Mid-Year Book Freak Out Tag

I have not disappeared, never fear, dear Reader! Like you, I am enjoying summer. But lots of fun things are coming up soon, which I'll enumerate upon later in this post.Many thanks to the marvelous Deborah @ The Page Dreamer for tagging me for this fun-looking game. And for reminding me that, "AHHHHH We're halfway through 2016 already!?!?!?!? How did that happen!??!?!!?"Ahem.But on to the tag, because that's fun. First of all, the books I've read this year so far. Goodreads says I've read 19 books so far... and my challenge to myself for the year being a modest 25. Of course, this doesn't count the 148 times I've read "Dear Zoo," the 75 times I've read "The Grouchy Ladybug" or the 297 times I've read "Peek-a-who" this year alone.... or all the other various children's books I've read to my kids this year! (Those numbers are, of course, guess-timates, but I'm fairly certain they are at least close to accurate! 1. Best book you've read so far in 2016?Um... did you LOOK at the book covers? They have all been really good. How can I pick just one? Well, um... hm. The book I've recommended to the most people this year and have given away and bought copies of for others has been "Loving the Little Years" by Rachel Jankovic. But seriously, with the exception of Little Pear, I've really enjoyed all of these reads.2. Best sequel you've read so far in 2016?That's a little easier. I can't pick just one, but I'd have to go with My Kingdom for a Quest by Kendra Ardnek, Lost in a Good Book by Jasper Fforde (a re-read, but still awesome), and Conrad's Fate by Diana Wynne Jones3. New release you haven't read yet but want to?   Thankfully, I have A Branch of Silver A Branch of Gold, Brothers-in-Arms, and Darkened Hope on my shelf and they are all next on my list to read. Unless Five Magic Spindles arrives when amazon said it would, because then I might have to read it right away so I can participate more in the discussion with the facebook party next Saturday! That would be fun. We shall see. Preordering paperbacks rocks... because sometimes you get them a few days before the actual release date!!!I am dying to read all of these (but sometimes when I am super excited about a book, I kind of put off reading it, because I just know I'm going to speed through it, and then will be sad because it's over... I'm weird that way)4. Most anticipated release for the second half of the year?Probably going to have to go with Five Magic Spindles. Because I'm not sure I know of any other books releasing in the second half of the year...5. Biggest Disappointment Princess of Thorns or Storm Siren... (ducks, because I'm sure that people are going to throw things at me over that latter one). Princess of Thorns was one I'd never heard of and picked it up randomly off the library shelf. The description sounded fun, but I wasn't expecting anything radically life-altering. So it wasn't AS huge of a disappointment to discover that despite a brilliant premise and very unique twists on some old fairy tales (one of which isn't used very much, so that was cool, too) it was way too much of a romance, and I felt that several lines got crossed in terms of appropriateness. Kind of annoyed it's considered "YA."Storm Siren, on the other hand, was a severe disappointment, because I had higher hopes and expectations. I've seen the covers floating around on blogs, heard good reviews, and let's just be honest, the covers are gorgeous.But I was disappointed by a couple of things: 1st person present tense. Not my favorite. I see it as the "first person shooter" reading experience. I understand why it's used, it generally makes for an automatically faster-paced, easier read (and it's "in vogue" right now). I've never loved first-person POV to begin with, but coupled with present tense and I feel like the author decided to use it because they were afraid their story wouldn't be as exciting without it... or something. Just a personal preference on my part.I also didn't like that I had to be stuck inside the head of an angsty teenage girl who has self esteem issues, emotional baggage, and a personality like the teeth of a crocodile... and yet for some reason that is completely indiscernible every man in the world thinks she's the most desirable thing on the planet... AGAIN. Why? What is it with this character? She shows up far too often these days.Also, I'm not a huge fan of romance in general, and especially not the Twilight "He consumed the very fiber of my every waking thought and drove me completely mad" sort of way, which can often feel just as dangerous to put in front of teenagers as the more explicit kind of romance stories... so, didn't like that super much. I enjoyed the story enough to probably pick up the rest of the series at some point... but it's not going high on my recommend-this-book list.Also, wasn't a huge fan of the Robin Hood retelling. I've read