We’re halfway through the year, and that means it’s time for the Mid Year Book Freak Out Tag!
I don’t need another reason to freak out and talk about books, but it’s always welcome haha.
This tag is a good way to take account of the books we’ve read so far and share some highlights. There are multiple versions of this tag at this point. I’m just going to do one that I found and liked.
Anyway, onto the tag!

[1] How much have you read?
As I’m writing this post, I’ve completed 78 out of 100 books. My initial goal was 150 books but I reduced back in March as I realized my reading cut down a lot due to life things.
But now I read about 3 books a week so if I continue at this pace, I should be able to hit my original goal. I will wait until hitting the current goal before raising to 150, though.
P. S. I recently made a spreadsheet of all the books I read this year along with fun details like author tags (POC, own voices, debut etc.) and book tags (diverse, LGBTQ, POC, mental illness etc.). I started making it only a few days back so it might be a little incomplete but its a good source to find a summary of my opinions in one place!
P. P. S. I am on Storygraph as well (my imports finally finished yesterday and I’m having fun exploring the new site!) I highly recommend it as a Goodreads alternative because it has cool new features and its still only in beta. So I’m sure if there are any issues, they’ll be taken care of soon. But the site is showing a lot of potential. Be my friend on Storygraph!
[2] What have you been reading?
I’ve been reading a ton of romance books, mostly short and easy to read ones. But romance books are also a comfort zone for me because they usually manage to make me happy. But I have tried harder to pick up other books, especially non-fiction and old ones from my TBR.
All the details can be seen in the spreadsheet. I am going to make pie charts for most of the columns (mostly so I can geek over stats and share them at the end of the year) so that should be fun haha.

[3] Best Book of 2020
It’s so hard to pick one! And that is why I’m going to pick 2.
Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race by Reni Eddo-Lodge. I read this only recently even though it had been on my TBR for a while. The book talks about topics in an informative fashion. There are tons of references and examples for every scenario spoken about. It was really good. Definitely recommend it.
Felix Ever After by Kacen Callender is another book that I read only recently. I listened to it as an audiobook actually and it was SO DARN GOOD. I wrote a full review on it but long story short: it’s amazing and you should read it too.
[4] Best sequel you’ve read in 2020
This year, I mostly read standalone books. I picked up only a couple sequels and they weren’t that good either. So I’m going to say none for this question.
[5] New release that you haven’t read yet but want to
The Boyfriend Project by Farrah Rochon which I’ve heard quite some praise for. It sounds right up my alley as well so I’m looking forward to read it.
Here’s a very convincing review of this book:
[6] Most anticipated release for second half
Darius the Great Deserves Better by Adib Khorram. The first book Darius the Great is Not Okay was highly praised by a friend of mine so I picked it up and LOVED IT. I’m glad that I don’t have to wait too long for the sequel.
[7] Biggest disappointment
I HAVE TWO.
Imagine Me by Tahereh Mafi which was my most anticipated book of 2020. It’s the last book of the series (for real this time) and I had expectations. But it was.. a hot mess. And I hated the epilogue.
Beach Read by Emily Henry is a really hyped romance book. Since it received a lot of love, I was intrigued and picked it up. But it just.. fell flat for me. Check out my review for detailed opinions.
[8] Biggest surprise
I HAVE TWO AGAIN.
The Thousandth Floor by Katharine McGee was on my TBR for over a year. I added it because Aditi @ a thousand words a million books highly praised it but I was never in the mood to pick it up. Thankfully the 2020 Popsugar Reading Challenge got me to pick it up and it BLEW ME AWAY. Highly recommend it.
Frankly in Love by David Yoon was a “maybe” book for me. My Secret Santa from last Christmas gifted it to me and I’m SO GLAD because I don’t know if I would have picked it up otherwise. It was too good. Click here to read my review.
[9] Favourite new author
Madeline Miller!
I read her book Circe, which my book club gifted to me for my birthday. I was completely enthralled by the story, and I can’t wait to read A Song of Achilles which has received even more praise. Check out my review of Circe here.

[10] Newest fictional crush
Okay so I’ve actually kind of moved on from crushes? I don’t think about that anymore when I read books haha. And I feel weird even thinking about crushing on characters who are younger than me (considering YA books) so… yeah.
But if I had to pick, I’d say Zach Davis from That Kind of Guy by Talia Hibbert. He is fun and a total sweetheart.
[11] Newest favourite characters
This, I have!
Darius from Darius the Great is Not Okay by Adib Khorram. I absolutely loved him and his journey throughout the book. It’s why the sequel is my most anticipated now because I really want to see more of him.
[12] Book that made you cry
Frankly in Love by David Yoon. I teared up more than once when reading this book. The relationships just broke me. Especially the family dynamics and one of the friendships.
I had a lot of feelings.

[13] Book that made you happy
I HAVE TWO LOVELY BOOKS.
Love from A to Z by S. K. Ali which I “read” as an audiobook. It was on my TBR for a long time and I didn’t even consider reading it soon. But I saw that it was available as an audiobook and thought why not. And it was SO NICE. It made me happy slowly throughout the book because it was very wholesome. Here’s my review on it.
100 Days of Sunlight by Abbie Simmons is another book that really made me happy. It’s not of a happy topic but the ending just.. made me happy and gave me hope. It was inspiring and lovely. I wrote all about it in my review.
[14] Favourite book-to-movie adaptation seen this year
I watched only one adaptation this year which was Becoming but it was really good, so yeah.
[15] Favourite review that you’ve written in 2020 yet
My review of Frankly in Love was really fun to write. I also had a ton of thoughts to share. Because the book was so good, I put in extra effort in the review and that’s why I like it.
[16] Most beautiful book you bought/received
On January first, my friends gifted me the Six of Crows collectors edition for my birthday (which was a couple days prior). It was the best way to start the year, and it is the most beautiful book on my shelf.

[17] Book you need to read by end of the year
I have many but one that I’m really targeting is Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichi. I’ve had it for several months and I should really get to it.
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What was your favourite book of 2020? What was the biggest disappointment? Tell me in the comments!
That really is a fun tag for bookworms!
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It is! ๐
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I can’t believe we are already halfway through the year! It is great that you’ve been reading diverse books. I love how you keep track of your reads too. Thanks for sharing this book tag!
Nancy โจ exquisitely.me
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It sounds like an amazing reading year so far. I read Circe recently and totally fell in love with it. It’s just such an incredible story. I am getting really into the sweeping, lifelong narratives like that lately.
Ooh I hope you do read Americanah soon! It’s an amazing book. You should follow it up with Half of a Yellow Sun, another one of her books. It is just incredible. It still makes me emotional when I think about it and read it years ago.
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I love this tag ๐ฅฐ๐ฅฐ๐ I wanna do it and I had super fun reading yours
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You definitely should!! I’ll look forward to seeing your version ๐
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