The 2024 Mid-Year Book Freakout Tag

The halfway mark is almost here. Just a couple of weeks and we're officially mid-way through 2024. This year hasn't been as crazy as last year. I think the only major thing that happened in my life was volunteering at ApollyCon. I need to make some fun plans soon so this year isn't so boring. But I guess every year can't have me finding a new place to live, going to ApollyCon, and prepping for a trip to Iceland. But anyway, the year being halfway over 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 a person's reading year. I’ve had a mediocre reading year so far. It's been very slumpy. I've read a small number of books. I'm hoping I can reach at least 50 by the end of 2024, but it's not the end of the world if I fall short. That's why I set my Goodreads goal so low at 30 books. I hate the pressure.

As of June 21, 2024, I’ve read 15 books and am halfway through my Goodreads Challenge. I’m not going to change my goal from 30 books, but, like I said, reaching 50 by the end of the year would be awesome. I'm finally getting out of a major slump, so I think I can do it. I also got rid of Kindle Unlimited, which was what caused some major slumpage. It's much harder to pick up a physical book than it is to pick up my phone. However, I've persevered, and now I actually like picking up the books on my physical TBR... some days.

BEST BOOK YOU’VE READ SO FAR IN 2024

This was a difficult question to answer, as it's been a mediocre reading year in both quantity and quality. While I've been reading a lot of 3-4 star books, they just aren't anything I'm obsessing over. I think Gold by Raven Kennedy is the closest I've come to having a favorite this year, but even it is iffy, as the first half of the book was so slow. The ending really got me though. Those cliffhangers are brutal. I think runners up for my favorite would be Iron Flame, A Fate Inked in Blood, and the first three books in The Tarot Sequence.

BEST SEQUEL YOU’VE READ SO FAR

This question was a lot easier to answer. I binge read the two sequels to The Last Sun by K.D. Edwards so fast. These are books two and three in The Tarot Sequence. I only read book one in April of this year, but I picked up The Hanged Man and The Hourglass Throne as soon as I got them in my hands. I'm devastated the next book isn't likely to release until 2026. How disappointing. Iron Flame was a good one too, but it took me a long time to even want to pick that one up, and it wasn't as digestible as these quick-read paranormal/urban fantasy books. Oh, and Zodiac Academy: Restless Stars, the final book in the series, was good as well. It just didn't leave a huge impact as the stakes didn't feel as high. Basically, I wanted more death like in previous installments.

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

I honestly don't know how to answer this question. A lot of the books that I really want to read were released in 2023, so I'm trying to think about what would work best. I also have a lot of sequels that released in 2024, but I have yet to read the first book, so I feel like that doesn't count either. I guess Dragon Rider by Taran Matharu is one I want to get to soon. I need to review it. Plus, I enjoyed his YA series.

MOST ANTICIPATED RELEASE FOR

THE SECOND HALF OF THE YEAR

Honestly, 2024 is a quiet year for releases for me, simply because there wasn't an FBAA book released, and the next one isn't coming out until 2025. Ugh. But, I do have two books I'm highly anticipating for the second half of 2024, even if they aren't FBAA. Goldfinch by Raven Kennedy comes out very soon. Only two more months to go. While Swordcrossed by Freya Marske releases in October. Boo... So far away.

BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT

Does this even count as a disappointment when I had a strong suspicion it wasn't going to be good after the second book was terrible? House of Flame and Shadow was awful. I think it butchered a lot of character development and the showdown at the end was lackluster. The only redemption for the story was a couple of the side characters and their arcs, but even those couldn't hold it together.

BIGGEST SURPRISE

Cat Sebastian's We Could Be So Good was actually... good. I enjoyed myself very much with this one. It's a historical MM romance set around news publishing in the '60s. I typically don't like historical stories if they don't have some sort of magical quality to them, but this was interesting and fun. I picked up the second book in the companion series, and it was good too.

FAVORITE NEW AUTHOR

I have only read three new authors this year, which is disappointing. But, it made this question really easy to answer. My newest favorite author is K.D. Edwards. While I can't guarantee I'll pick up everything he writes, since he has a ton of novellas out there, I think I'll definitely read his major works. Right now, he only has the one series that I know of, so I'm fairly safe from adding too many things to my TBR.

