The Mid-Year Book Freak Out Tag: 2020 Edition

It’s almost July, which means there are only six months left in 2020. Thank god. It also means it’s time for the Mid-Year Book Freak Out Tag.

This tag was created years ago by someone in the book community to basically wrap up the first half of your reading year. Thankfully, I’ve had a pretty good reading experience so far, mostly because, like the rest of the world, I’ve been stuck inside a lot with nothing else to do but get through my TBR. Unfortunately, I’ve also taken this time to purchase too many new books online. Whoops. At least it balances itself out, right...?

As of June 20, 2020, I’ve read 26 books. Considering my goal for the entirety of 2020 is to reach 30, this is great! I’m not going to change my Goodreads goal, but I might try to reach 50 books by the end of the year. That’ll get me back to the reading rate I was in back before the Great Reading Slump of 2019.

BEST BOOK YOU’VE READ SO FAR IN 2020

This was tough. I’ve had a fairly decent reading year so far, though I’m still picky about giving out five stars. All of the books I thought about answering this question with are 4.5 stars. I hope to get a full 5-star book in before the end of 2020.

I’m going with The City of Brass for my favorite read of 2020 so far. However, Jennifer L. Armentrout’s Storm & Fury, Brave, and Torn and Margaret Rogerson’s Sorcery of Thorns are all really close.

BEST SEQUEL YOU’VE READ SO FAR IN 2020

Hmm… This is a good question. Most of the sequels I’ve read aren’t as good as the first books. However, there is one exception.

Brave and Torn by Jennifer L. Armentrout helped me solidify the end to my 2019 and early 2020 reading slump. They were such quick and easy reads with a great romance and intriguing characters. I loved the whole series.

NEW RELEASE YOU HAVEN’T READ YET, BUT WANT TO

Every single fantasy book. Lol. Just kidding. Kind of.

House of Blood and Earth by Sarah J. Maas is one that I have mixed feelings about reading. If I read it now, that means I have to wait years for the series to end. But, if I just wait to read it until all the books are released, my life will be so much less stressful. But I really, really, really want to read it.

MOST ANTICIPATED RELEASE FOR

THE SECOND HALF OF THE YEAR

There really aren’t a lot of books I’m super excited for in the last half of 2020. There are only three or four that I’ve got my eye on.

The big one is Reign by Cora Carmack. I haven’t read the second book in the trilogy yet, but I’m looking forward to re-reading book one and then binge-reading the entire series.

BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT

I had another answer in mind for this question until a few days ago.

The Star-Touched Queen just wasn’t what I was hoping it would be. I’ll have a review up soon, but yikes. I was so disappointed.

BIGGEST SURPRISE

Since I’ve already answered The City of Brass for my favorite read of the year, I’m going to go with another book for biggest surprise.

Sorcery of Thorns was so beautiful. I loved almost everything about it, and I just never expected to adore it this much.

FAVORITE NEW AUTHOR

This question was surprisingly easy to answer.

S.A. Chakraborty could write a grocery list and I think I’d still read it. Possibly. Gosh, I really hope she has a new book coming out in 2021 now that her Daevabad trilogy has ended. I desperately need more from her.

NEWEST FICTIONAL CRUSH

I don’t think this is a surprise…

Dara from the Daevabad trilogy is amazing! I love him. Though, I have to admit that I haven’t read books two and three yet, so I might not love him as much later on. If that happens, I’ll probably be devastated. (Note: The art is from a Faecrate box.)

NEWEST FAVORITE CHARACTER

Again, not a huge surprise…

Trinity from Storm & Fury and Rage & Ruin. I really like her. I also really like Nathaniel and Elisabeth from Sorcery of Thorns, and Nahri and Ali from The City of Brass.

BOOK THAT MADE YOU CRY

Kind of embarrassing, but…

Sorcery of Thorns made me cry. It was ugly. That scene in the library at the end. Gosh. It hurt me.

BOOK THAT MADE YOU HAPPY

Hmm…

Broken Throne by Victoria Aveyard. Aveyard gave me more Cal scenes. How could that not make me happy?

FAVORITE BOOK-TO-FILM ADAPTATION

YOU SAW THIS YEAR

Like most people, I haven’t seen a lot of movies in theaters this year. I’m actually not sure if I’ve seen any film or television show based on a book in 2020.

I’m going to go with The Witcher, even though I watched it in December of 2019. Close enough, right? I haven’t read the books, but I very much enjoyed the show.

FAVORITE REVIEW YOU’VE WRITTEN THIS YEAR

Gosh. I’m not sure. Probably my review for The City of Brass. It’s the only one I used a gif in. I don’t put gifs in reviews that often.

MOST BEAUTIFUL BOOK YOU’VE

RECEIVED SO FAR THIS YEAR

I’ll try to go with a different answer here than simply repeat books I’ve already mentioned.

House of Dragons by Jessica Cluess has a gorgeous cover. I truly wish the story inside had been a little better to match it. However, it was still a fun read. (I also bought the collector’s editions of Red Queen and Glass Sword by Victoria Aveyard, and those are very pretty.)

WHAT BOOKS DO YOU NEED TO READ

BY THE END OF THE YEAR

All of the ones on my TBR. No, but seriously, I have a list:

Endless and Empower by Jessica Shirvington

Starflight and United by Melissa Landers

A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin

Let the Wind Rise by Shannon Messenger

These are just the ones I’ve made a 2020 goal to finish. I have hundreds on my TBR shelves.

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Alright, there you have it. My Mid-Year Book Freak Out answers. What would your answers to these questions be? Let me know in the comments below!