For What It's Worth


Thursday, July 19, 2018

Mid-year Book Freakout tag



I wasn’t tagged by anyone but decided to jump in since I keep seeing this everywhere. If oyu know who started it - let me know so I can add a link tot heir blog.

This is actually really hard for me because I forget what I’ve read approximately 3 minutes after I’m finished lol

Anyway – let’s see what I can come up with!

*Click on covers to see on Goodreads

Best Book You've Read So Far This Year

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I bow to the contemporary YA queen – Jenn Bennett. I love everything this author writes but Starry Eyes is my new favorite.

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*Honorable mention: Point of Contact by Melanie Hansen: M/M military romance that gutted me but pieced me back together. Really well done story about military service, Gold Star families, grief and healing.

Best Sequel You've Read So Far

I’ve been reading almost entirely stand alones this year so…nothing

New Release You Haven't Read Yet But Want To

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I have Save the Date and meant to read it before I left for ALA but ran out of time. I’m hoping to get to it this month.

I loved book #1 in the Murderbot Diaries and picked up Artificial Condition – book #2 at ALA.

Most Anticipated Releases For The Second Half Of The Year

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I was lucky enough to pick up all of these ARC’s at ALA!

Biggest Disappointment

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I didn’t dislike Emergency Contact – it’s just that I was expecting something totally different than what it was and ended up disappointed.

Biggest Surprise

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Heels Over Head was so much more than a romance. M/M sports romance with a lot of depth. I recommend it to fans of Autoboyography.

Ivy Aberdeen’s Letter to the World is mid-grade/LGBQT and totally blew me away. I highly recommend this one to families going through any big life changes (moving, natural disasters, new baby) and to any child questioning their sexual identity or as a starting point for that discussion.

The Epic Crush of Genie Lo was so much fun and where the hell is the sequel??

Favorite New Author

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I’m really loving Talia Hibbert’s voice in the romance genre, Caleb Roehrig writes realistic teen dynamics really well. As I mentioned up top with Point of Contact – I loved Melanie Hansen’s writing so I want to check out more by her and Martha Wells (the Murderbot Diaries for sci-fi. Silivia Moreno-Garcia’s writing in  Certain Dark Things was dark, morally ambiguous and refreshingly original.

Book That Made You Cry

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I almost never cry when I read but Point of Contact had me tearing up multiple times. I’m not sure that will be the case for everyone but she got so many things about the grieving process right – as it relates to my own experiences anyway and it was a very emotional read for me. 

Book That Made You Happy

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Favorite New Character

That’s a tough one for me. Like I said, my brain tends to purge information almost immediately when I finish a book lol

I really liked Jude from The Cruel Prince – even though she’s REALLY flawed. Ivy from Ivy Aberdeen – so earnest and sweet, Genie Lo from The Epic Crush of Genie Lo – a girls thrown into a alternate reality of demons and Chinese Folklore and handles it with humor and a realistic teen voice.

Favorite Book To Film Adaptation

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Most Beautiful Book You Bought This Year

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I still need to read The Crooked Kingdom but this boxed set is beautiful!

44 comments:

  1. I also bestow a crown of contemporary greatness to she, who is known as Jenn Bennett. Her books just make me so happy, and I love them to pieces. Genie Lo was so fabulous. I am so excited that we will be getting more of her story.

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    1. Me toooo!!! I'm smiling for days after!

      But when is the Genie Lo sequel coming??? It has a title but no summary or release date!! *sad panda*

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  2. I'm like you, I tend to forget a lot of details after I read things so these tags always seem really difficult to me. LOL I added Point of Contact to my wish-list after you told me about it and I really need to read that! Heels Over Head was really good, as was Ivy Aberdeen. I can't wait to read Jack of Hearts. It sounds amazing!! I still need to read Starry Eyes!

    -Lauren
    www.shootingstarsmag.net

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    1. I'm horrible. I will forget character names seconds after I put the book down lol Even if I loved it.

      I can't wait to hear what you think of Jack of Hearts! It sounds fantastic.

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  3. I also loved Certain Dark Things and I am DYING to get to loved the Murderbot Diaries too!

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    1. CDT is really underrated. Murderbot is such a fun series.

