Mid-Year Book Freak-Out Tag: 2022

It’s that time of year when we check in on our reading progress with these types of tags. Last week, I did the Half-Year Book Tag, and now it’s time for the Mid-Year Book Freak-Out Tag, which was created by Chami and Ely Jayne.

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BEST BOOK I’VE READ SO FAR

Elder Race by Adrian Tchaikovsky

It’s a scifi novella about a lonely scientist at a secluded outpost on another planet who gets caught up in the affairs of the planet’s inhabitants, although he’s supposed to just observe them. I really enjoyed reading this, which I didn’t expect, and loved the way it’s written.

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“As the Shadow Rises” by Katy Rose Pool

Here’s another one I read while in a funky mood, busy, and in the midst of a reading slump. I enjoyed the first book despite it being a YA novel and me having given up on YA novels, so I was looking forward to reading this second one. But, similar to my reading experience with Terry Pratchett’s Maskerade, I didn’t enjoy this much while reading (due to my mood at the time) but appreciated the story when briefly looking through before working on this review.

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Genre

YA Fantasy

Series

Age of Darkness, book 2

Pubbed

2020

From Goodreads

The Last Prophet has been found, yet he sees destruction ahead.

In this sequel to the critically-acclaimed There Will Come a Darkness, kingdoms have begun to fall to a doomsday cult, the magical Graced are being persecuted, and an ancient power threatens to break free. But with the world hurtling toward its prophesized end, Anton’s haunting vision reveals the dangerous beginnings of a plan to stop the Age of Darkness.

“Maskerade” by Terry Pratchett

I’m steadily working my way through the Witches books. These are a subseries of the Discworld fantasy series. The stories all take place on a flat world that lies on the backs of four elephants that stand atop a giant turtle floating through space. The books are all light, amusing reads.

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Genre

Fantasy

Series

Discworld, book 18
Witches, book 5

Pubbed

1995

From Goodreads

Death, to be precise. And plenty of it. In unpleasant variations. This isn’t real life – it’s worse. This is the Opera House, Ankh-Morpork…a huge, rambling building, where innocent young sopranos are lured to their destiny by a strangely-familiar evil mastermind in a mask and evening dress, with a penchant for lurking in shadows, occasional murder, and sending little notes full of maniacal laughter and exclamation marks. Opera can do that to a man.

Top Ten Tuesday #52: It’s About Time

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme that was created by The Broke and the Bookish and is now hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl.

This week’s topic:

Books with a unit of time in the title

I’ve decided to make this easy on myself and focus on books I haven’t yet read or thought of in a while.

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Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan
Ten Years in the Tub: A Decade Soaking in Great Books by Nick Hornby
My First Day by Phùng Nguyên Quang and Huỳnh Kim Liên
A Long Day in Lychford by Paul Cornell
The Scroll of Years by Chris Willrich
The Hundred-Year House by Rebecca Makkai
First Year by Rachel E. Carter
How Long ‘til Black Future Month? by N.K. Jemisin
The Year of the Witching by Alexis Henderson
The Years, Months, Days: Two Novellas by Yan Lianke

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Let me know if you’ve read any of these and what you thought of it.

Charmed Book Tag

It’s the last day of Wyrd & Wonder, the monthlong celebration of all things fantasy, and here I am with the second book tag I’m doing for it. I really thought I’d have done more for the event but… Making plans this year is just not the move.

I’m doing the Charmed Book Tag, which was created by booktuber Just Me & My Books. This is perfect for me. I was a huge fan of the Charmed TV show as a kid and still enjoy watching it whenever it’s on, although now I think some parts of it are quite cheesy, but it’s still entertaining and a pretty good show.

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In this night and in this hour, I call upon the ancient powers. Bring your power to we sisters three. We want the power.

Give us the power: A book or series that started you off on the magical journey of reading

The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis

This classic children’s fantasy novel is one of the books that started me on my journey toward becoming a fan of fantasy. I just loved the feeling of wonder I got while reading and kept hoping that I too would wander into a new world through my wardrobe.

Tolkien Character Book Tag

I can’t believe I’ve made it this far into Wyrd & Wonder and haven’t yet done a book tag! Things have been too busy lately. Anyway, I’m hoping to do some tags over the next few days and get some blog-hopping in as well to see what everyone else has been posting.

