2017 Mid Year Book Freakout Tag!!

Hey everyone and welcome back to my blog! I'm Genni, and today I'll be participating in the mid year book freakout tag, which makes its head every year. I haven't actually done this tag, so let's see how it goes! I'm about 6 books behind on my schedule, but I am determined to catch up!

Best Book of 2017?

I'm going with Alex, Approximately by Jenn Bennett for my best book of 2017 so far. There is another book that could also easily take this title, but I didn't want to be repetitive! Plus, it's pretty hard to compare a young adult contemporary with an essay about feminism. Alex, Approximately blew my expectations out of water and I loved it to pieces. Jenn Bennett is an auto-read author for me now.

Best Sequel of 2017?
Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare just destroyed me. I was spoiled for a lot of it, and yet it didn't ruin the book at all. I absolutely loved it and the Infernal Devices has become one of my favorite trilogies I've read.

New Release I Haven't Read but Want To
I still have yet to read The Diabolic by S.J. Kincaid. Now technically this was published in November 2016, and isn't what you call a new release anymore. However, everyone seems to LOVE this book and I need to get on it. I think that I will really love this based on what I've heard and all that's stopping me is myself. 

Most Anticipated Release for the Second Half of 2017?
The Sea King by C.L. Wilson is my most anticipated release for the remainder of the year! It is being published in October, and I cannot wait. The Sea King is the companion sequel to The Winter King. The Winter King was one of my favorite books of last year, and I cannot wait to see what follows with this sequel!

Biggest Disappointment?
Unfortunately, Mask of Shadows by Linsey Miller is my biggest disappointment of 2017. I had high expectations about this one - a gender-fluid MC that fights to the death to become a part of the group of assassins for the queen so that they can enact vengeance over those that destroyed their hometown? - count me in!! Unfortunately, the book didn't live up to the expectations I had.

Biggest Surprise?
Follow Me Back by A.V. Geiger is my biggest surprise so far. I had heard a couple of great things about this book, but the synopsis sounds pretty silly to be honest. I mean, a thriller/romance about a fangirl falling in love with the guy she obsesses with? Okay... But what I didn't expect was a book that kept me on my toes as well as have depth!

Favorite New Author?
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is my favorite new author. I've read We Should All Be Feminists by her last year, but reading her newest release, Dear Ijeawele, or a Feminist Manifesto in Fifteen Suggestions, cemented her as one of my favorite authors. I love reading feminist literature, as it really makes me think about sexism as a whole and how to further incorporate equality in my life.

Newest Fictional Crush?
I don't really have one, but Always and Forever, Lara Jean, reaffirmed me undying love for Peter Kavinksy. Peter is just wonderful, and he is one of my ultimate book boyfriends. Peter is so loyal and does such wonderful and unsolicited things for Lara, and his relationship with Kitty melts my heart.

Newest Favorite Character?
All the girls in the Waterfire Saga! That includes Ling, Astrid, Serafina, Becca, Neela, and Ava. All of them are totally kick ass but together they form a great ensemble. It's not every day that you see a series that features six girls working together to defeat evil. There is always either cattiness or a knight in shining army, or both. This series shows how women and men are both equally as capable, and I love it!  

Book That Made Me Cry?
Stealing Candy by Stewart Lewis actually made me cry! However, I didn't actually like the book that much. To be honest, Candy (the main character) was grating and the "humor" in the book never hit the mark. However, the brutal and honest relationship between Candy and her father, who left when she was young, was touching. 

Book That Made Me Happy?
Did I Mention I Miss You? by Estelle Maskame made me happy as it was the perfect conclusion to the trilogy! While it wasn't as lighthearted as the first two, I got the ending I spent three books hoping for. 

Favorite Book Adaption I've Seen?
I would have to go with Hidden Figures for this answer! While I can't say whether it was a good adaption (I haven't read the book), the movie was marvelous. After the AP exam in my statistics class, we watched this and I adored it. I would for sure see this movie again. 

Favorite Review of Mine?
Some of my favorite reviews this year for young adult are the ones I did for World After by Susan Ee, Alex, Approximately by Jenn Bennett! I think both of them are succinct and to the point while showing my personality as well. Sometimes I think my personality doesn't shine through my posts, and I was happy with those two. I also did a discussion post about why I didn't like Throne of Glass that much, which I put in a lot of work for. I didn't want to ramble too much, and also didn't want to offend anyone. If there was one thing I would change though, I would bold my most important statements. Also, I did recently did mini reviews on movies, which I had a ton of fun with! I'm going to be doing more of those now because I enjoyed it so much! 

However, my favorite post of this year is my recent discussion about how I haven't been reading diversely. I mostly talk about how books aren't diverse enough, seem to use diversity as a marketing ploy, or come off as inorganic. I totally cheated on this answer by talking about five different posts, but those would have to be my favorites of this year!

Most Beautiful Book I Bought This Year?
Umm..I don't really buy books too often! I always go to my library, whether online or in person. I did get approved on Netgalley for Nyxia, which has a marvelous cover, but I didn't buy that one. I also bought Forever and Always, Lara Jean by Jenny Han. I don't think the cover is beautiful, but it is very fitting and portrays the series quite well. 

Book I Need to Read by the End of 2017?
Lady Midnight is my pick for this! This whole year I've been catching up to the Shadowhunter world. Lady Midnight is the first book in The Dark Artifices trilogy, and I would be happy if I finally started that one. I wasn't to take my time with the series though, in hopes of not having a dreadfully long wait for the third and final book. I just finished City of Heavenly Fire, and though I could techinically jump into Lady Midnight right now, I want to read Tales from the Shadowhunter Academy and possibly The Bane Chronicles as well.

As for goals, I haven't been doing well, but I haven't been doing badly. I'm 6 books behind my goodreads challenge, but I think I can catch up! Especially if I read some more manga, which was also a goal of mine! I haven't been doing too well on that one, simply because I cannot find a series that has clicked for me yet and end up only reading one or two volumes. Also, I have been listening to more audiobooks! I have really gotten in to them this year, and at least read once a month. :) My last goal was to finish more series than start them. I have finished 6 series so far, and plan to finish at least 5 by the end of the year. I've started 10 though so far, and plan to continue with most of them. At least I'm not starting a lot of series without finishing any!

How are you doing with all your goals?

Thanks so much for stopping by and I'll see you soon with another post!

Happy Reading!

Genni @ Ready, Set, Read!