NEWEST FICTIONAL CRUSH

This was a tough one, but I went the safe route and chose Bjorn from A Fate Inked in Blood by Danielle L. Jensen. He's a little too standoffish at times, but I do like him overall. There truly weren't a ton of options from the books I've read. It's been a pretty quiet year in terms of finding fictional crushes. I believe this art was commissioned by the author.

NEWEST FAVORITE CHARACTER

Brand from The Tarot Sequence. This character has me back and forth sometimes. He reminds me a lot of Dean Winchester in that he's protective and a badass, but he doesn't get as much individuality and page time as I always hope for in these books. (Art by oblivionsdream)

BOOK THAT MADE YOU CRY

  I mean, is this is a surprise? Restless Stars is the final book in a nine-book series that I've been reading diligently over the past few years. Of course it was going to make me cry. I hate giving up these characters. I'm actually quite ticked that it's over. The only thing keeping me together is that the authors are releasing special editions with bonus content. I also still haven't read the sequel spinoff series (Darkmore Penitentiary and the new Never Keep one), so that'll help ease some of the pain too. Or it could make it worse, who knows.

BOOK THAT MADE YOU HAPPY

In that same vein, ZA 9, while leaving me sad that it's over, also had scenes that made me very happy. I love it when all the characters in the series are together. They're just so funny. The authors' writing style is so unique and witty. I'm excited to try their contemporary books and see how their writing style reflects in a real-world storyline.

FAVORITE BOOK ADAPTATION

YOU SAW THIS YEAR

I haven't watched many book adaptations. The TV adaptations I have watched include The Last Kingdom, which I haven't watched past the early episodes of season two; Anne with an E, which got really annoying in season three; and Bridgerton season three, which hasn't been my favorite of all the Bridgerton seasons. I also watched The Night Agent Netflix film, which I guess is an adaptation of a book; however, I've never read it. I haven't read any of these books, actually. So, this is a terrible question for me in the year 2024. Come back next year and maybe I'll have a better answer.

FAVORITE REVIEW YOU’VE WRITTEN THIS YEAR

I actually haven't written very many reviews in 2024, which doesn't come as a shock seeing as I haven't been reading as much. The one that I actually wrote and like the most is my review of Danielle L. Jensen's A Fate Inked in Blood. I think I liked it mostly because the book reminded me a lot of FBAA and Viking-esque shows, so it was a fun one to review. I'm excited about the sequel whenever it's supposed to release.

 

You can read my review of A Fate Inked in Blood here.

MOST BEAUTIFUL BOOK YOU’VE

RECEIVED SO FAR THIS YEAR

 Such an easy question to answer this year. Illumicrate did special editions of Rin Chupeco's Reaper series, and boy are these things gorgeous. I absolutely LOVE this duology, so I was beyond ecstatic when Illumicrate announced their editions. They're pretty and purple and red and they look amazing on my shelves. I'm considering purchasing their other Rin Chupeco set as well, but I just don't know if I want to fork over $100+ on a series I haven't read yet. Why can't Illumicrate get a U.S. distributor for their non-sub editions? Sigh.

WHAT BOOKS DO YOU NEED TO READ

BY THE END OF THE YEAR

Everything on my never-ending TBR! Ugh. But some of the highlights, which haven't really changed a lot from what I answered last year, are:

The Dragon Rider by Taran Matharu

The Last Binding trilogy by Freya Marske

A Storm of Swords by George R.R. Martin

The Arcana Chronicles series by Kresley Cole

Charm and Cherish by Tracy Wolff

The Kingdom of the Wicked trilogy by Kerri Maniscalco

These are the books I want to have completed or at least, in the case of some of the series like KOTW and Arcana, significantly made my way through. I'm also over halfway through ASoS and Charm, I just need to finish them. I also have a few others I'd like to get to, but the ones I've listed are more important in terms of how long they've been on my physical TBR and how much I want to read them.

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Alright, there you have it. My Mid-Year Book Freak Out answers for 2024. What would your answers to these questions be? Let me know in the comments below!