Mid-Year Freak Out Tag – 2018 Edition

~ Never Not Reading

I did this tag last year, and I was so much fun! It was maybe the first book tag I ever did? Can’t remember for sure… Anyway, I was surprised to see it going around again this year. Does it make the rounds every year? I wouldn’t know, I guess I’m still a bit of a book blogging newbie. 🙂

Anywho, after seeing it on a couple of blogs, I decided to tag myself. Which, I am happy to say, Kay at Hammock of Books invited me to do, so there.

Best Book You’ve Read so far in 2018

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Hands down, no contest, The Goblin Emperor. I would just set it down every ten pages or so and yell “This book is SO GOOD!!!” then go back to reading it. If you like fantasy and you haven’t read it, you MUST!

Best Sequel You’ve Read so far in 2018

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I have to say something about Bring Up the Bodies because it is so unusual for me to enjoy a sequel more than the first book, but in this case I absolutely did. Which is really saying something, because Wolf Hall is amazing.

But I also feel like I have to say something about The Girl in the Tower because it was released December 2017, which is practically 2018, so I feel like it got lost in the shuffle. What a great sequel! I’m really looking forward to the finale this winter!

Most Anticipated Release for the Second Half of the Year

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WHY AM I STILL WAITING FOR SPINNING SILVER????? It cannot come soon enough!!!!

Biggest Disappointment

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This was harder, because I went into most of the books I’ve read this year with very little expectation. I guess I learned my lesson in 2017, being constantly disappointed…

However, I was very excited when I got The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms in the mail from my reddit gift exchange buddy. It sounded exactly like something I would like, and it was a fantasy novel written by a woman of color about a woman of color, and it had rave reviews on goodreads. But then I hated it. It just wasn’t for me.

Biggest Surprise

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My brother-in-law gave me Hamilton: The Revolution for Christmas, and I thought it was basically just going to be a coffee table book. Just pictures and the lyrics, basically. I was pleasantly surprised to find a detailed but brief making-of in the mix! I enjoyed it so much, and the book itself is so beautiful. I LOVE the pictures and the heaviness of the paper!

Favorite New Author (or new to you)

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I really enjoyed Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine, and I think Gail Honeyman is brilliant. What a debut! I’ll definitely be keeping her on my radar.

Newest Fictional Crush

Again, I’m married and happy, I don’t really get crushes on book characters anymore. However, if I was widowed and ready to move on, Suhail from The Voyage of the Basilisk would probably be a good choice for a crush.

Newest Favorite Character

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So many to choose from! Thomas Cromwell from Wolf Hall, Maia from The Goblin Emperor, and Eleanor from Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine are all such great characters! If pressed I would probably pick Maia because it was so refreshing to read about someone so KIND, but I love all of these characters.

Book That Made You Cry

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There was a scene in The Nightingale where a little girl was shot, and I just lost it. I was reading in the car and just bawling loudly with tears streaming down my face and snot pouring down my nose. A true ugly cry. I’ve never seen my husband look so alarmed.

Book That Made You Happy

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I keep coming back to The Goblin Emperor. It made me SO FREAKING HAPPY. Guys, this is legit going on my all-time favorite list, right there next to The Lord of the Rings, Pride and Prejudice, and Harry Potter. 

Favorite Book to Film Adaptation

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So I actually haven’t seen any movies that aren’t Marvel movies this year. What can I say? I have an infant and a three-year-old. HOWEVER. I did enjoy watching Rise on NBC, which I understand is based on a book called Drama High that I have neither read nor heard of. If you like musicals, give this show a try.

Favorite Post You’ve Done This Year

I’m actually having a hard time choosing, there are four I really liked…

Screw it, I’m sharing two!

I wrote a discussion post called Context Matters: Criticizing the Classics that I put a lot of thought into, wrote, re-wrote, and re-wrote some more because it’s important to me. And I’ve was rewarded with great stats (my best ever), but more importantly, great DISCUSSION. I really enjoyed talking with you all!

More recently I wrote a more fun list of Why I Almost Never DNF a Book. I had great fun writing it and chatting with folks about not finishing things. I was surprised to find I’m not as alone on this as I expected to be!

Most Beautiful Book You’ve Bought This Year

Um… I pre-ordered Spinning Silver on like, December 29th. Does that count? Otherwise a rather beat-up copy of American Gods is the only book I’ve purchased for myself.

New Release You Haven’t Read Yet but Want To

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Children of Blood and Bone and Dread Nation are both books that I really want to read. I’ve entered into a bunch of giveaways, but I suppose I’ll just end up borrowing from the library or asking for copies for my birthday.

Book You Need to Read by the End of the Year

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You guys, it’s official, I am going to finally read Geekerella! It’s on hold for me at the library as we speak! I just have to finish the monster 800 pager I’m working on right now first…

I haven’t seen any mid-year freaking out from:

Obviously no pressure! Especially if you’ve already done it and I missed it. I just like seeing what y’all think!

What’s your favorite book of 2018 so far? Let me know in the comments!

33 thoughts on “Mid-Year Freak Out Tag – 2018 Edition”

  3. Children of Blood and Bone, and Dread Nation are both amazing. They will be popping up in my top reads of the year part one post that will be going up in about another week. Also, I adore Geekerella; it is a cute geeky book. I am also looking forward to Spinning Silver, but I may have to wait a bit before I read it because I want the paperback edition. Though they aren’t sequels or anything, I feel like Spinning Silver should be next to Uprooted on my shelves and I have the paperback. Oh well. At least I have plenty of other books to keep me distracted…or I cave and visit my library. Either one could happen.

    And okay, mid-year book freak out post it is. I’ll have to get started on mine so I can get it up soon.

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      1. I think they are technically in the same world, so since the covers share a design theme, I couldn’t get away with that, lol. I’ve thought about seeing if I can find a discount hardcover of Uprooted, and then I can pass my paperback copy on to a friend, but I haven’t decided yet.

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          1. Well, unfortunately I found out that there was a petition that was signed to get it off the air because of the religious aspects of the show. I saw tweets from the actors that were upset that it was canceled too. The ratings for the show were actually double that of two of the shows they decided to renew.

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          3. The latter. Apparently many people saw some of the issues as “anti-christian”. Fox did an article on it and some of the actors confirmed it. The petition was in response to the situations with the Catholic family and their son’s sexuality, and having the wife call her husband’s sexuality in to question, along with the controversial content in the play.

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          4. It frustrates me to no end that Americans can’t see the difference between individuals and groups. The show criticized ONE catholic person, not ALL catholic people. I did think the issue of the father’s sexuality was taking it a bit too far for television though. There are definitely gay Christian men who have suppressed their homosexuality as a result of their religion, and I can understand how seeing that brought to the forefront would be uncomfortable. But honestly, what else would you expect in a show featuring Spring Awakening?

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  6. I wasn’t aware that this came around every year as well, lol! I did love doing this tag last year, and thank you for tagging me for it again! I loved reading your answers, and I super didn’t realize that Rise was based on a book! I feel like I have vaguely heard of it as well. But I’ve seen Spinning Silver everywhere, but I had no clue that it came out SO far away. Dear gosh! Sorry for your wait. D: And wish you luck with Geekerella! I loved that one last year, so hopefully you enjoy! This was so much fun to read, and thank you for tagging me. Wonderful post as always! ❤

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  8. It was fun reading your answers for this. I’d love to see what you think of Dread Nation. It was such a fun book for me because I like zombie stories. Geekerella was fun as well.

    Yup, this one makes the rounds every year this time. It’s a fun way to consider the books you’ve done so far.

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