Hi everyone, so since we are halfway through the year I thought it would be best if I told you all my thoughts and feelings on the books I read in the first 6 months of 2019!

I plan on –

• Listing all the books I read.
• Update on my challenges.
• Then do the generic tag, giving you an insight into my opinions so far!

The books I have read so far…

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Challenge Update!

So, in regards to my 2019 sequels challenge where I planned to read the sequel to all the books I read in 2018… I have done very, very well. I have only one book left which is Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire and then I would have completed my 2019 sequels challenge!

For my ONTD Challenge, I have also been incredibly successful! The list below is the books I have read so far for the challenge.

• January ~ (Read a book that is being turned into a movie or TV show in 2019) ~ The Light Fantastic – Terry Pratchett and The Fellowship of the Ring – J.R.R Tolkien. (I did get this wrong as I chose books that weren’t being made or released as tv shows or movies in 2019 but I still technically fulfilled the challenge just the wrong year!)
• February ~ (Read a book that includes romance or a book in which characters experience a break-up) ~ Obsidio – Amie Kaufman + Jay Kristoff and Legendary – Stephanie Garber.
• March ~ (Read a non-fiction book) ~ How To Adult – Stephen Wildish.
• April ~ (Read a book about time-travel) ~ The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August – Claire North
• May ~ (Read a book set in a country you have never been too) ~ The Girl in the Tower – Katherine Arden (Russia) and The Boundless – Kenneth Oppel (Canada)
• June ~ (Read a book about friendship) ~ Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire – J.K Rowling

Finally, for my Goodreads reading challenge. I have read 25 books out of my target of 33. So only 8 more books to go!

On with the tag questions…

Best book you have read so far in 2019:

The best book is a toss-up between Mortal Engines by Phillip Reeve or Thunderhead by Neal Shusterman. Both were action packed and full of amazing characters and set in two very different worlds. One is a post-apocalyptic dystopian, the other a flourishing utopia. Very different, it is too hard to choose now but I will choose Mortal Engines by Phillip Reeve! See the next question.

Best sequel you have read so far in 2019:

Well, this one is easy! Thunderhead by Neal Shusterman, this book was so much better than Scythe and I didn’t think we were going to be able to top Scythe! The world-building was incredible as per but the stakes felt higher in this book than in the first one and we started to move away from it being Citra and Rowan’s sole journey but to a wider more political novel about the society itself. This aspect I really enjoyed!

New release you haven’t yet read but want to:

There are so many new releases I want to read! I can’t pick one!

• The Girl in Red – Christina Henry. My favourite author of 2018 but her last book was incredibly disappointing I hope she will bring it back with this one.
• City of Girls – Elizabeth Gilbert
• Gods of Jade and Sorrow – Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Biggest disappointment:

Fire and Heist by Sarah Beth Durst. This book was awful! The only reason I gave this a two-star rating is because the main character’s friend is super lovely and I see a bit of myself in her but besides that the book is awful! What was disappointing about this was that this was my first book from a book subscription box and I had really high expectations for the book as they, so rightfully, hyped it up. But it was just awful and the string of books that followed, from the company, weren’t any better, thankfully I came out of the slump thanks to their March box. But it was just disappointing as it was hyped up so much and under-delivered incredibly.

Biggest surprise:

The Long Way To A Small Angry Plant by Becky Chambers. This was a book I had seen posted around and mentioned numerous times but I never felt the desire to pick it up. A friend from work gave it to me to read and I was blown away by how sweet, funny and crazy it was. It has ended up becoming one of my favourite books of this year and I just loved the friendships and bonds that were formed. I always considered this book to be something I wouldn’t like.

Favourite new author:

I would have to say, Phillip Reeve. He is a new author to me this year and I thoroughly enjoyed his book, the world-building was amazing. The action was exhilarating and if it wasn’t for my massive pile of books on my desk waiting to be read I would pick up the next book now and read it!

Newest favourite character:

Again I couldn’t pick just one character so see the list below:

• Rhen Tellur – To Best The Boys
• Valentine Waterford – Resort to Murder
• The entire cast of The Long Way To A Small Angry Planet
• Jupiter North – Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow
• Death – The Discworld Series

Book that made you cry:

No book will ever come close to the tears I shed reading Lost Boy by Christina Henry. The closest I got to was Obsidio by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff. To me it was more emotion towards it being the end of the series, I really enjoyed this trilogy and the themes that were discussed in these novels are very heart-breaking and to see it all end and especially in the way it did. It did make me get emotional but I didn’t cry.

Book that made you happy:

I again have a few as I can’t pick one.

• The Girl in the Tower – Katherine Arden. Mainly because it was such an improvement from her first book.
• TLWTASAP – Becky Chambers. Just a fun book about friendship and connections with an incredibly funny cast.
• The Light Fantastic – Terry Pratchett. His books are always just so fun and it’s so easy to get lost into his world and his writing.

Most beautiful book you have received or bought this year.

What books do you need to read by the end of the year?

I have so many books that I need to read. I have 13 books waiting on my shelf to be read and most of these books don’t fit into the remaining ONTD reading categories so I will have to get more books in order to achieve that challenge. There are too many books to count!