Mid-Year Book Freak Out Tag

This tag has been around forever. I think I may have even done it before. The good news is that the answers change every year, so here it is again.

Mid-Year Book Freak Out

Best book you’ve read so far in 2017?

I reread the whole Harry Potter series this year, so I’m going to try not to answer “Harry Potter” for every question. The best non-Potter thing I read this year is Most Dangerous. It’s a nonfiction book about government leakers and whistleblowers. Even though it’s about the Vietnam War years, it’s surprisingly relevant. I need to find more books like this.

Best sequel you’ve read so far in 2017?

Okay, ignore everything I said in the last question. The only sequels I’ve read this year are Harry Potter. I do plan on reading Our Dark Duet by Victoria Schwab. I just haven’t done it yet.

New release you haven’t read yet but want to?

This was one of my most-anticipated releases of 2017. Have I read it yet? Of course not.

Most-anticipated release for the second half of 2017?

I think this comes out in September? As soon as I saw the title, I knew I needed it. That’s my kind of title.

Biggest disappointment?

An atmospheric alternate-history dystopia that’s set in a world where sin is visible. That sounds glorious. Too bad there’s no plot.

Biggest surprise?

Honestly, I only read this book because it has won so many big awards. Turns out, it totally deserves those awards.

Favorite new author?

This is tricky because I haven’t loved many books from new-to-me authors this year. I am curious about Ruta Sepetys’s books. I wasn’t blown away by Between Shades of Gray, but I’m interested enough in her work to read more of it.

Newest fictional crush?

I’ve still never gotten a crush on a fictional character.

Newest favorite character?

The sausage in “The Mouse, The Bird, and The Sausage” by the Brothers Grimm. The character is a sausage that likes to cook. The story never says what it cooks, but I imagine that it cooks the bodies of enemy sausages.

Book that made you cry?

A book has still never made me cry. I’m pretty sure I don’t have emotions.

Book that made you happy?

Besides the sausage one, you mean? Guts by Gary Paulsen. I loved the Brian books when I was a kid, so I liked learning the stories behind the series.

Favorite book-to-movie adaptation you saw this year?

This isn’t an adaptation, but I really liked Capote. It’s about Truman Capote, Harper Lee, and the book In Cold Blood.

Favorite review you’ve written this year?

I had a lot of fun writing my review for Fairy Tales from the Brothers Grimm. Most of you already know these stories, so I got to deviate from my usual review formula.

Most beautiful book you bought so far this year?

My copy is banged up because I got it from the scratch-and-dent section of Book Outlet, but it’s still a beautiful book. My only complaint is that the covers are very glittery. I hate glitter. Haven’t book designers heard that glitter is the STD of art supplies? It sticks on everyone and everything, and it doesn’t come off. This book got glitter on my hands, and on my pillows, and on my desk, and on my dog. It was stressful. #FirstWorldProblems

Are you sick of looking at this book yet? I've only shoved it in this post 3 times.

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

So many! I should probably prioritize The 19^th Wife by David Ebershoff and We Are Unprepared by Meg Little Reilly because they’ve been on my To-Be-Read shelf since last year. I just haven’t felt motivated to read them. All the other unread books on my shelf were acquired in the last six months, so I don’t feel too bad about letting them chill on the shelf.

Do you want to do this tag? Consider yourself tagged.