Hey, my lovelies! I was tagged by the wonderful Deborah O'Carroll for the Mid-Year Book Freak Out Tag! I'm quite excited to do this post because ... books! I love tags having to do with them! *grins*
Yes ... we are halfway through the year! Can you fathom it?? I'm doing well with my reading challenge - I've read 68 books so far, and I'm hoping to have read 120 (at least) by the end of the year! So I'm eight books ahead of schedule! ^_^
Now for the questions ...
Best Book You've Read So Far in 2016:
Hey, that is an impossible question! I'll pick 7 favorites instead ... The Golden Braid by Melanie Dickerson, Entwined by Heather Dixon, King's Folly by Jill Williamson, Samara's Peril by Jaye L. Knight, Defy by Tricia Mingerink, Waking Rose by Regina Doman, and When Dream Come True: A Love Story Only God Could Write by Eric & Leslie Ludy.
Best Sequel You've Read So Far In 2016:
Ah, I'm going to go with Waking Rose by Regina Doman. It's the sequel to The Shadow of the Bear and Black as Night, and I absolutely loved it! It tied up the first three books of the A FAIRY TALE RETOLD series very nicely.
New Release You Haven't Read Yet But Want To:
A Branch of Silver, A Branch of Gold by Anne Elisabeth Stengl, Honor Redeemed by Christine Johnson, and Fading Starlight by Kathryn Cushman (to name just three. *winks*)
Most Anticipated Release for the Second Half of the Year:
The Silent Songbird by Melanie Dickerson, The Lady and the Lionheart by Joanne Bischof, and A Time to Rise by Nadine Brandes.
Biggest Disappointment This Year:
Season of Glory by Lisa Tawn Bergren, I guess. I loved the first book in the series, but the second two just weren't so much my thing. *sad face* I know a lot of other people who really liked them though!
Biggest Surprise:
The Mountain Midwife by Laurie Alice Eakes, perhaps? First off, I was surprised that it was contemporary, having automatically guessed it to be historical. And secondly, I was surprised how much I loved it, since I'm usually not that in to contemporary novels. It was so good! ^_^
Favorite New Author of 2016:
Hmm ... speaking of new-to-me authors, I'm going to say Chuck Black and Kate Breslin.
Newest Fictional Crush/Ship:
Fish and Rose from the A FAIRY TALE RETOLD series by Regina Doman! Love them!! <3 And they get their story in Waking Rose.
Also, Jamie and Brandi from THE BLADES OF ACKTAR series by Tricia Mingerink. Because ... they're perfect for each other. Now we just have to wait for them to grow up! *grins*
Newest Favorite Character:
Okay, I really, really liked Princess Winter from Winter by Marissa Meyer. Everything about her is just so adorable, and heartbreaking, and beautiful, and dear ... all wrapped together.
I also love Rose from Waking Rose. She, along with her older sister, Blanche, are like, the best! Rose is just a fairy tale princess in the modern-day world. ^_^
Book That Made You Cry This Year:
Black as Night by Regina Doman, because the ending was so adorably precious. It touched my heart. Beautiful romances do that for me. ^_^
And When Dreams Comes True by Eric & Leslie Ludy. Because, another incredibly beautiful romance! And even more beautiful, this amazing love that God has for us! I'm His princess ... that makes me cry.
Book That Made You Happy:
Well, Samara's Peril and Defy made me happy, because ... stuff with the characters!! ^_^
A couple other books are Home of Our Hearts and One More Wish, books #2 and #3 of the CHRISTY & TODD: THE MARRIED YEARS series by Robin Jones Gunn. Just ... Christy and Todd. And all their friends. And the life happenings. I loved them!
A couple other books are Home of Our Hearts and One More Wish, books #2 and #3 of the CHRISTY & TODD: THE MARRIED YEARS series by Robin Jones Gunn. Just ... Christy and Todd. And all their friends. And the life happenings. I loved them!
Favorite Book To Film Adaption You Saw This Year:
I really enjoyed The Jungle Book {2016}. It was intense, but very intriguing and just overall a fun movie to watch! *smiles* (... Not sure how closely it followed the book.)
Additionally, I quite liked Alice in Wonderland {2010}, which did not come out this year ... and I've never read the book ... But anyway, I did rather like the movie! It was strange, but somehow delightful! ^_^
Favorite Post You Have Done So Far This Year:
Hmm, let me think. Here are a few fun posts, and heartfelt posts that I did this year:
Most Beautiful Book You've Bought So Far This Year:
I don't have a camera on hand at the moment, so I'm just going to share my latest Book Haul video from Youtube! *grins* Lots of gorgeous books in there! ^_^ Some of my favorites (speaking of beautiful books) are Samara's Peril, Millie's Unsettled Season, Beyond the Valley of Thorns, and A Memory Between Us.
What Books Do You Need to Read by the End of This Year:
Erm, hundreds upon hundreds! Hehe! XD To name a few that I haven't already: Kingdoms by Carolyn Ann Aish, To Get to You by Joanne Bischof, Luther and Katharina by Jody Hedlund, The Fragrance of Geraniums by Alicia G. Ruggieri, Courageous by Dina L. Sleiman, Mardan's Anointed by Kathrese McKee, Kingdom's Dawn by Chuck Black ...
