Mid Year Book Freak Out Tag 2021

 Hello Interwebs!

Since it is now the end of June and therefore almost exactly the middle of 2021, I've decided to do the Mid Year Book Freak Out Tag. I love this tag because it gives you a chance to look back on the first half of the year and then look ahead to the rest of the year. So without further ado, let's get down to it. 

1. Best Book You've Read So Far in 2021: Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid. I love anything Taylor Jenkins Reid writes and this was the perfect summer read with great summer vibes and I both loved it and want to reread it. 

2. Best Sequel You've Read So Far in 2021: Crazy Stupid Bromance by Lyssa Kay Adams. I haven't read many sequels this year and I really loved this installment of the Bromance Book Club series. 

3. New Release You Haven't Read Yet But Want To: Golden Girl by Elin Hilderbrand; Firekeeper's Daughter by Angeline Boulley. These are both books I am really looking forward to and are sitting on my shelf waiting for me to get to them. 

4. Most Anticipated Release For The Second Half Of The Year: Isn't It Bromantic by Lyssa Kay Adams; The Last Graduate by Naomi Novik 

5. Biggest Disappointment: The Divines by Ellie Eaton: I was so excited by the premise of the book and the preface and the recommendation from Elin Hilderbrand but it just fell so, so flat. That's not saying this was the worst book I read this year so far but this one was the one I was most disappointed not to like. 

6. Biggest Surprise: Outlawed by Anna North: I'm not into Western style books in general but I really, really loved this book. The characters and setting were so much fun and I loved the heist style from the end. 

7. Favorite New Author (Debut or New To You): Fredrik Backman: I read my first Backman book this year and I'm determined to read everything of his I can by the end of the year. His writing is so beautiful and his characters so colorful and memorable. 

8. Newest Fictional Crush: I don't usually get crushes on book characters but I really liked Orion from A Deadly Education and Benji from Bear Town by Fredrik Backman. I like complicated boys with a little bit of darkness to them. 

8. Newest Favorite Character: Britt-Marie from Britt-Marie was Here by Fredrik Backman. Britt-Marie was just so complicated a character. When I first met her in My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry I didn't really like her but when I read Britt-Marie was Here I realized that  every time you think you have her figured out, she shows a new side and unexpected depths to her personality. Rachel from Moloka'i by Alan Brennert was another book that I absolutely loved. You follow her from childhood to the end of her life as she is faced with hardship upon hardship and not only survives what's thrown at her but she also thrives despite it all. She is easily one of my favorite characters of all time. 

9. A Book That Made You Cry: Moloka'i by Alan Brennert: this book was beautiful and sad with all the hardships piled on not only Rachel but all the inhabitants of the leper colony there and the way they lived and died. And Every Morning the Way Home Gets Longer and Longer by Fredrik Backman made me cry big time, like majorly ugly crying sobbing. As a CNA who works with this population and who has worked a lot in Memory Care this hit very close to home and it was devastatingly beautiful. In fact, this is the only Backman book I have bought for myself so far. 

10. A Book That Made You Happy: The Kitchen Front by Jennifer Ryan: this book was just such a wholesome historical fiction about the home front of WWII Britain and cooking and friendship between women. I loved it and it made me so happy. 

11. The Most Beautiful Book You've Bought (Or Received) This Year:  Firekeeper's Daughter by Angeline Boulley: this cover is a true work of art and I adore it so much. 

Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid: this is absolutely the most summery book I own with an ocean and surfers on the dust jacket and the most beautiful summery blue and yellow naked hardcover. 

12. What Books Do You Need To Read By The End Of The Year: So many. I really want to read the Bridgerton series by Julia Quinn; Firefly Lane and The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah; and hopefully some more nonfiction as I just haven't been in the mood recently. 

So that's my Mid Year Book Freak Out Tag. I hope you enjoyed it and that you'll end up doing this tag along with me. 

Happy Reading!

Richelle