far better versions of that.6. Biggest surprise?Probably the School Story by Andrew Clements. That little book absolutely stole my heart. And it's not even fantasy, so that's saying something.7. Favorite new author?New author as in new-to-writing, or new-to-me? I'm going with new-to-me...H.L. Burke - because this book is really fun. And it's different. It's very fantasy, and DRAGONS, but also something unique and all her own. Also, it's a bit on the shorter side. And while I love a good, thick, long book... I also enjoy being able to sit down and finish a book in a week (a book that would, in another life, when I could just sit and read uninterrupted for hours, have only taken me an hour or two).And Savannah Jezowski... even though I'm not sure she counts as "new" since I learned of her writing last year during the Five Enchanted Roses saga... but her When Ravens Fall was simply beautiful to read.8. Newest fictional crush/ship?I love the relationship between Madeleine and Samson. Also huge fan of Robin and Eric - the d'awww is strong with them. The Bookania characters are just so much fun!Also, Shannon and Gnaw - can't wait to read more of the Dragon and Scholar books to spend time with them again.9. Newest favorite character?Probably Gnaw. He's a dragon... so he kind of has an unfair advantage... but I love him to pieces.10. Book that made you cry.This one surprised me, but... yes, it made me cry. Such a sweet story.11. Book that made you happy. Because being back with Diana Wynne Jones is always a nice treat, and I love reading books of hers that I've never read before. I also loved reading the "Afterword" by Ursula Jones in Islands of Chaldea. Made me tear up.12. Favorite Book to Film Adaptation you saw this year:Ooh, well, we spent all of April/May/and-into-June watching all the special features in the extended edition of the Hobbit Trilogy and then watching the extended editions of all three Hobbit movies. I had only seen the extended edition for Unexpected Journey, so that was fun to watch all of that all together. And even though I enjoyed the movies before, watching all the special features just made me love them so much more!13. Favorite blog post you have written this year so far:It's been a fun year for blogging already. My favorites definitely have to include the two posts I've done for Writing Wrongs:Writing Wrongs: Fellowship Caper part 1Writing Wrongs: Fellowship Caper part 2All of my Fantasy February posts, really, but specificallyFantasy is Applicable and Magic By Any Other NameAnd I've also had a blast with my InterFiction Gazette Character InterviewsPrince Vian and Jimmy Rogers and Jayce14. Most beautiful book you've bought so far this year.That's easy - even if it hasn't arrived yet!15. What books do you need to read by the end of this year?Well, I'm not sure I NEED to read any particular books by the end of this year. I already mentioned Five Magic Spindles, Brothers in Arms, A Branch of Silver a Branch of Gold, and Darkened Hope. I also want to read Draven's Light by Anne Elisabeth Stengl, and The Ilyon Chronicles by Jaye L. Knight, as well as Water Princess, Fire Prince by Kendra Ardnek, and The Martian by Andy Weir, and re-read books 3 and 4 of the Thursday Next series. Also need to finish Strawberry Girl with Leiana and read the next Little House book with Leiana and Nathalie. And probably another 400 readings of "Fastest Cars," 127 readings of "Goodnight, I Love You," and 368 readings of "Dear Zoo" with Brantland. And I'd like to read the next book in the Dresden Files... but I can't remember which one I'm on... which is frustrating.And then there's all the books that people keep recommending and gushing over on their blogs... and those all look good, too! So many books. So little time.I have no idea whom to tag, so if you liked the look of this and nobody's tagged you... consider yourself "it!"How about you, dear Reader? How many books have you read this year so far? Which was your favorite? Least favorite? Most surprising? What books are on your "read before 2017" list? I'd love to hear from you!Make sure you check the schedule and see which characters are being presented with awards each day through July 28th! I'll be updating the schedule as posts go live HERE so you don't have to hunt for them! I will be out of town next week, but still plan on presenting the Most Heart-Wrenching Death Scene Silmaril on the 28th and am hoping to have something fun up for the blog-celebration of LOTR's 62nd birthday on the 29th!Also, Kendra E. Ardnek is having her Bookania Party starting on July 24th and running through the first week of August. I'm going to be interviewing one of her characters here for InterFiction, so that will be fun.And, Henry Fairchild will be returning to the blog with another fiction-changing caper in August as well, which I'm excited about sharing with you!I hope you are all having a wonderful summer!