2025 Mid-Year Book Freak Out

This tag was co-created by Ely @ Earl Grey Books and Chami @ Read Like Wildfire.

It is hard to believe that the year is half way over. Where does the time go? The first half of my year was pretty good. I read a lot of books, 95 if you want to get specific. For the most part they have all been pretty good, a few disappointments but that is to be expected. It was really hard to pick only one book for most of these categories so I decided to go with at least three books. I did a quarter year recap, which you can read here. As always, the titles with asterisks are linked to my reviews.

How much have I read this year so far?

95 books

This is about average for me. I can usually read three books a week, but there have been a few times this year that I have read more.

Best book So Far

*The Irresistible Urge to Fall For Your Enemy is perhaps the best enemies to lovers book I have read to date. These two were true enemies and their romance is such a slow burn one that it makes it even better.

*Field Notes From a Fungi Forager was the most beautifully illustrated book I have read this year. I also loved learning about all of the local fungi.

*None of This is True is so far the best audiobook I have listened to. I loved the full cast audio and the story was so messed up, but really good.

Best Sequel

*The Ragpicker King was hands down the best sequel I read this year. I am so loving this series and that ending was amazing. It will be a long wait for the next one.

*Marble Hall Murders was also a really good sequel. I hadn’t read the first two books in the series only saw the TV show, but I still really enjoyed it.

*Sunrise on the Reaping is technically a prequel, but I’m still counting it. I just loved reading about Hamish’s Hunger Games.

New Release I haven’t read yet

A Dagger of Lightning is a fairly new addition to this list. I have been seeing such good things about it that I had to add it to my TBR.

Fever Beach is on that has been on the TBR since I first learned about it. I love Hiaasen”s books and I can’t wait to read this one.

The Knight and the Moth is another one that I have heard really good things about. I was a bit dubious about this one until I started seeing all of the good reaviews. Now I am kind of excited to read it.

Most anticipated release for the second half of the year

Stone & Sky is a book that I have been waiting for ever for. So excited for this one. I still haven’t decided if I am going to reread all of the other books first though.. There are a lot of them!

Accomplice to the Villain is also one that I am really excited about. I have really been enjoying this Romantasy and can’t wait to see where it is going.

The Impossible Fortune is the newest book in the Thursday Murder club series. I am so looking forward to hanging out with this group of fun characters again.

Biggest disappointment

*Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil wasn’t exactly a disappointment, I just didn’t love it as much as I thought I would.

*Alibi was from the first quarter of the year, but I am still thinking about how disappointed I was with this book. It had such potential to be a really good thriller.

*Smuggler’s Cove was such a disappointment I can’t even talk about it.

Biggest surprise

*Cursebound was so much better than I thought it was going to be, considering how on the fence I was about the first book in the series.

*Yellowface was another book that I wasn’t expecting to love as much as I did. It was really funny, yet very thought provoking.

*The Wedding People is another one that I didn’t expect to like as much as I did. It is not usually my type of book, but I really enjoyed it.

Favorite new author (debut or new to you)

The first two authors are brand new to me. I loved *India Holton’s whimsical style of writing and I found her to be quite funny. *Lisa Jewel’s book blew me away with how much the characters were messed up as was the story. *Stephanie Burgis isn’t exactly new to me. I have read many of her middle grade books, but this was an adult debut from her and I loved it, so I really needed to mention her here.

Underrated gems you discovered recently

I don’t know for sure if these are really underrated, but they don’t seem to be getting the attention they deserve either.

*The Queen of Fives was a lovely little mystery with a touch of the magical as well. I really enjoyed it and I will definitely have to go back and read other books by this author.

*The Crime Brûlée Bake Off was also a fun little mystery with a British Bake Off style show going on in the background. It had a lot going for it.

*All Better Now is kind of a surprise that it isn’t getting more attention. I loved the dystopian feel to the story and how a virus can change people.

Books that made you happy

Finlay Donovan never fails to make me happy and her newest one, *Finlay Donovan Digs Her Own grave was probably my favorite after the first one.

*Rogue Community College was also a book that made me laugh out loud. I just loved this group of misfits and all of the things that they got up to.

*When the Moon Hits Your Eye was also a very humorous book, but there was also some serious issues brought up throughout the book.

Book that made me cry

Only one book this year has made me cry and *Not Quite Dead Yet was it. I dare any of you to read this one and not tear up by the end. It was also an excellent murder mystery.

Goals for the rest of the year.

I only have a few goals for the rest of the year:

To continue reading good books and to keep up on my challenges. Neither of these should be too hard as I have lots of books by authors I love coming on my reading list for the rest of the year.