Well, I’ll be doing the Tolkien Character Book Tag, which was created by booktuber Things Lucy Reads. I’m not a fan of the Lord of the Rings series (blasphemy! I know), but I enjoyed The Hobbit and prefer the movies to the books. I’ve toyed with the idea of trying the core trilogy again, but… I’ve yet to act on that and doubt I will. However, I do appreciate Tolkien’s creativity and all that went into creating this story and world. And, of course, I enjoyed the movie adaptation as well as many fantasy stories that are inspired by Tolkien’s work.

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Aragorn: A book that ended up being everything you wanted it to be

DCeased by Tom Taylor, illus. by Trevor Hairsine

It’s the first in a comic book series set in the DC universe about a zombie apocalypse and how the superheroes try to save the world and stop its spreading. I’ve always wanted a superhero, zombie apocalypse story, and this delivered. I enjoyed seeing how certain superheroes react and spread the virus based on how their power works. It was a very entertaining story for this zombie-apocalypse-stories fan.

Book Haul #81: The Wyrd & Wonder Edition

The last time I did a book haul was back in March, and since then, 99% of the books I bought were fantasy, which makes this the perfect book haul for Wyrd & Wonder, a monthlong celebration of all things fantasy! So let’s just call this the Wyrd & Wonder edition.

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PURCHASES

PHYSICAL

Kicking things off with this bunch, all of which I got because bloggers I follow read and loved them and inspired me to get them.

Reviews from Mogsy and Mayri, the Bookforager, made me add Mordew to my TBR and eventually buy a copy. The Summer Tree is one of the read-along books for this year’s Wyrd & Wonder. Obviously, I got it because I intended to participate in the read-along, but life/work demands are getting in the way. I’ve only ready two pages so far. 😩 I’m working my way through Abercrombie’s novels with Emily of Embuhleeliest, and Best Served Cold will be the next one we read. As for Legends & Lattes, I’ve been seeing it everywhere and unfortunately, I forgot which blog made me add it to my TBR.

Top Ten Tuesday #51: Fantasy Books I Haven’t Read Yet

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme that was created by The Broke and the Bookish and is now hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl.

This week’s topic:

Books I was excited to get but still haven’t read

The Wyrd & Wonder monthlong celebration of all things fantasy is still going, so I’ve decided to make this Top Ten Tuesday post fantasy related by listing only fantasy books below.

There are many books I could have included on this list because my unread TBR is large, but these are among the top ones I’d love to prioritize.

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Top Ten Tuesday #50: Bookish Characters From Fantasy Books

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme that was created by The Broke and the Bookish and is now hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl.

This week’s topic:

Bookish Characters

It’s been a while since I’ve done a Top Ten Tuesday post, but I didn’t want to past up the opportunity to make this one fantasy related in honor of Wyrd & Wonder, a monthlong celebration of all things fantasy.

So here are 10 bookish characters from fantasy books.

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Eladora from The Gutter Prayer by Gareth Hanrahan

The Gutter Prayer is basically about a country at war against it gods and how the protagonist — a young woman named Carillion — and her friends get caught up in the conflict between those who want the gods to return and those who want to get rid of them permanently. Eladora is Carillion’s cousin and a scholar. She knows much about Guerdon, the story’s setting, and its gods. In part of the story, she spends the entire day at the library researching the gods. I don’t think she noticed how much time had passed until the library started to close. (Review of the Gutter Prayer)

Book Haul #80: Birthday Haul

My birthday was a few weeks ago, so some of these books were bought around that time as gifts to myself. I’ve been actually trying to buy less and read more of what I already own, so hopefully my hauls will be less and further apart this year.

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PURCHASES

PHYSICAL

These three are all novels. I read the first few lines of How to Live Safely in a Science Fiction Universe and was so tickled that I bought it. The Abercrombie book was bought to continue my buddy-read with Emily at Embuhleelist, and I’ve been curious about A Marvellous Light since reading Tammy’s review of it. Plus, I like the cover. (I got it for half off!!)

How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe by Charles Yu

Last Argument of Kings by Joe Abercrombie

A Marvellous Light by Freya Marske