Mid Year Book Freak Out Tag - 2018

[Athena]

The Mid Year Book Freak Out Tag was created by Ely (elyjayne) and IsThatChami on their blog, and one of them brought it to YouTube: original video.

 

Here are the questions:

 

1. Best book you’ve read so far in 2018.

2. Best sequel you've read so far in 2018.

3. New release you haven't read yet, but want to.

4. Most anticipated release for the second half of the year.

5. Biggest disappointment.

6. Biggest surprise.

7. Favourite new author. (Debut or new to you)

8. Newest fictional crush.

9. Newest favourite character.

10. Book that made you cry.

11. Book that made you happy.

12. Favourite book to film adaptation you saw this year.

13. Favourite review you've written this year. (Booktube version: Favourite video you have done so far in this year)

14. Most beautiful book you've bought so far this year (or received).

15. What books do you need to read by the end of the year?

 

I realise we're a bit beyond the 6-month mark in the year, but I was watching YouTube and saw people doing this tag and I thought I'd bring it over here.

 

Here are my answers to some of the questions:

 

1. Best book you’ve read so far in 2018.

Judith Visser - Zondagskind

Bronja Prazdny - Vrouwen met autisme
Katie Green - Lighter Than My Shadow
C. G. Drews - A Thousand Perfect Notes

Angie Thomas - The Hate U Give

E. J. Copperman and Jeff Cohen - An Asperger's Mystery 1: The Question of the Missing Head

Seanan McGuire - Wayward Children series

Jodi Picoult - Small Great Things

Alice Oseman - Radio Silence

Okay 9 is probably enough lol.

 

2. Best sequel you've read so far in 2018.

Seanan McGuire - Wayward Children 3: Beneath the Sugar Sky or one of the Princess Jellyfish volumes or The Illuminae Files 3: Obsidio.

(I haven't read a lot of sequels this year so far to be honest! And almost none got a 10/10 rating, though a lot got a 9/10 or 8/10.)

 

3. New release you haven't read yet, but want to.

Not sure, quite a few. But I can't quite remember which ones were released in 2018 vs. earlier years.

 

4. Most anticipated release for the second half of the year.

Hmm, quite a few. Mostly releases by my favourite authors, but also some by authors I don't know yet.

 

5. Biggest disappointment.

Roderick Leeuwenhart - Pindakaas en Sushi 3 (DNFed/abandoned about halfway through).

 

6. Biggest surprise.

Not sure to be honest.

 

7. Favourite new author. (Debut or new to you)

Judith Visser (though I've only read 1 book, so it doesn't quite count. But I love Zondagskind so much, so.)

Alice Oseman

Seanan McGuire

Francesca Zappia

Probably more but that's what I can think of for now. There aren't a lot of new-to-me authors that I've read more than one book by this year, and I don't usually call someone a new favourite author unless I've read more than one of their books.

 

8. Newest fictional crush.

I don't have fictional crushes.

 

9. Newest favourite character.

I don't know, there are many good ones.

 

10. Book that made you cry.

Steven Rowley - Lily and the Octopus

 

11. Book that made you happy.

Judith Visser - Zondagskind (but it also made me cry lol).

 

12. Favourite book to film adaptation you saw this year.

I watched a couple of book to film adaptations but with most of them I haven't actually read the original book(s), so I can't compare. The only book to film adaptation I saw, of which I have read the book, is the new Murder on the Orient Express, which I enjoyed.

 

13. Favourite review you've written this year. (Booktube version: Favourite video you have done so far in this year).

I'm not sure! I don't think I wrote a lot of great reviews this year, but I'd have look through them and see.

 

14. Most beautiful book you've bought so far this year (or received).

That's a tough one. I bought quite a lot of beautiful books.

 

15. What books do you need to read by the end of the year?

I've got some reads planned with friends, and I want to finish off certain series I've started. Other than that, it's mostly up to me, I'm not a reviewer/blogger/BookTuber so I don't have to read anything for a publisher.

 

I'd love to read other members' answers .

