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Welcome to the Mid-Year Freak Out Tag! Can you believe we’re exactly halfway through 2021? It’s been . . . a lot, right? I can’t be the only one who feels like time is going too fast. I can’t keep up! Today, we’re going to look backward and forward. I’m going to freak out about the books I’ve read and the books I still need to read in 2021.
Mid-Year Freak-Out Tag
Best Book You’ve Read So Far In 2021?
Long Way Down by Jason Reynolds. The
plot reminds me of A Christmas Carol, but it’s set in a
modern, inner-city apartment building. Most of the story takes place on an
elevator. Yep, a 300-page elevator ride. (I swear it’s not as boring as it
sounds!) A teenager’s brother is murdered, and the teen sets out to get
revenge. When he steps into the elevator in his apartment building, a ghost
gets on with him. The elevator stops at every floor, and a new ghost gets on at
each stop. That’s when the Christmas Carol similarities start.
The ghosts force the teen to confront his choices and reevaluate his decision
to commit murder. It’s a thoroughly modern ghost story! And, best of all, it
never gets preachy or heavy-handed! The author treats his (deeply flawed)
characters with compassion and lets the readers draw their own conclusions. You
should read it. It’s an excellent tale.
Best Sequel You’ve Read So Far In 2021?
I
haven’t read many sequels this year, and none of them have really blown me
away. If I had to pick a favorite, I’d choose Tunnel Of Bones by Victoria Schwab. It’s the second book in the Cassidy Blake series. If
I’d read this series as a 13-year-old, I would have been obsessed with it. It’s
about a family of ghost hunters who are filming a paranormal reality TV show.
Each book takes place in a different city. Tunnel Of Bones is
set in Paris. I would have loved this series as a kid because it’s fast-paced
and spooky. There’s travel and adventure and history and mysteries and
monsters. If you have spook-loving tweens in your life, I highly recommend this
series.
New Release You Haven’t Read But Want To?
So
many. How do I choose? A recent release that’s near the top of my priority list
is Everyone Dies Famous In A Small Town
by Bonnie-Sue Hitchcock. It’s a short story collection about young people in
small towns. (I bet you couldn’t guess that from the title.) Bonnie-Sue
Hitchcock is an underrated writer. Why aren’t more people raving about her
work? Her settings are vivid and memorable. I know her short story collection
will be brilliant.
Anticipated Release For The Second Half Of 2021?
I’m
curious about The Death Of Jane Lawrence
by Caitlin Starling. It’s a horror novel featuring a woman who enters into a
marriage of convenience. Her new husband is a surgeon with a manor house, so
she thinks she’s set for life, but her husband may be hiding dangerous secrets.
The book is being recommended for fans of Rebecca. That’s me! The synopsis definitely gives me Rebecca vibes. And Jane Eyre vibes. And Bluebeard vibes. And Doctor Jekyll And Mr. Hyde vibes. With so many vibes, I have to read
it.
Biggest Disappointment?
Hag-Seed
by Margaret Atwood. Friends, it’s sooo awful! Margaret Atwood wrote some of my all-time-favorite books, but I don’t
understand her newer stuff. I haven’t enjoyed any of her recent books. We just
don’t have a similar sense of humor. Hag-Seed is about Felix, a play director who is
forced out of his job by his coworkers. He gets a new job teaching Shakespeare
to prisoners. Then he comes up with a stupidly complicated plan to get revenge
on his former coworkers and manipulates the prisoners into carrying out the
plan. The book is part lecture on Shakespeare, part idiotic slapstick
comedy. I don’t get it. I regret finishing it.
Biggest Surprise?
Ada Blackjack: A True Story Of Survival In The
Arctic by Jennifer Niven. It’s a
biography of a female explorer. I was obsessed with polar exploration when I
was a kid. That’s pretty much the only topic I’d read about. I had never heard
of Ada Blackjack. All the books I read were about men! Why did the world hide
Ada from me? Ada was an Inuit woman in
the 1920s who joined a team of Arctic explorers because they needed a
seamstress/maid/cook for their expedition. Things went badly wrong in the
wilderness. When a rescue ship finally reached the stranded explorers (two
years after they left civilization), Ada was the only explorer still alive. I
have massive respect for her. Her story is totally worth reading.
Favorite New Author?
I
love trying new-to-me authors, and I’ve discovered a few new favorites this
year. I think my favorite-favorite new author is Yaa Gyasi. I was very
impressed by Homegoing. It’s a collection of linked short stories that
start in 1700s Ghana and follow a family up until modern times. Each story
focuses on a different generation of the family. The book starts with two
half-sisters. One stays in Ghana and marries a powerful man. The other is
captured by slave traders and shipped to America. The writing is stunning.
