Mid-Year Book Freakout Tag

It's July, which officially means we have passed the middle of the year. What better time to do the mid-year book freakout tag? I'm keeping this intro short and sweet because I've definitely rambled in the answers here. This is how my reading year's been going:

FAVORITE STANDALONE YOU'VE READ SO FAR THIS YEAR

This was originally meant to be your favorite book you've read this year, but considering three out of my four favorite books of this year have been standalones and the next question is about a sequel, I decided to not make myself choose among these. I absolutely adored DEAR MARTIN by Nic Stone, THE WAY YOU MAKE ME FEEL by Maurene Goo, and OUR YEAR OF MAYBE by Rachel Lynn Solomon (which won't be released until next January, which gives me plenty of time to hype you all up for it)! These are all wonderful contemporaries that range from serious to comedic, and I give all of them my highest recommendation.

FAVORITE SEQUEL YOU'VE READ THIS YEAR

This absolutely has to be LEAH ON THE OFFBEAT by Becky Albertalli. It's halfway between a sequel and a companion to SIMON VS THE HOMO SAPIENS AGENDA, and I know a lot of people don't love it quite as much as the previous book, but I thought it was wonderful. I loved the nods to the other books in the Creekwood universe, and I think that this was the perfect way to end that story. I can't wait to see what Becky Albertalli does next!

A NEW RELEASE YOU REALLY WANT TO READ BUT HAVEN'T YET

There are so many, but the one that's coming to mind is FROM TWINKLE, WITH LOVE by Sandhya Menon! I really loved WHEN DIMPLE MET RISHI last year, and I'm looking forward to another summery rom-com.

MOST ANTICIPATED RELEASE FOR 2ND HALF OF 2018

Hands-down WHAT IF IT'S US by Becky Albertalli and Adam Silvera. There are so many amazing books releasing this year (and I'm going to feature a lot of them!) but both of these authors have written some of my all-time favorites. I'm honestly kind of a little scared of what's going to happen when they join forces!

YOUR BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT

I have DNFed a few books this year, but my biggest disappointment is one that I stuck through to the end: A MATTER OF HEART by Amy Fellner Dominy. I really don't like narratives where the protagonist dwells on the thought that they'd rather be dead than disabled. Abby gets over this at the end, and it's gotta be rough to have your Olympic dreams taken away, but the idea that life is not worth living with a disability is really dangerous.

YOUR BIGGEST SURPRISE

EVERY HEART A DOORWAY by Seanan McGuire isn't the kind of book I'd normally picked up, but Sky @ Sky's Book Corner recommended it so strongly that I knew I'd enjoy it at least a little. I loved it. I was drawn in almost immediately, and there was so much packed into this tiny book! I've read the second book in the series, but I'm really looking forward to getting around to the rest of the books.

YOUR FAVORITE NEW/NEW TO YOUR AUTHOR

Nic Stone, without a doubt. Out of my four favorite books of the year, she's the only new-to-me author who made the list. I can't wait to read ODD ONE OUT, her upcoming book!

YOUR NEWEST FAVORITE CHARACTER/FICTIONAL CRUSH

I'm combining these two questions into one because the answer is the same. I know I'm talking about DEAR MARTIN a lot in this post, because it's an amazing book and you should all read it if you haven't already. My favorite character in this (and my newest fictional crush) was the love interest, Sarah-Jane "SJ" Friedman. From her first appearance, she stole my heart, and she did kind of steal the spotlight at times but I didn't even care.

A BOOK THAT MADE YOU CRY

This one came as a complete surprise to me - A TORCH AGAINST THE NIGHT by Sabaa Tahir! I read the first book a few years ago and liked it, but not enough to make the second book a high priority. I finally read the second book a few weeks ago and it absolutely destroyed me. I now need to read book three as soon as I can!

A BOOK THAT MADE YOU HAPPY

I had a smile on my face almost the whole time I was reading THE LAST SUMMER OF THE GARRETT GIRLS by Jessica Spotswood. It's a wonderful summer read about the bond among four sisters, and it's such a fun book. I highly recommend it for a good summer read!

YOUR FAVORITE BOOK-TO-FILM-ADAPTATION

If you thought I was going to answer anything other than Love, Simon for this, I don't know what to tell you. This movie was so good! Based on one of my absolute favorite books, and I think they did an absolutely wonderful job adapting it.

YOUR FAVORITE BLOG POST YOU'VE WRITTEN THIS YEAR

I really haven't written many blog posts this month, have I? Even so, I'm very proud of my Queer Books for Pride Month post.

BOOKS YOU NEED TO READ BEFORE THE END OF THE YEAR

Where do I even start? Some that come to mind (that have already been released) are A REAPER AT THE GATES and and SAVE THE DATE, but my list has just been getting longer and longer.

How has your reading year been going? Tell me in the comments!