 

Edited July 22, 2018 by Athena

[~Andrea~]

Bear in mind I've only read 8 books so far this year.

 

1 Best book you’ve read so far in 2018.

Robert Goddard - Take No Farewell

or maybe Shaman's Crossing by Robin Hobb.

2. Best sequel you've read so far in 2018.

N/A

3. New release you haven't read yet, but want to.

Don't know

4. Most anticipated release for the second half of the year.

Don't know

5. Biggest disappointment.

The Witch Tree Symbol - Harriet Adams as Carolyn Keene (Nancy Drew mystery) it was so bad I couldn't understand how I could have enjpyed these books as a kid!

6. Biggest surprise.

Either Robert Goddard - Take No Farewell because I had no knowledge of the author so I was surprised how much I enjoyed it
Or The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold because I expected it to be depressing and it wasn't really

Or The Screwtape Letters which was a re-read which I'd found heavy first time round but surprisingly readble this time.

7. Favourite new author. (Debut or new to you)

Robert Goddard (new to me)

8. Newest fictional crush.

Um what??

9. Newest favourite character.

No standouts really.

10. Book that made you cry.

I can't remember but it's possible that The Lovely Bones made me cry

11. Book that made you happy.

Shaman's crossing by Robin Hobb - because I was reading a Robin Hobb I'd never read before, and it's just so escapist and comforting.

12. Favourite book to film adaptation you saw this year.

N/A

13. Favourite review you've written this year. (Booktube version: Favourite video you have done so far in this year)

Not sure I have one

14. Most beautiful book you've bought so far this year (or received).

None of them have been particularly beautiful. I mostly buy second hand paperbacks and ebooks!

15. What books do you need to read by the end of the year?

Nothing planned!!

 

Thanks for finding the questions Gaia!

[willoyd]

Went to watch the original video - far too frenetic for an old fogey like me; I lasted as far as the first question!  Still, some interesting questions, so thanks for this Athena.

 

1. Best book you’ve read so far in 2018.

Elizabeth Taylor's A View of the Harbour.  An Austenesque portrait of small town life on the Cornish coast. A book that has grown on me since I finished reading it - the mark of a classic.  Very closely chased by Jams Macpherson's monumental Battle Cry of Freedom, the classic history of the American Civil War - history writing at its best.

 

2. Best sequel you've read so far in 2018.

Continuing the Cornish theme, probably Simon Armitage's Walking Away, the account of his ballardeering walk along the South West Peninsular Coast Path, sequel to his previous outing along the Pennine Way, Walking Home.  You can see he's a poet, and a good one.

 

3. New release you haven't read yet, but want to.

Mark Cocker's Our Place.  This analysis of the state of the nation's conservation (not good, in fact very bad, and getting worse under the current government by the day) has received rave reviews in all the informed quarters.

 

4. Most anticipated release for the second half of the year.

The Price of Victory, the third and final volume in NAM Rodger's history of the Royal Navy.  It's been a long time coming, but should be worth it given the quality of the previous two volumes.

 

5. Biggest disappointment.

As opposed to the worst book....probably CJ Sampson's A Winter in Madrid which I failed to finish through sheer tedium.  Is this really the same man who wrote the Shardlake series?  Alternatively, Ulrich Raulff's Farewell to the Horse promised so much and delivered so little.

 

6. Biggest surprise.

Perhaps Helen Macdonald's H is for Hawk.  Having read the reviews, I really didn't want to read this - too much mislit by the sound of it - but it was a book group choice.  And as such it worked really well, getting me to read a book I would have otherwise missed, as it proved a totally engaging read.

 

7. Favourite new author. (Debut or new to you)

Favourite is over-egging the pudding somewhat, but a couple of authors I want to follow up further after my first goes - Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie in fiction and Patrick Barkham in non-fiction.

 

8. Newest fictional crush.

I rarely develop fictional crushes (do I ever? crush? perhaps just the wrong word for me), so no new ones.  However, reading both Elizabeth Taylor and Georges Simenon confirmed my continued and growing love of their books; reading Michael Bond confirmed my long held adoration of his books!