There are scenes that will stick with me forever, especially the ones set in
prisons and mines. They’re very visceral. I can’t wait to read Yaa Gyasi’s
other book.
Favorite Character?
I’m
going to cheat and pick both sisters from My
Sister, The Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite. Even though one of the
sisters is a serial killer, I found the pair disturbingly relatable. The story is set in Nigeria and stars two
sisters who are opposites. One is flighty and beautiful and uses her looks to
get away with literal murder. The other is plain and responsible and buries the
bodies her sister leaves behind. The book is about how society is willing to
overlook the bad behavior of beautiful women and how parents have different
expectations for their older and younger children. Neither of my sisters are
serial killers (as far as I know), but I still saw parallels between our lives
and the lives of the characters.
Book That Made You Happy?
Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas helped me escape from life, which made me very happy. It’s fast-paced, unique, and funny. Cemetery Boys is young adult paranormal fiction about a teenage boy
who wants to be a brujo and summon the dead. His family won’t let him become a
brujo, so of course he does the ceremony behind their backs and accidentally
summons the ghost of his school’s recently murdered bad boy. Chaos ensues.
There’s a sweet love story and a compelling murder mystery. It’s all highly
entertaining.
Favorite Book-To-Movie Adaptation?
Not
a movie, but I loved Shadow And Bone
on Netflix. It’s better than the books! In the show, the characters actually
have personalities. Since I didn’t like the books, I was surprised by how much I
loved the show. It’s set in a war-torn fantasy world and stars an orphan with
dangerous magic who could heal or destroy her world. The set design and
costumes are beautiful. I want season 2!
Most Beautiful Book You Bought In 2021?
I
haven’t bought myself any pretty books, but I did get one as a gift! (Thanks,
Nicole.) I love the cover of V.E. Schwab’s The
Invisible Life Of Addie LaRue. It’s simple and eye-catching.
What Book Do You Need To Read By The End Of The Year?
Well,
the book that’s been sitting on my shelf the longest is Little Heaven by Nick Cutter. I bought it in April 2020, and it’s
been sitting around because my bookish friends hate it. I didn’t know that when
I bought it! I just found it in a used bookstore and thought it sounded good. It’s
a horror / thriller about a woman who thinks her nephew has been kidnapped and
is being held in a bizarre New Mexico town called Little Heaven. I still plan
on reading it. Eventually. I guess I’ll find out if it’s awful.
Do you want to
do this tag? Consider yourself tagged.
Long Way Down has been on my radar for quite a while. I need to get it from the library soon. I remember your review of the Ada Blackjack book. Such an interesting story! I hope you end up enjoying Little Heaven more than your friends did!
ReplyDeleteLong Way Down was a fantastic book. I hadn't thought about it, but you're so right about how Reynolds writes his characters. I hope you get to read the Hitchcock book. I loved it. I saw people saying it was boring. I guess her style is not for everyone (?) I thought it was brilliant.
ReplyDeleteThe Death of Jane Lawrence sounds like a great read! I loved Rebecca.
ReplyDeleteGreat list of books, all the ones I've read on it were good. I especially like Homegoing, Cemetery Boys, and Long Way Down. Good choices!
ReplyDeleteWait THAT Jennifer Niven also writes Arctic non-fiction!? Well, I'll be! It does sound really good though, and since it is only 99 cents, I am buying it! Also agree about Long Way Down. I ended up liking Shadow and Bone more than I thought I would, too! I also really liked Everyone Dies Famous, so I hope you do too!
ReplyDeleteI always forget about the mid-year freak-out tag until I start seeing them, so thanks for reminding me! I already told you that I loved Long Way Down too, and you've made me want to read Ada Blackjack. I'll have to see if I can get that one from my library!
ReplyDeleteNicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction
I too like polar exploration books ... so I'll have to get to Ida's life story sometime. I didn't read Atwood's Hag-Seed ... but did you read her short story Stone Mattress ... the title story from that collection is an eerie good one. Cheers.
ReplyDeleteHAPPY (??) half way point! I listened to the Long Way Down last year and loved it.
ReplyDeleteHi there AJ! I still want to do this tag and I guess I need to do it before end of the week so that it can still count as almost mid year!
ReplyDeleteStill want to read The cemetery boys. I loved Six of Crows, but struggle a bit with shadow and bone. I think I need to read that one as well and see if it works a bit better for me.
Great list AJ!!