i’ve read 73 books so far…let’s talk about them

Hi friends!

I love this time of year because the mid year book freakout tag is legitimately one of my favourite tags to do. At the end of this post, I’ve also included all the questions for ease of copy and paste – please comment your mid year book freakout answers!!!! I would love to see them!

It’s currently the 18th of June and I have a read a total of 73 books:

approximately 25, 833 pages

mostly fantasy, romance and lgbtqia+

with 49% of books <300, 36% between 300-499 and 15% of books 500+

90% of the books I read being fiction and 10% being non-fiction

and mostly emotional, adventurous and reflective.

It’s been a pretty awesome reading year so far, with my average rating 4.1 stars.

Shall we just get straight into the questions?!

best book you’ve read so far in 2022

I should also warn you that I am definitely answering with more than one book but I’ll try and limit to three books.

The three best books I’ve read so far this year would have to be 𝑵𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒃𝒊𝒕𝒄𝒉 𝒃𝒚 𝑹𝒂𝒄𝒉𝒆𝒍 𝒀𝒐𝒅𝒆𝒓, 𝑫𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒍𝒂𝒉 𝑮𝒓𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝑫𝒐𝒆𝒔𝒏’𝒕 𝑪𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒃𝒚 𝑨𝒔𝒉𝒍𝒆𝒚 𝑯𝒆𝒓𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈-𝑩𝒍𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑰 𝑲𝒊𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝑺𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒂 𝑾𝒉𝒆𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒓 𝒃𝒚 𝑪𝒂𝒔𝒆𝒚 𝑴𝒄𝑸𝒖𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒏. All very different books and my love for them are for entirely different reasons.

𝑵𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒃𝒊𝒕𝒄𝒉 was such an experience that I don’t think anything could ever top it as it was purely unhinged in the best way. It explored motherhood in such a fascinating way which I think will eventuate in the necessasity of it being studied in a Gender class at university.

𝑫𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒍𝒂𝒉 𝑮𝒓𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝑫𝒐𝒆𝒔𝒏’𝒕 𝑪𝒂𝒓𝒆 was just wonderful and happy and a celebration of queer love. It was pure and I love it so much.

𝑰 𝑲𝒊𝒔𝒔𝒆𝒅 𝑺𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒂 𝑾𝒉𝒆𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒓 was fantastic! I haven’t spoken about it much here on my blog or on my instagram but the unapologetic way that 𝑴𝒄𝑸𝒖𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒏 portrayed these two women who were messy and at time, unlikeable was awesome. A sapphic love story doesn’t need to be palatable with these perfect queer characters – they were both kind of toxic and selfish and I loved Shara and Chloe so much.

best sequel you’ve read so far in 2022

Hmm. If you’ve been following my reading this year, you know that I have began reading the 𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐞𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐓𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐛𝐲 𝐑𝐨𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐭 𝐉𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐚𝐧 and am absolutely loving it. I think the best sequel (im going to cheat a little bit as it’s not technically the sequel) would be book three of the Wheel of Time. 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑫𝒓𝒂𝒈𝒐𝒏 𝑹𝒆𝒃𝒐𝒓𝒏 was honestly perfect. I haven’t yet talked about it on my blog for my WOT blog series but I will be publishing it soon! So I won’t say much other than it was freaking wonderful.

new release you haven’t read yet, but want to

Oh my lord. I have so many. The three new releases that are currently waiting on my shelf to be read are 𝑬𝒍𝒆𝒌𝒕𝒓𝒂 𝒃𝒚 𝑱𝒆𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒇𝒆𝒓 𝑺𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒕, 𝑻𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒂 𝑴𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒃𝒚 𝑶𝒄𝒆𝒂𝒏 𝑽𝒖𝒐𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑪𝒐𝒎𝒑𝒂𝒏𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝑷𝒊𝒆𝒄𝒆 𝒃𝒚 𝑨𝒍𝒊 𝑺𝒎𝒊𝒕𝒉. I honestly cannot wait to read these and am hoping to get to theme in the next month! I read 𝑨𝒓𝒊𝒂𝒅𝒏𝒆 𝒃𝒚 𝑱𝒆𝒏𝒏𝒊𝒇𝒆𝒓 𝑺𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒕 last year and it became on of my favourite books of 2020 – it was just so beautiful and accessible and I fell in love. 𝑬𝒍𝒆𝒌𝒕𝒓𝒂 is supposed to be even better but I am terrified of hating it or being disappointed.

