Photo by Siora Photography on Unsplash License | Unsplash
I came across the mid-year freak out tag through a blog post RT’d by @The_WriteReads on Twitter, though I can’t find it right now! (My apologies. I thought I had it bookmarked.) It seemed like a fun topic for a post. So even though it’s the end of July, I’ll give this a try.
1. Best book you’ve read so far in 2019
I can only pick one?! I can’t. No, I just can’t.
2. Best sequel of 2019 so far
Smoke and Ashes by Abir Mukherjee.
3. New release you haven’t read yet, but want to
Beyond the Moon by Catherine Taylor. This came out in late June, but Netgalley just granted me access to the book. It hits two topics I’m currently interested in, World War I and time travel, and it sounds promising.
4. Most anticipated release of the second half of 2019
Though I haven’t read all of Steven James’ work, I’ve enjoyed several of his novels about geospatial investigator/environmental criminologist Patrick Bowers. So I was thrilled that Thomas Nelson publishers granted my Netgalley request for his latest, Synapse. It sounds different, both from my usual reading fare and from James’ previous work. But I’m excited to read it! Here’s a bit from the blurb on Goodreads:
Thirty years in the future, when AI is so advanced that humans live side by side with cognizant robots called Artificials, Kestrel Hathaway must come to terms not just with what machines know, but with what they believe. (from Goodreads)
5. Biggest disappointment
It’s probably We That Are Young. I wanted to like this novel, but it was too literary in style for my taste. As you can see from the Goodreads reviews, the responses were divided: some loved the book’s lyrical prose and others detested it. I fell somewhere in the middle. If you’re a reader who adores literary work, try it.
6. Biggest surprise
Gnosis, by Rick Hall. Before this book, I had never read any urban fantasy; I avoided fantasy of all types. But Samantha Black and Alexander, the hyperactive sentient virus in her brain, won my affection. Now I’m more open to reading fantasy. (I never thought I’d write those words.)
7. Favorite new author (debut or new to you)
Almost every author that I’ve read has been new to me, so it’s difficult to pick only one. It’s rather like trying to pick a “favorite child.”
8. Newest fictional crush
DC Sean Blake in Marked Men. I always went for the squeaky-clean, Boy Scout type. If Sean was real and I was in high school/college, I’d definitely be pining for him.
9. Newest favorite characters
Might be Lucy, the rescue dog in Deception Cove. I also really enjoyed reading about Andre in Beijing Payback, Annabelle Harper in The Leaden Heart, and Adeline in The Killer You Know. (Do I have a thing for characters with “A” names?)
I enjoyed reading the fictionalized versions of these real life people: Hulda Friederichs (one of the first female journalists in London) in Watchers of the Dead, Geoffery Chaucer in A Conspiracy of Wolves; and Clarence Darrow in American Red. It fascinated me to see how the authors took real life people and worked them into their stories.
10. Book that made you cry
I rarely cry while reading. However, I think I did tear up a bit at the end of The Pyongyang Option by A.C. Friedan. I know I finished the book during lunch at Salsarita’s, and I sat and stared at nothing for a long, long time afterward, feeling stunned. You know I’m emotionally moved if there’s salsa on the table and I ignore it.
I also teared up a bit while reading Razia by Abda Khan. Farah and her friend attend a funeral in an impoverished village. It was incredibly moving to witness how these people commemorate and remember their dead with such respect, and then to see how they welcome Farah, an outsider, with hospitality during their meager feast after the service.
11. Book that made you happy
As I mainly read in the mystery/suspense category, which is typically heavy on criminal activity and bloodshed, most of my reading material hasn’t been of a happy nature.
Though romantic suspense isn’t usually my cup of tea, I enjoyed Where There is Smoke by Elisabeth Rose. (My review will be up closer to publication date.) While it wasn’t the best-written novel, I read the last two chapters with a smile on my face.
Two more contenders for this category are Auntie Poldi and the Vineyards of Etna by Mario Giordano and Aunt Dimity and the King’s Ransom by Nancy Atherton.
12. Favorite book to movie adaptation you’ve seen this year
I don’t think any of the books have been adapted to movies (yet). I could be wrong!
13. Favorite review you’ve written this year
The Savage Shore by David Hewson I enjoyed this book so much that it was difficult to write the review.
14. Most beautiful book you bought or received so far this year
Hmm, beautiful as in physically beautiful or beautiful as in gorgeous prose? I’ve been reading a lot from the library and from Netgalley, so physical beauty hasn’t been a big factor. However, I do love beautiful book covers and am amazed at what the talented book cover designers produce. I’m impressed with the covers of all three of novels in Abir Mukherjee’s mystery series. You can read see one of the covers and read my review here.
As for the gorgeous-prose type of beauty, I’m going with R. O. Kwon’s The Incendiaries. Y’all, it’s thoughtful and off-the-wall crazy and oh-so-quotable. I scribbled down notes for every page. Even if you’re not thrilled with the literary genre, give this a try.
15. Books you need to read by the end of the year
Thanks to Netgalley, lots of new books fill my to-be-read list. Twenty-two, in fact. Other than Steven James and Laura Joh Rowland, all of these authors are new to me. Here they are in order of their publication dates:
August: Catacombs by Mary Anna Evans; Where there is Smoke by Elisabeth Rose
September: Rewind by Catherine Ryan Howard; The Spotted Dog by Kerry Greenwood; Graveyard Bay by Thomas Kies; 29 Seconds by T. M. Logan; What Happened that Night by Deanna Cameron; Bomber’s Moon by Archer Mayor; Neon Empire by Drew Minh
October: The Beijing Conspiracy by Shamini Flint; Murder at Whitby Abbey by Cassandra Clark; Synapse by Steven James; Red Oblivion by Leslie Shimotakahara; The Adventure of the Peculiar Protocols by Nicholas Meyer; Fishnet by Kristin Innes
November: Every Stolen Breath by Kimberly Gabriel; Tracking Game by Margaret Mizushima; Echoes of the Fall by Hank Early; Galway Girl by Ken Bruen
December: Trace of Evil by Alice Blanchard; The Dead Girls Club by Damien Angelica Walters
I’ll also be reading The Woman in the Veil by Laura Joh Rowland, which will be published in early January 2020. That’s my to-be-read list for now. At least until the next time I prowl the Netgalley site, greedily requesting every book that beckons to me.