A little late (okay maybe…by a month) but I wanted to do a mid-year recap on what I’ve been reading.
It’s tradition and I cannot let it slide!! Even though I know the blog has gone rather quiet of late. But I’m voraciously active on instagram, if you want to keep up with the day-to-day debacles. I also will admit I’m not having the greatest reading year and haven’t had any new 5-stars which just seems sad. To read so much and yet so badly 🧐 Sir. Do better. (This being me, needing to pick better apparently.) But I want to talk about the books I have been loving and ones I’m excited for, so here we go:
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- 2017 Mid-Year Freak out
- 2018 Mid-Year Freak Out
- 2019 Mid-Year Freak out
- 2020 Mid-Year Freak out
- 2021 Mid Year Freak Out
1. How much have you read?
This time last year I’d only read 90 books so I am quite happy with this 👌🏻 I’ve also written a 100K book and written 70K of another wip and kept up with my reading challenge? Who is this.
2. What have you been reading?
A few pie charts!! Here are my average star ratings and also the genres I’ve been reading the most. I have to admit it’s not been a good reading year for me regarding finding new favourites 💀 am slowly dying in the drought from five-stars. However I’m super excited that I’ve been reading a ton of horror this year and LOVING it.
3. Best book you’ve read so far in 2022
Follow Me To Ground is a horror novella that was just so unsettling and gorgeously written and I’m still thinking about it 6 months later. The aesthetics also [chef’s kiss] Tripping Arcadia is like an eat-the-rich gothic poison story and it’s absolutely unhinged and I loved it. Iron Widow actually surprised me with how much I adored it (solely because scifi isn’t my go-to genre) but like, it hit all the right notes for villain origin story. Zetian’s level of unhinged was my favourite. And of course The Atlas Six was destined to be a fave because dark academia!!! I love it. The characters were stunningly complex, and the whole story is so twisted.
4. Best sequel you’ve read so far in 2022
I realised I’ve read a grand total of 8 sequels so far this year…that’s 8 out of 114. 💀 Someone isn’t into sequels apparently. I’m actually sort of cheating and nominating two PREQUELS. Loved these two. Bitter was phenomenal and left me so emotional.
5. New release you haven’t read yet, but want to
This is just me calling out myself because there’s zero reason I haven’t read these yet. But I haven’t. And I angst.
6. Most anticipated release for the second half of the year
I unsurprisingly have so many. Why must books sound (and look) so good.
7. Out of Your Comfort Zone
At Certain Points We Touch is an adult queer literary novel about the of a trans woman and it was so compelling and I loved it, but am definitely new to the genre. (It also is part memoir, I think?) I’ve also started getting into more adult historical and really enjoyed Mrs England!
8. Biggest surprise
I loved The Darkness Outside Us. The twist was jaw-on-the-floor style.
9. New Favourite author (debut or new to you)
I wil definitely read more from Freya Marske after A Marvellous Light! It was so good (Edwardian magic murder mystery with incredible characters and jock/nerd queer romance). The Butterfly Assassin is technically not a ~new~ favourite author because my friend wrote it and I’ve read their work for years 😌👌🏻 always love it. This is such a compelling and amazing assassin story (queer and disabled rep!) and more people need to read it. I also loved The Death of Jane Lawrence and would definitely like to read more from Caitlin Starling.
10. underrated gems you’ve discovered recently
Burn It All Down has less than 6K adds on goodreads and it’s so fun, you are all missing out. 🤨 Basically a queer teen and his young mother end up on an absolute chaos accidental crime streak and they’re besties and make terrible decisions. It’s hilarious. The Whistling has under 4K adds on GR and it’s an historical gothic about a nanny to a strange child and a haunted house 👌🏻 Mirror Girls is also a historical gothic about Black twins separated at birth, one raised as white and the other as Black — and it’s full of ghosts and curses and just an excellent story. And have to mention the graphic novel, The Greatest Thing, because it’s so heartfelt and raw and beautiful. Great rec for those who love Heartstopper as they cover some of the same tougher issues (mental illness, queer identity discovery and worries, highschool struggles etc.)
11. rereads this year
This has been my saddest year for rereads in a long time! I just have not had time, honestly, although I did my January tradition of a reread of The Foxhole Court series 😩👌🏻 And I reread TVD because I wanted to suffer. Heartstopper Vol 1 was a must-reread before the Netflix show (which was excellent fyi I highly recommend). And I reread We Were Liars because a prequel just came out and I wanted a little refresher. It had been like 6 years or something since I last read it. Just so I can feel old.
12. Book that made you cry
Three of these are middle-grade!!! Why is middle-grade absolutely RUTHLESS on your heartstrings. The Bravest is about a 12 year old with depression and the dog who helps him (incredible rep). The Whispers is about a queer kid dealing with grief 😭 and King and the Dragonflies is also about a queer 12yo dealing with grief, but it also is about homophobia and his friend who is abused. It’s just 💔 So well written and my heart broke. The Stars And The Blackness Between them is like poetry and also…so so sad.
13. Book that made you happy
Something Fabulous was such a crack-up. Genuinely laughed at the shenanigans. (Think campy queer late 1800s tropey romance.) Okay, so, Among the Beasts & Briars isn’t a comedy or anything, but I just love forest books so it did make me happy. 😌
14. Most beautiful book you’ve bought so far this year (or received)
Shout out to Daughter of the Moon Goddess 😍 In both UK and USA hardcover. I only have two on accident because one came in a Fairyloot box (I am a rep for them) and I had preordered the other. But I cannot be mad as both are so beautiful?!?
15. goals for the rest of the year
- read more books from my shelves (so far doing poorly at this lmoa the library calls to me).
- continue reading more horror
- hit 200 reads by december
- read more backlist books from old book boxes 👌🏻
- somehow magic more shelf space out of nowhere because i have too many piles of books on the floor
I was doing quite well at the beginning of the year but my reading has slowed down a lot recently and I’m now two books behind on my Goodreads Challenge! In my defence, July has been a very busy month as we moved house and are still sorting things out two weeks later, so time for reading has been minimal. It’s been a bit of a mixed reading year so far I’d say, some definite outstanding favourites: Know My Name by Chanel Miller and The Diamond Eye by Kate Quinn but also quite a few 2-3.5 star reads as well, so yes, definitely a bit of a mixed bag, but then my reading always seems to be!
haha your goals list sounds almost exactly like mine! i had to stop subscribing to bookboxes because I never read the books and they’re piled around, haunting me. and yet I keep bringing more books home from the library…
Your review of Tripping Arcadia made me add the book to my TBR, I’m glad it made it to your “best” list because now I’m even more excited to read it!
Wow, I don’t know any of these books anymore xD xD I’ve completely disconnected from the books news it seems
My reading year has been pretty trash lol. Starting my senior year of uni, moved out from my parent’s, and got married. So aallllll the lings 😆
But I finally read The Summer I Turned Pretty, which was such a good fluff read, and I’m currently listening to Serpent & Dove! Hoping to start Wishtress next, which is my most anticipated read of the year. 😛
Oh good!! Hopefully it’s not too late for me to do my post too!! 😅
osm post thank you