The Mid-Year Book Freak Out Tag

2020, the year of the book, is halfway through. And with it, I’ve seen a lot of these mid-year book tags floating around the internet. Booktube and book bloggers galore have been showing up to talk about their faves of the first half of the year. And while I’m not strictly a “book blogger”, I am an avid reader and I do regularly post about books and other bookish things so I’m sure it’s okay for me to jump on the ol’ bandwagon.

Since the tag itself seems to be eons old, I can’t accurately credit its creator but kudos, whoever you are.

Best Book You’ve Read So Far in 2020

This is a tough one because I’ve read so many amazing books across various genres that can’t possibly be compared, if you know what I mean? So I’ve narrowed it down to the select few that I absolutely loved:

• Imaginary Friend by Stephen Chbosky
• All The Missing Girls by Megan Miranda
• A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson
• The Near Witch by Victoria Schwab (aka V.E. Schwab)
• Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
• Dear Martin by Nic Stone

Best Sequel You’ve Read So Far in 2020

Confession: I haven’t read any sequels yet this year. But I did read The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins, the prequel to The Hunger Games trilogy so I guess that’s the winner by default? 

New Release You Haven’t Read Yet But Want To

There are so many new releases on my TBR, it’s intense. Here are a few 2020 releases that I’ve been dying to read but just haven’t gotten my hands on yet:

• The Recovery of Rose Gold by Stephanie Wrobel
• My Dark Vanessa by Kate Elizabeth Russell
• The Southern Bookclub’s Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix

In terms of books I actually own but haven’t gotten around to yet – Good Girl, Bad Blood by Holly Jackson.

Most Anticipated Release For the Second Half of the Year

Again, I have quite a few…

• Loveless by Alice Oseman – July 9th
• The End of Her by Shari Lapena – July 23rd
• Dear Justyce by Nic Stone – October 6th
• Vagina Problems: Endometriosis, Painful Sex & Other Taboo Topics by Lara Parker – October 6th
• The Cousins by Karen McManus – December 3rd

Biggest Disappointment

Okay so I have two actually. Both books were ones that have won awards and are raved about but just weren’t for me, at all. These were The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman and Where’d You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple. I DNF-ed both titles.

Biggest Surprise

Probably The Near Witch by Victoria Schwab. I only read it to meet one of the prompts for the OWLs readathon but fell in love with it almost instantly. The world building was immense. Even now, when I think about the story, I’m right back in Near walking through the grass at night. I’m really excited to read more of Schwab’s work in the second half of the year and beyond!

Favourite New Author (Debut or New to You)

Another tough one. This is between V.E. Schwab (as mentioned above), Megan Miranda or Rick Riordan. All three of these authors were entirely new to me this year and I’ve absolutely adored reading their work. So yeah, I couldn’t possibly choose between them.

Non-fiction wise, I’d say Brene Brown.

Newest Fictional Crush

I’m sorry to announce that none of the characters have really interested me in that way!

Newest Favourite Character

Sejanus Plinth from The Ballad of Songbirds and Songs by Suzanne Collins. This is a teenager with such strong moral values and integrity that he’s willing to risk everything to stand for what he believes in. He’s so poorly treated throughout the novel that it genuinely made me cry. I’m still livid about it. He did not deserve that. Any of that. Grr.

Book That Made You Cry

Oh goodness, this one goes to The Need by Helen Phillips. I could barely get through the last few pages I was crying so hard. It was raw and visceral and it was just… intense.

Book That Made You Happy

It’s super cheesy but Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan. Even at the end of chapter 1, I was like “I LOVE this book.” And that was how I felt about it the whole way through.

Favourite Book to Film Adaptation You Saw This Year

I can’t think of a film off the top of my head but for TV adaptation I’d go with The Stranger which is based on a Harlan Coben novel of the same name.

Favourite Review You’ve Written This Year

I haven’t written any full-length book reviews so far this year, only mini ones. But… I am hoping to start doing more in-depth book reviews in the second half of the year once I’ve got my ratings system sorted so keep an eye out for those!

Most Beautiful Book You’ve Bought So Far This Year (or Received)

My most beautiful book purchase of 2020 has to be Ghostly, edited by Audrey Niffenegger. It’s an anthology of ghost stories that I’m excited to read in October around Halloween. But basically it’s black and white with orange foil and a creepy looking black cat.

What Books Do You Need to Read by the End of the Year?

So. Many. Since I’m a bit of a planner, I’ve already scheduled in several books for each month between now and November but some of my highlights include:

• Good Girl, Bad Blood by Holly Jackson
• Pumpkinheads by Rainbow Rowell
• Heartstoppers, Volume 1 by Alice Oseman
• The Hunting Party by Lucy Foley
• Ninth House by Leigh Bardugo

That’s all for my mid-year book freak out tag for 2020. As with all of my tags, this is open for everyone so please do take part if this is something you’d like to do yourself. Next week I’ll be sharing mini reviews of all the books I’ve read in the first half of the year so if that’s also something you’d be interested in, make sure you bookmark Happily Ever Homebody or give me a follow on Twitter so you don’t miss it!

Featured Image: Jon Tyson from Unsplash