𝑻𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒂 𝑴𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 is 𝑽𝒖𝒐𝒏𝒈’s most recent poetry collection and I have read and loved everything that 𝑶𝒄𝒆𝒂𝒏 𝑽𝒖𝒐𝒏𝒈 has released. I am sure that this collection is beautiful. And lastly, 𝑪𝒐𝒎𝒑𝒂𝒏𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝑷𝒊𝒆𝒄𝒆 𝒃𝒚 𝑨𝒍𝒊 𝑺𝒎𝒊𝒕𝒉 is a companion novel for the seasonal quartet which I finished at the end of last year and freaking adored! I am not too sure what this book is going to be about but the best way to begin an 𝑨𝒍𝒊 𝑺𝒎𝒊𝒕𝒉 book is to not know anything haha.

biggest surprise of 2022

Okay so maybe I have four books for this question! 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑱𝒂𝒔𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒆 𝑻𝒉𝒓𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒃𝒚 𝑻𝒂𝒔𝒉𝒂 𝑺𝒖𝒓𝒊 was actually fantastic and I cannot wait for the sequel. It had some of the most epic women characters with conspiracies, betrayals, magic and slow build sexual tension. So freaking great. Another fantasy novel that surprised me was a young adult one that I recently read called 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑮𝒊𝒓𝒍 𝑾𝒉𝒐 𝑭𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝑩𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑺𝒆𝒂 𝒃𝒚 𝑨𝒙𝒊𝒆 𝑶𝒉. This was fabulous. I had some issues with it but overall it was so incredibly interesting and fun!

The romance novel that surprised the hell out of me with how much I loved it was 𝑨𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑭𝒆𝒆𝒍𝒔 𝒃𝒚 𝑶𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒂 𝑫𝒂𝒅𝒆. I had so many feelings when reading this book. It will forever hold a place in my heart. And lastly, 𝑵𝒐𝒏𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒊𝒔 𝑺𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒐𝒖𝒔 𝒃𝒚 𝑪𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒆 𝑷𝒓𝒂𝒔𝒊𝒇𝒌𝒂 blew me away. I loved it. I spoke more about it here.

most anticipated release for the second half of the year

ooooooooooooooo.

The books that immediately come to mind are 𝑺𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒎 𝑬𝒄𝒉𝒐 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑨𝒓𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒍’𝒔 𝑹𝒆𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒃𝒚 𝑵𝒂𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒊 𝑺𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒉. I AM SO PUMPED FOR THE NEXT INSTALLMENTS OF THE PSY-CHANGELING TRINITY AND GUILDHUNTER SERIES!

I’m also looking forward to 𝑳𝒂𝒑𝒗𝒐𝒏𝒂 𝒃𝒚 𝑶𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒂 𝑴𝒐𝒔𝒉𝒇𝒆𝒈𝒉. I need it now to be honest.

𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑶𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝑺𝒘𝒐𝒓𝒅 𝒃𝒚 𝑻𝒂𝒔𝒉𝒂 𝑺𝒖𝒓𝒊, the sequel to 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑱𝒂𝒔𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒆 𝑻𝒉𝒓𝒐𝒏𝒆 is also on my list. And how could I forget 𝑨𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒅 𝑷𝒂𝒓𝒌𝒆𝒓 𝑫𝒐𝒆𝒔𝒏’𝒕 𝑫𝒂𝒕𝒆 𝒃𝒚 𝑨𝒔𝒉𝒍𝒆𝒚 𝑯𝒆𝒓𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈-𝑩𝒍𝒂𝒌𝒆?! So many wonderful books on their way to my shelves!

favourite new author (debut or new to you)

So this is harder than I anticipated.