 

9. Newest favourite character.

None new this year.  Of the books I read, Maigret is the newest (Paddington has been in my reading world since I first started reading!).

 

10. Book that made you cry.

None - they don't.  The books that affect my emotions the most are those on nature conservation.

 

11. Book that made you happy.

Quite a lot - I read to enjoy books, and the process alone makes me happy!  Happiest? It has to be Paddington again!!

 

12. Favourite book to film adaptation you saw this year.

Just seen the one, but it was a goodie - yes, it's Paddington again! The films do capture the essence of the stories really well, even if they're miles away from the actual books.  I also thoroughly enjoyed (if that's the right word) The Darkest Hour, but that was not really a true book to film adaptation - the book I think came from the film (and the film was vastly superior, even if the history was execrable in a couple of place).

 

13. Favourite review you've written this year.

I Am Pilgrim by Terry Hayes.  The book was so bad, it was both easy and a joy to write about it.

 

14. Most beautiful book you've bought so far this year (or received).

The hardback edition of Jenny Uglow's Mr Lear.  Distinctly a cut above the average!

 

15. What books do you need to read by the end of the year?

I don't need to read anything by the end of the year, but I'd like to complete my Round Robin Challenge (just about on track) and read a couple more of the big books I've got on my shelves.

Edited July 25, 2018 by willoyd

[Lau_Lou]

1. My favourite books of the year so far are in chronological order

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck

Letters From Lighthouse Cottage by Ali Mcnamara

The Secret Diary of Hendrik Groen by Hendrik Groen 

My Favourite Husband by Pam McCutheon 

Shopaholic Ties The Knot by Sophie Kinsella

The Tenant Of Wildfell Hall by Anne Bronte

Prince Caspian by C S Lewis

Mary Poppins by P L Travers

War Horse by Michael Morpurgo

The Yorkshire Pudding Club by Milly Johnson

 

2. Favourite sequels

I dont tend to read many sequels, but I have read books in the Chronicles of Narnia series and Shopaholic series that I have enjoyed.

 

3. New Release

I dont really keep up with new releases. I think the newest book released is Happily Never After by Emma Robinson, I have on my to read on goodreads.

 

4. Anticipated release

Again I do not tend to look at what books are going to be released. I do enjoy looking at goodreads what is released this week and adding but I won't rush out to buy them just because they are new. 

 

5. Biggest Disappointment

Mrs Dalloway by Virginia Woolf. To be honest I can't say I am ever disappointed by a book. You either like it or you don't, but I have heard such good things about her books and I do have a couple of others I owe so I am hoping this was a one off. 

 

Queen of the Mersey by Maureen Lee. I am a fan of this author and have read many of the books but this one just didn't do it for me. 

 

6. Biggest Suprise

I wasn't too suprised of a book I have read this year to be really good or vice versa. 

 

7. Favourite new author

I have read a few new to me authors with whom I have loved the books. Albeit only one read which include John Steinbeck, Michael morpurgo, Anne Bronte and Milly Johnson. I will be seeking more novels by these authors. 

 

8. Newest Fictional Crush

I dont think I have one...

 

9. Favourite character

There would be too many to name. I loved every character in the Secret Diary of Hendrik Groen. I loved the characters in The Letters from Lighthouse Cottage. 

 

10. Book that made me cry.

This would definitely have to be War Horse. I do not cry too often with books. Even if they are about the most heart wrenching subjects known to man kind. But this got me a little.

 

11. Books that made you happy

I would definitely say Shopahlic Ties The Knot because I have loved following Becky's adventures and this had been my favourite of the series so far.  I would also say My Favourite Husband because it was hilarious. 

 

12. Favourite book to film adaptation this year.

I have not seen any books to films adaptations this year.

 

13. Favourite review written.

I do not write reviews. 

 

14. Most Beautiful Book.

I did like the cover of The yorkshire Pudding Club by Milly Johnson. 

 

15. What books to read by the end of the year.

I do want to read a couple more classics. I also want to read at least one Katie Fford book. As well as continue with the Cousins War/Tudor Court series by Philippa Gregory.