So I watch a good amount of BookTube content and many of the creators I watch do this Mid-Year Freakout every year. While I don't have a BookTube channel, I think the questions are fun so I wanted to join in! All books mentioned here are ones I've read from January 1 - June 30, 2022. I've also linked to the full reviews of the books I mention so if any of them pique your interest, you can check out my full thoughts!
Original creators: Chami and Earl Grey Books.
[here are some general stats before jumping into the actual Mid-Year questions]
- 106 books read (42 ARCs, 64 backlist)
- 33550 total pages (avg of 317 pages per book)
- avg rating of 4.09 (avg romance rating: 4.1, avg non-romance rating: 4.08)
- 16 debut books
Best book you’ve read so far in 2022
I can't pick an overall favorite but I do pick a monthly favorite for romance reads as well as non-romance books. Here's how the year has shaped up so far!
Better Than People by Roan Parrish
A Brush With Love by Mazey Eddings
Act Your Age, Eve Brown by Talia Hibbert
What We May Be by Layla Reyne
Carnal Urges by J. T. Geissinger
Satisfaction Guaranteed by Karelia Stetz-Waters
Road of Bones by Christopher Golden
The Paradox Hotel by Rob Hart
The Sun Down Motel by Simone St. James
Go Down Hard by Ali Seay
Pretty Girls by Karin Slaughter
One of the Girls by Lucy Clarke
Best sequel you've read so far in 2022
I very rarely read traditional series where the same plot and characters carry on through multiple books. What I do read a lot of is series that can also be read as standalones. For example: romance series where each book is a different couple but the series has interconnected characters or police procedural series where we follow a detective solving a new case in each book.
My favorite 'sequel' would be The Executioner by Chris Carter. This is the second book in the Robert Hunter series which is a detective procedural. I'd call this the best sequel because I did not enjoy the first book in the series but this second book was a 5-star read!
Favorite re-read
I don't have an answer for this one, I hardly ever re-read books and I haven't re-read anything this year at all (and, if I'm being honest, I don't really have any plans to re-read in the future)
Genre you've been loving/reading the most
While I've been still really enjoying the romance genre and have been exploring more sub-genres such as paranormal romances, the genre I'm really enjoying exploring is cozy mysteries and I'm growing to really love them.
New release you haven't read yet, but want to
Romance: Hook, Line, and Sinker by Tessa Bailey (pub date March 1, 2022)
Non-Romance: The Book of Cold Cases by Simone St James (pub date March 15, 2022)
Most anticipated release for the second half of the year
Romance: Ship Wrecked by Olivia Dade (expected publication date November 15)
Non-Romance: Flight Risk by Cherie Priest (expected publication date November 1)
Biggest disappointment
The Wild Girls by Phoebe Morgan.
My review is about as rant-y as I've ever gotten, and I'll just sum up my disappointment simply by saying that in an isolated thriller on a safari resort, I'd expect more from the setting especially in terms of potential lion involvement.
Biggest surprise
The biggest surprise would be how much I'm enjoying paranormal romances. Previously, when I'd think of paranormal romances, I'd think of a lot of the super popular, often YA books (looking at you, Twilight) and I didn't have much interest in these so it felt like paranormal romances just weren't for me. However, obviously paranormal romances come in a wide variety and I've been really enjoying my time finding and exploring this sub-genre. Here are some I've enjoyed so far this year:
Sing Me To Sleep by R. M. Virtues
Deceived by the Gargoyles by Lillian Lark
The Trouble with Trying to Date a Murderer by Jennifer Cody
The Witch's Wolves by Ellie Mae MacGregor
Favorite new author (Debut or new to you)
R. M. Virtues, hands down. I've been hearing such great things about his books for a while but they never quite sounded like my preferred sub-genres or tropes. However, I finally picked them up for 2 separate readathon challenges and absolutely loved them both! I read the first book in his Gods of Hunger series for the Queer Romance Readathon and immediately went and bought books 2 and 3 in the series. I think he has a fantastic way of building characters and the worlds in his books without ever feeling info-dumpy or heavy handed.
Newest favorite character
Beard Science by Penny Reid
I know I'm a few years behind on this one, but I absolutely love both Cletus and Jen (but if I had to pick one, I'd say Cletus is my favorite). I'm so excited that Reid gave them their own cozy mystery spin off series!
Book that made you cry
A Brush With Love by Mazey Eddings.
I cry pretty easily but I don't particularly enjoy reading angsty or hard-hitting books. But every so often, a romance book I pick up that I expect to be a pretty light contemporary or maybe even a rom-com will sneak in an emotional gut punch that I wasn't expecting. In A Brush With Love, Eddings does such a fantastic job of really building up my emotional buy-in so that by the time we're hurtling toward a pretty big emotional moment, I was 1000% invested.
Book that made you happy
Act Your Age, Eve Brown by Talia Hibbert.
Again, I was a bit behind the curve on this one. While I very much enjoyed the entire Brown Sisters trilogy, Eve's book hit me just right and I absolutely loved every page.
Most beautiful book you've bought so far this year (or received)
I don't buy many books and even fewer physical books (library, ARCs, and Kindle Unlimited make up the large majority of my reading). However, I did ask for a physical copy of The Man Who Died Twice by Richard Osman because I received the first book in the series for a gift last year and I really love how they look together on my shelf.
What books do you need to read by the end of the year?
I'm lagging a bit behind in my ARC reading so I would love to catch back up. I even have an ARC from October 2021 still unfinished (eek!). I have a personal goal to read and post reviews of ARCs approximately 1 month prior to the publishing date and I would love to get back to that schedule.
Favorite video or post you've done so far this year
I've really enjoyed the number of readathons I've participated in so far this year and I liked having these wrap-ups separate from my general romance wrap-ups.
Favorite book community members
"Favorite" is a really loaded adjective as I watch/follow different creators for different reasons. However, some new-to-me book community members are:
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