2022 Mid-Year Check In Book Tag || We’re halfway through the year???

I, for one, would like to know how the year’s gone so fast 😅. Also how many backlist and new and unreleased books I can finish before the end of the year, please and thank you ☺️

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STATS

1. Best book you’ve read so far in 2022?

You mean best BOOKS, right? Of course you do. Let’s go! Little Thieves by Margaret Owen. I FLEW through this so quickly and now I’m expected to WAIT for the sequel? It’s in MAY 2023. I finally read The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern and I get all the hype now. Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik was so good and now I want my own Staryk king 😆

2. Best sequel you’ve read so far in 2022?

I have started a couple of series this year so let’s see if I’ve enjoyed any sequels. And I did! It was Well Played by Jen DeLuca! I can’t wait to get to the 3rd book with the 4th coming in December, I think?

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

I’m choosing to take ‘new releases’ as been here for a few months as well 😂. For the Throne by Hannah Whitten; Misrule by Heather Walter; I Kissed Shara Wheeler by Casey McQuiston. And on and on it goes.

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

WELL. These Fleeting Shadows by Kate Alice Marshall FOR SURE; Kingdom of the Feared by Kerri Maniscalco; Our Missing Hearts by Celeste Ng; Never Ever Getting Back Together by Sophie Gonzales; Well Traveled by Jen DeLuca. You see where the problem lies?

5. Biggest disappointment.

I suppose The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides or Then She Was Gone by Lisa Jewell. I liked the other Jewell book I read but I don’t see her as an author I’d love to read. Also why are these being pushed around as thrillers when there’s barely anything thrilling about them?

6. Biggest surprise.

Probably any of the adult romance books I read. Well Met or The Flatshare. So now I know I can read adult romances 😂

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

I can say with MUCH happiness that it is Beth O’Leary!! She’s so fun and her books are great fun. I sped through them and emjoyed myself thoroughly.

8. Newest fictional crush.

I never really was the reader to assign characters as my crushes. Now especially with YA, most of them are my children 😆 But I did love Leon from The Flatshare, and Hades from A Touch of Darkness.

9. Newest favourite character.

Definitely Qadir from The Stardust Thief. He was funny when he needed to be (his sarcasm was great), hard at the right times and I just loved him. Vanja from Little Thieves was an absolute delight and I want her to have everything in life that she wants.

10. Book that made you cry.

Absolutely Under the Whispering Door by T.J. Klune. I sat there after I finished it, crying! And I’m usually not a crier, lol. I didn’t cry in A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers, but it did make me extremely emotional, so I think that counts.

11. Book that made you happy.

I mean, my first thought was Little Thieves by Margaret Owen. Sure, Vanja does do a fair bit of crime (not that I can blame her), but I enjoyed reading about it so I’ll pick this book 😆

12. Most beautiful book you’ve bought so far this year (or received)

So when I was in Australia in 2019, Meeghan @ Meeghan Reads sent me a book (I think it was a Christmas giveaway something?) I chose The Wicker King by K. Ancrum as the book I’d like to receive. It arrived at my aunt’s place a day or two t I got back home. No worries, I thought! I’ll just pick it up in May when we go over for my cousin’s wedding! This was February, the wedding was in April. 2020… You can guess what happened 😭 We FINALLY managed to go over and I brought the book back and it is so gorgeous and I love it so much! I’d love to annotate it but also I’d want dark and gold tabs specifically for it 😁

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

Insert the Moira Rose gif of her laughing with her mouth barely open. So uhh let’s get to it!! The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller; The Unspoken Name by A.K. Larkwood; Reverie by Ryan Is Sala; A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder by Holly Jackson; The Boy Who Steals Houses by C.G. Drews; Six Crimson Cranes by Elizabeth Lim; Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao; Uprooted by Naomi Novik; etc etc etc until my tbr books bury me 😭😭

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It’s like, yes, I have read quite a bit but also it feels like I’ve read so little this year 😂 Do you feel this way? There’s just too many books and the time slips away from us all too easily 😆 Do you have any answers to these questions? Will you still be trying to read everything before the end of the year? Oh good, me too 😂