**I look at my reading like an accountant looking at numbers. I flip through pages to remember what happened and go through each one, thinking about my favorites of the year thus far as well as any emotions I felt when reading. I grab a piece of parchment with each book I have read so far, take a few other things, and leave my little cottage. I walk to towne to the bookstore where other patrons wait so we can discuss our reading from the year and what we want to read next.**

I’m not exactly sure how it happened, but we are apparently halfway through the year already. I’m not sure what happened there since I’m pretty sure we only just started 2025 but, regardless, we’re here. And seeing that we are halfway through, we get to do some very fun middle of the year posts that I am very excited about, starting with the Mid-Year Book Freak Out Tag. I’m not sure how much these questions change from year to year, but for simplicity I am just going to use the same questions I used last year. Enjoy!

• Best Book You Have Read So Far in 2025?

This is actually pretty hard for me this year. I’ve read some good books and can probably pick out my top ten of the year so far, but none of the books I have read yet have been absolutely amazing, which makes it very hard to just choose one. I am stuck between four right now: The Grandest Game by Jennifer Lynn Barnes, The Silver Chair by C.S. Lewis, The Match by Sarah Adams, and Campus Murder Club by Kristi Rose. I think these would be my favorites so far but I don’t know which is my favorite.

• Best Sequel of 2025 So Far?

My favorite sequel so far is probably The Long Game by Jennifer Lynn Barnes. I really enjoyed The Silver Chair and Swap’d as well, but I think The Long Game was the best as a sequel. I think it was better than book one which makes me think it was the best.

• New Release You Haven’t Read Yet, But Want To?

Probably Onyx Storm by Rebecca Yarros. I have this one and have still not read it. I really enjoyed the first two but haven’t wanted to pick this up yet. I think I am going to put it on my July TBR.

• Most Anticipated Release For the Second Half of the Year?

There are a few releases I’m looking forward to but my top three right now are probably Glorious Rivals by Jennifer Lynn Barnes, Fake Skating by Lynn Painter, and The Obsession by Natasha Preston. I love all three of these authors and can’t wait for their next books, though there are several more I am anticipating.

• Biggest Disappointment?

My biggest disappointment is probably either The Hurricane Wars by Thea Guanzon or Queens of Geek by Jen Wilde. I was really looking forward to The Hurricane Wars since it had a really interesting story and reminded me a bit of Shadow and Bone. I ended up dnf’ing this one since I couldn’t get into it. Then Queens of Geek I did finish, but I was really disappointed. Nothing really happened and the characters had no personality. I wanted to read it for years and was upset about not liking it.

• Biggest Surprise?

My biggest surprise was probably Campus Murder Club by Kristi Rose. I had never heard of the book or seen anyone talk about it. It was actually a Christmas gift so I read it a few months ago and really enjoyed it. It’s more mystery than thriller but I thought it was really good. It’s also indie published which was cool. The House Across the Lake was a bit of a surprise too since I didn’t like one of Riley Sager’s other books. I actually really enjoyed this one.

• Favorite New Author (Debut or New to You)?

Sarah Adams! I read two of Sarah Adams’ books this year and really enjoyed both. The Match was one I had wanted to read for years and I was not disappointed. Then I read The Enemy which was also really good. I plan on going into her When in Rome series next.

• Newest Favorite Character?

At first I didn’t think I had a new favorite character until I remembered a certain Narnia character. Puddleglum was such a pleasure to read about. He was so funny and made the entire book.

• Book That Made You Cry?

To be honest, I can’t really remember but I’m sure there were a few tears in The Last Battle by C.S. Lewis. This one was one of my least favorites in the series but the ending did get me a bit.

• Book That Made You Happy?

The Match by Sarah Adams was one that made me happy. There were so many cute moments and I really loved the story. I annotated so many moments in this book. I want to do a post soon about most tabbed books, and this would definitely make it on that list.

• Most Beautiful Book You Bought This Year?

As always, I am indecisive so I have three answers. First is Onyx Storm by Rebecca Yarros. I love the dark colors on this one and the sprayed edges match so well. I was also able to find the UK edition of Take Me Home Tonight by Morgan Matson this year and I love the cover for that book. Finally, Mother of Death and Dawn by Carissa Broadbent. I love all the covers for this series. I really need to find book #2 though! They’re all going out of print since they’re getting traditionally published.

• Books to Read By the End of the Year?

Carving Shadows Into Gold by Brigid Kemmerer and Daughter of No Worlds are two I want to get to, though I want to clear out my TBR as much as I can. And The Fountains of Silence by Ruta Sepetys. That was one of my answers from last year and I STILL haven’t read it. I really need to get to it.

I hope to get to a lot more good books the rest of the year. I have a lot of books to read and plan to spend the summer getting through a lot of them. I hope your reading year has been going well and that the rest of it gets even better.

xoxo,

Just another reader