And I TAG ...
YOU! Whoever you are, reading this, if you are a blogger, please consider yourself tagged! If you want to be, of course! ^_^ Make your epic Mid-Year Book Freak Out Tag post and leave the link to it in the comments below so I can go read it! *smiles*
Have a wonderful 4th of July, everyone! Happy Independence Day!
Happy Independence Day to you too! ^_^
ReplyDelete"I'm His princess ... that makes me cry." Yes, yes. <3
So many great books are on here! :D I really want to get my hands on The Lunar Chronicles and some Melanie Dickerson books; they all sound really good.
Yes, Jungle Book was pretty good. :) I felt kind of weird when I watched it -- because I had watched the cartoon version when I was little -- so there was kind of a sense of... slight deja vu, I guess.? :P But I still did like it.
Thank you! :) How'd your day go, Emily? I went to see fireworks with my brother and friends, which was fun!
DeleteAww, yes. Means so much to know we're valued by God! <3
I know!! :D The Lunar Chronicles was quite good! Those characters!! Wasn't expecting to like sci-fi so much! And Melanie Dickerson!! Her books are lovely.
Yeah, I can see how that would be! I read The Jungle Book picture book once upon a time, but didn't remember that much from it. I like all the Disney movies going live-action! :D
Our next door neighbors invited us over for supper, and their son set off a mini firework show in the street. Down the street, some other people were setting off those huge, illegal fireworks, so several cop cars were patrolling our neighborhood to stop whoever was doing them. :P
DeleteYes, I reeeeaaaally must read both those series. <3
Disney movie live action is so much fun. :) I'm pretty excited for the upcoming Beauty and Beast movie, because a) EMMA WATSON and b) IAN MCKELLEN. It's gonna be seriously weird and fun to hear Gandalf voice the clock. xD
(oh, and I believe that Dragonlight is book 5 in the Dragonkeeper Chronicles. :)
Yeah, fireworks are fun. I like seeing the big shows, when people know what they're doing! :D
DeleteI'm SO excited for Beauty and the Beast!!! Can't wait for another trailer! :) Yes, Gandalf in a Disney fairytale movie! haha! :D
Yes, I realized that after I bought the book. I wasn't expecting it to be the first book ... But yeah, I'll need to collect the next of the series now! :) :)
Yay, you did the tag! I had so much fun reading this! :D
ReplyDelete68 books... WOW.
Yay for Golden Braid, Entwined, and King's Folly! I will also totally get around to reading more Ilyon and the Fairytale Retold books too...
The Silent Songbird yussss. I need to read it when it comes out! :D
Contemporaries are really unpredictable on whether I enjoy them or not... I guess you're the same. XD It's nice finding enjoyable ones, though. :)
I so want to read Not by Sight! *eyes library and growing TBR stack and lack of time* Ahem. Someday! I will! XD
Awk, I love Fish and Rose just from seeing them in the first book, so I can imagine getting their story is great. :)
Happy late Independence Day to you too! I hope you had a good day and will have a fantastic July! ^_^
Anyways, really enjoyed this post! :) BOOKS YAY! <3
Wonderful! ^_^ I'm glad you did, Deborah!
DeleteYes, it does sound like quite a lot, hey?? A fair amount of them are Bible books though, like Proverbs and such, so those don't take too long to read! :)
Yes, you must read more of those two series!!! And those three books ... *hugs Entwined, Golden Braid, and King's Folly*
Indeed! I just never know about contemporaries! They're definitely not usually my first pick.
XD Someday! My immediate TBR list is growing quite big, because I've been book shopping so much lately, and just picking up books that look interesting or so! :D
YES. You must read more books about Fish and Rose!!!! <3 ^_^
I did have a very nice 4th of July, thank you! Hope you have a fabulous July as well!! My family is coming out this month, so I'm super excited! :) :) :)
BOOKS! Can never get enough of them, hey? ;) So glad you enjoyed!! Blessings! <3
Oh man, Samara's Peril! I'm about halfway through it right now, and... how does she keep writing such amazing books?! I love it.
ReplyDeleteAlso, The Jungle Book was awesome. I haven't read the book, either, so I can't tell you how closely the movie followed it!
Serena
http://poetreeandbooks.blogspot.com | www.serenaedits.com
Haha, I don't know, Serena! Jaye L. Knight's books just keep getting better and better! And they're all amazing! ^_^ I LOVED Samara's Peril!!! <3
DeleteYes, that movie was so cool!! Probably different from what I usually watch, but cool! :D
Fun post! Glad to see Joanne's books on this list! :)
ReplyDeleteThanks, Rissi! Yes, indeed! Joanne's books are amazing!! :)
DeleteFun tag! Lots of great books too! :D I might try to do this tag sometime...maybe. XD
ReplyDeleteI tagged you for "By the Book" Tag on my blog, if you're interested! :)
https://godspeculiartreasurerae.wordpress.com/2016/07/08/by-the-book-tag/
True, true! :D Yes, definitely! If you do, leave a link! :)
DeleteAw, thanks for tagging me, Raechel; I shall certainly have to do it in a bit! Love book tags!! ^_^
Kingdom's Dawn is super great! I hope you enjoy it too! The great thing about Chuck Black's books, is that most of the time I can finish them in a day or two.
ReplyDelete