SEQUEL OF THE FIRST HALF OF THE YEAR?

The Burning God was my favorite sequel and finale this year! It usually take me years to finish series but I read the entire Poppy War trilogy in about 9 months (which is very quick for me!) and I gave every book five stars. I think I prefer The Burning God to The Dragon Republic because the pacing was a bit better and the ending suited the story perfectly. I don’t think Kuang could have ended this trilogy any other way!

IS THERE A NEW RELEASE THAT YOU HAVEN’T READ YET BUT YOU’RE REALLY EXCITED TO?

I haven’t read a lot of new releases this year so I have quite a few that I would like to get to:

WHAT IS YOUR MOST ANTICIPATED RELEASE FOR THE SECOND HALF OF THE YEAR?

I already mentioned Bloodmarked by Tracy Deonn so, my other most anticipated release is The Spear Cuts Through Water by Simon Jimenez. I loved The Vanished Birds last year so, I’m very excited for his next book! 😀

WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT SO FAR?

Lavie Tidhar is one of my favorite authors but I really struggled with By Force Alone his take on Arthurian legends. It was absurd without being funny and I was bored out of my mind while reading it.

WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST SURPRISE SO FAR?

The Wife Between Us by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen is probably the biggest surprise of the year for me. I bought it on a Kindle deal years ago and I decided to read the first few chapters to see if I would enjoy it and I ended up reading the whole book in about two sittings. I don’t read a lot of thrillers but I was surprised by the multiple twists and turns of the story and I had a ton of fun reading it!

WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE NEW TO YOU OR DEBUT AUTHOR?

Without a doubt Ali Hazelwood! I’ve read all her published works in 2022 and I’m soo excited for her next novel Love on the Brain! I like how all her stories center women in STEM and even if her main characters are a bit interchangeable (she definitely loves her quirky heroine and grumpy love interests), I really like her stories!

WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE FICTIONAL CRUSH FROM THIS YEAR?

I just mentioned Ali Hazelwood and her grumpy male characters and I have to say that I may be a bit in love with Adam from The Love Hypothesis. He seems like an asshole at first but he’s extremely loyal, cute and oddly funny!

WHAT IS YOUR NEW FAVOURITE CHARACTER?

Rin from the Poppy War trilogy! She’s a bit annoying and dumb in the first book (for understandable reasons but still!) but I loved seeing her character growth in the trilogy. She’s also such a badass and unapologetically angry at the world.

A BOOK THAT MADE YOU CRY?

A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki crushed my heart into tiny pieces over and over. I’m pretty sure I cried 3 or 4 times while reading it…

A BOOK THAT MADE YOU HAPPY

I could gush about Legendborn or Ali Hazelwood’s books again because they definitely made me happy but, to change things up a bit, Ancillary Mercy by Ann Leckie definitely made me happy. The conclusion to the Imperial Radch trilogy was very satisfying and I’m always happy to spend time with Breq!

WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE POST THAT YOU HAVE WRITTEN SO FAR THIS YEAR?

Easy, my favorite post was the book discussion of Kindred by Octavia E. Butler with Mayri from Bookforager! 😀

WHAT IS THE MOST BEAUTIFUL BOOK THAT YOU HAVE BOUGHT?

I’m pretty sure it’s the only physical book I bought this year but I couldn’t pass up this gorgeous Livraria Lello edition of The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde while I was visiting Porto this summer! It’s tiny but I love the gold sprayed edges and how it looks without the dust jacket. I don’t often have multiple copies of the same book but The Picture of Dorian Gray is one of my favorite books so… it’s okay! 😛

WHAT BOOK DO YOU WANT TO READ BY THE END OF THE YEAR?

I posted a list of Books I would like to read in 2022 earlier this year. Out of this list, I have already read 9 of them. Of course, ideally, I would like to read all of them but, out of the 13 remaining titles, the books I am the most excited to read are those three:

I think I’ve rambled enough. Have you read any books I mentioned? 😀