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  4. I haven’t read Six of Crows, but I’m tempted to buy that boxset just because it looks so pretty! I usually don’t buy boxsets until I know I like the first book.

    Aj @ Read All The Things!

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    1. That is the only boxed set I own. I loved SoC's and swooned over how gorgeous it is.

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  5. Ohh starry eyes made it to my tbr ! As for Emergency contact.. im conflicted, I see as much people loving it than some found it a dissapointment. I don't know what to do with that one xD

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    1. I think if you know what EC *isn't* going in - you'll be fine. I just think the promo was misleading.

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  6. I'm not even a fan of YA but Starry Eyes is calling my name.

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  7. Starry Eyes was so good!!! Hope you love Save the Date. I love her books so much. I cannot wait for The Wicked King!! Love Simon was such a cute movie.

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    1. Starry Eyes still makes me happy when I think about it.
      Simon was adorable and I haven't read anything by Matson in too long.

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    1. I keep saying I'll read it but then other things come up lol But I will!

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  9. I so need to get Starry Eyes. Artificial Condition started a tad slow for me but then soon became the Murderbot I knew and loved from novella #1. :)

    The Wicked King (and the first one) are on my TBR now after seeing lots of good reviews...

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    1. I think Starry Eyes is a book for everyone no matter what your usual genre is.
      Good to know about AC.

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  10. Aye, Starry eyes was great :) COntemp YA has really surprised me this year

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    1. There are so many books out there to read!

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  12. I still need to read Starry Eyes. I’ve only read Alex, Approximately by Bennett but reall enjoyed it. Point of Contact sounds excellent. I’ll have to look it up. I read so many lukewarm reviews of Emergency Contact that I took it off my TBR. Meh.

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  13. The cover to The Wicked King is stunning! I still haven't read The Cruel Prince but I'm now thinking of holding off a little until closer to the release of the next one... :)

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    1. The first book has a bit of a cliffie soooo

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  14. YAAAS I ENJOYED STARRY EYES SO MUCH TOO! ♥ And The Epic Crush of Genie Lo was a great surprise for me too--I didn't love it completely, but it was such a fun read!

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    1. I'm so glad you loved it too! I felt the same about genie Lo. Not perfect but fun and original.

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    1. She is so lucky with her covers! Both her US and foreign covers are gorgeous.

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  16. I'm not familiar with most of the books except for Morgan Matson's and Jen Bennet's. I'm also more of a contemporary and standalone reader so I'm looking up everything that's new to me in Goodreads for potential adding to TBR. :)

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    1. I've been reading more stand alone contemporary books myself this year. The series got out of control.

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  17. ah I need to read that book that makes you happy. She is another auto read author for me. I finally am reading gayle forman's book and I like it .

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  18. Yes! Starry Eyes was absolutely wonderful! I adore Jenn Bennett and her writing. Have you read Bitter Spirits? All of the new-to-you authors you mentioned are also new-to-me, so I'll add those to my list! Especially the first one... A Girl Like Her looks swoony. ;)

    𑁋 Lindsi @ Do You Dog-ear?

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    1. I have! it's good. I've read all of her books.

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  19. I've had Heels Over Head on my Kindle for a while now. I'm glad to hear that it was so much more than just a sweet romance. I will have to bump that up on my reading list.

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    1. it's ANGSTY!!!! lol but still really good.

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  20. I loved the Epic Crush if Genie Lo, it was such light hear-ted fun. Artificial Condition was also a great read.


    Tori @ In Tori Lex

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    1. I'm going to try to read AC this coming week.

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  21. Oh gosh, I bought the Crooked Kingdoms box set almost two years ago because of how beautiful it was, and I still need to read it too lol. I read an excerpt of Rabbit & Robot. It does sound like an intriguing book, but it's one that I think also has the potential to go very wrong for me. Guess I'll find out if I end up trying it! Glad you've found some great books!

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    1. Yeah - that book is either going be incredible or WTF?? lol

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  22. I very much so need to read White Rabbit, love me a good mystery. AND LOVE, SIMON MAKES ME SOOO HAPPY!

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  23. Love, Simon seems to be high on everyones book to film adaption list this year. I need to read the book and see the movie! I can't wait to read Starry Eyes as well. It's on my TBR. I also really like the looks of Certain Dark Things. Beautiful cover there <3

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