I think the author that comes to mind immediately is 𝑺𝒆𝒂𝒏𝒂𝒏 𝑴𝒄𝑮𝒖𝒊𝒓𝒆. I only began reading this author this year and the writing?! The found family?! The imagination of the story?! 𝑺𝒆𝒂𝒏𝒂𝒏 𝑴𝒄𝑮𝒖𝒊𝒓𝒆 is incredible and I am so excited to continue with reading the 𝐖𝐚𝐲𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐂𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐧’𝐬 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬.

I might also mention𝑪𝒍𝒂𝒊𝒓𝒆 𝑮. 𝑪𝒐𝒍𝒆𝒎𝒂𝒏. I read 𝑪𝒐𝒍𝒆𝒎𝒂𝒏’s memoir and it freaking exploded my mind with how epic it was. I am definitely looking forward to picking up more of her novels.

biggest disappointment so far this year

Hmm.

𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑪𝒐𝒍𝒅𝒆𝒔𝒕 𝑻𝒐𝒖𝒄𝒉 𝒃𝒚 𝑰𝒔𝒂𝒃𝒆𝒍 𝑺𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 was actually terrible and I so wanted to read a fun contemporary vampire fantasy novel but instead I got terrible writing, terrible characters, and boring vampires.

𝑭𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒎𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒃𝒚 𝑺𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒉 𝑾𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒔 was also an incredible disappointment. I was expecting to fall in love with this novel and with this author’s writing. I didn’t.

And I think I might also mention 𝑱𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒏 𝑺𝒕𝒓𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑴𝒓 𝑵𝒐𝒓𝒓𝒆𝒍𝒍 𝒃𝒚 𝑺𝒖𝒔𝒂𝒏𝒏𝒂 𝑪𝒍𝒂𝒓𝒌𝒆. I jsut spoke about this book here so go check that out if you want more of my thoughts.

newest fictional crush

Um. Delilah Green and Claire Sutherland from 𝑫𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒍𝒂𝒉 𝑮𝒓𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝑫𝒐𝒆𝒔𝒏’𝒕 𝑪𝒂𝒓𝒆 𝒃𝒚 𝑨𝒔𝒉𝒍𝒆𝒚 𝑯𝒆𝒓𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈-𝑩𝒍𝒂𝒌𝒆 were *chefs kiss*. I am also going to mention Alexander Woodroe from 𝑨𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑭𝒆𝒆𝒍𝒔 𝒃𝒚 𝑶𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒊𝒂 𝑫𝒂𝒅𝒆 because goddamn.

newest favourite fictional character

I honestly don’t know? The entire cast of the 𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐞𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐓𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐬 most likely. My precious children.

a book that made you cry

More like every freaking book I read lol.

𝑺𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑭𝒂𝒃𝒖𝒍𝒐𝒖𝒔 𝒃𝒚 𝑨𝒍𝒆𝒙𝒊𝒔 𝑯𝒂𝒍𝒍 is the first book that comes to mind other than the 𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐞𝐥 𝐨𝐟 𝐓𝐢𝐦𝐞 novels (because I literally cry at every book in that series). I just cried because of how precious and stupid Valentine was but also lowkey how seen I felt. I understood Val on so many levels and I loved him so so much. A lot of tears were shed.

a book that made you happy

All of them?????? I love reading and I loved books. I reread the 𝑯𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒑𝒑𝒆𝒓 graphic novels recently so maybe those! I love the Hearstopper novels and I truly just wanted the serotonin and pure wholesomeness. Nick and Charlie supremacy.

most beautiful book you’ve brought so far this year (or received)

This one is easy! I have the most gorgeous edition of 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑫𝒂𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑴𝒐𝒐𝒏 𝑮𝒐𝒅𝒅𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒃𝒚 𝑺𝒖𝒆 𝑳𝒚𝒏𝒏 𝑻𝒂𝒏. It came in a fairyloot box and it has the most beautiful artwork on the edges of the pages and the colour of the sprayed edges is the most stunning purple! Honestly, one of the most beautiful books I own. Look at it! So pretty!