The Mid-Year Book Freakout Tag

The Mid-Year Book Freakout Tag

It is halfway through the year and time to reflect on my year of reading and blogging. I found this tag on Thrice Reads and really thought the topic was perfect.

For a list of my books read so far this year, visit here. This list is limited to the children’s books, middle grade books, and teacher books that I have read. I did not include books I read with my daughter or adult books.

My goal for this year is to read 60 books and I have read 49 so far! I may have to increase my goal.

The Mid-Year Book Freakout Tag

1. The best book you have read so far.

The best book for 2017 would have to be Booked by Kwame Alexander. What a wonderful book written in verse! I really loved how he referenced other middle grade novels, utilized a rich vocabulary, and had a strong story line. Definitely recommend this book!

2. Your favorite sequal of the year.

The only sequal I read this year was The Reptile Room, which is the sequal to The Bad Beginning. These books are from The Series of Unfortunate Events by Lemony Snicket. I do love Snicket’s humor and the sequal to The Bad Beginning was even better than the first, in my opinion.

3. A new release that you have not read, but really want to.

The newest book I have come across is The Playbook by Kwame Alexander. I did purchase it for my classroom and skimmed through it. It looks really good, full of good advice from people all over, and if you have not noticed, I love Kwame Alexander. I will definitely read it once school starts back up (most likely to my students).

4. Most anticipated release for the second half of the year.

Hands down, the third Harry Potter book, The Prisoner of Azkaban, ILLUSTRATED EDITION. This is my favorite book of Rowling’s series and I cannot wait to get my hands on this book!

5. Your biggest disappointment.

My biggest disappointment would have to be the ending of Roller Girl by Victoria Jamieson. I loved that book, up until the ending. I do not know what it is exactly, but I felt empty and felt like it was not what should have happened. I did talk with another teacher about the ending and she explained why she thinks it ended that way (trying not to give spoilers here), but I am still heartbroken.

6. Biggest surprise of the year.

The biggest reading surprise would be reading all sixteen books from the March Book Madness we did. (I have a post about March Book Madness here). My biggest blogging surprise is gaining 30 followers on my blog through the Bloglovin’ App! It feels so good knowing someone is reading your posts.

7. Favorite new to you or debut author.

Jennifer A Nielsen. I read A Night Divided for March Book Madness and then read The False Prince. I absolutely love her style and have discovered that she has quite a list of books, so I will be reading them all. I may even do my first author feature on her.

8. New favorite character.

I really liked Sage from The False Prince. You could not quite figure him out and he had such an attitude.

9. A book that made you cry.

Books do not make me cry often anymore, I am not sure why, maybe I have read so many sad books and watched so many sad movies that I am just numb to it. Anyway, the books that made me tear up were Pax by Sarah Pennypacker and The Honest Truth by Dan Gemeinhart. These were both in the March Book Madness and after reading them, I was somewhat glad they did not win the championship, not because they were not great books (because they are awesome books), but because I did not think I could read it out loud to my class without bawling the entire time. I would also have half of my class crying too.

10. A graphic novel that made you happy.

I recently started reading graphic novels and my favorite so far is El Deafo by Cece Bell. This book was so hilarious and so real, even though I did not have a hearing aid, I felt her struggle with middle school. The pictures were hilarious, the writing was phenomenal, and I could not put it down.

11. Your favorite book to movie adaptation that you have seen this year.

My favorite series, not movie, that was inspired from a book was the Netflix series, Series of Unfortunate Events. I loved the first few episodes, but have not finished the rest because I want to read the series first.

12. Favorite book post you have done this year.

My favorite post was March Book Madness. I loved reading all of those books, hearing what my students had to say, and seeing their excitement in learning about new books. It was one of my favorite moments this year as well.

13. The most beautiful book you have bought this year.

I do not buy many books, so this one was tough. I will go with what is the most beautiful book I have checked out from the library. That would go to Wolf Hollow by Lauren Wolk. I love the quotes in the trees and the little girl beneath. It drew me in the first time I saw it and is the reason I decided to read it.

14. What are some of the books you need to read by the end of the year?

I have got to read Eragon and the rest of the Inheritance Cycle series. I have had this on my list since a student from my first year of teaching told me I had to read it. (5 years now)

15. Favorite Bookstagram or book photo.

I did not take this photo, some of my students did. It is such a beautiful and simple picture. I love it.

I am a middle school teacher who loves to read ALL KINDS of books. I am part of the ARC-sharing group LitReviewCrew, a co-creator for the YouTube Channel Legit KidLit and the Podcast Read to Write KidLit. Check out my Linktree for more: https://linktr.ee/Mrsbookdragon

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