The Mid-Year Book Freak Out Tag

I saw this tag floating around the Internet, and since I've enjoyed quite a few books this year so far, I thought I'd participate as well :) Two questions aren't included here, as I don't have any fictional crushes and simply can't think of a book to movie adaption I enjoyed this year. But without further ado, here are some of the most amazing books I've read in the first half of 2017:


This is such a difficult question, I've read a couple of amazing books so far this year! Ascendant's Rite by David Hair was brilliant and kept me reading very late into the night because I just couldn't put the book down. Then there was Small Gods by Terry Pratchett, which was just so funny, interesting and gripping. But there are two books that impressed me so much that I still think of them quite often. They are Emma by Jane Austen and Fool's Assassin by Robin Hobb. I'm not going to try and choose one, that would be impossible. They were both so amazing that when I wasn't reading, I was still thinking of the stories and characters. Fool's Assassin was particularly hard to put down. It was emotional, lovely, sad, nerve-wracking and just so exciting! 
Emma was such a pleasant surprise, on the other hand, because I'd heard a few mixed things about this before, as it is some people's least favourite Austen. I ended up loving it so much, though, because the character development is simply on point. Stories with characters who are rather unlikable and imperfect in the beginning, but who end up seeing their flaws and change for the better during the narrative are among my favourites, so this was definitely right up my alley! 


This goes to The Tropic of Serpents by Marie Brennan. I read this at the beginning of the year and highly enjoyed it. Lady Trent is a very interesting protagonist, she is far from perfect but I adore her determination and her thirst for knowledge. I'm still not over what happened in the first book of this series, but this just showed me how invested I was in the story, so I enjoyed this sequel even more. The setting was fascinating and made for a great exploration of themes like cultural clashes, politics and gender. The novel is the perfect combination of thought provoking and gripping, so I can't wait to continue the series!

Assassin's Fate by Robin Hobb. I know, I mention her a lot, but she is just one of my favourite authors! This is the last book in The Fitz and the Fool trilogy and, if I'm not mistaken, the last installment in her Realm of the Elderlings. I haven't gotten to this particular book yet because I still need to read the Rainwild Chronicles and Fool's Quest, so it will be a while until I finally get to this one. 
Frankly, I don't want this series to end, although I'm dying to know how it ends. Oh, the struggle! I'm currently re-reading all of her Realm of the Elderlings books, too, so that I can savour it as long as possible :) 

The illustrated deluxe edition of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Oathbringer by Brandon Sanderson and Mrs Osmond by John Banville. I'm sorry, I suck at choosing just one thing, but I'm just so excited for all three of these releases. 
The illustrated deluxe editions of the Harry Potter books are so perfect, and the third one, coming out this October, is particularly stunning! Prisoner of Azkaban is also one of my favourites of the series, so I can't wait to hold it in my hands at last. 
Mrs Osmond is a continuation of Henry James' Portrait of a Lady. If you've read my review for that one, you'll understand that I'm dying to know how it might have gone on for the characters. Oathbringer is on this list because I just love Brandon Sanderson's Cosmere books. Even though the Stormlight Archive series is extremely long, I flew through the first two installments and enjoyed them immensely. I love the concept that each of the single stories ties into one big plot spanning several worlds. You don't know which details might become important later on, so the books are perfect for re-reading, too. 

The Case-Book of Sherlock Holmes by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. I listened to the audiobook of the complete Sherlock Holmes stories, read by Stephen Fry, earlier this year and simply loved it. Fry also narrated the Harry Potter audiobooks, so I've been a fan of his reading before starting this collection. The audiobook wasn't what disappointed me so much, it's a brilliant collection and I can only recommend it. Fry reads a short introduction, written by himself, before every short story collection or novel, in which he really conveys his fascination and adoration for Holmes. This made me enjoy the audiobook and most of the stories even more. He also somehow gets the voices for every character just right. It's the same in his rendition of Harry Potter. He has this subtle way of changing his voice only a bit to just match the characters perfectly. 
But I'm digressing. I was very disappointed by The Case-Book, as it was the last collection of short stories about Sherlock Holmes, and it just fell completely flat for me. I can't put my finger on why that is, but the cases felt very boring compared to all the ones that came before. I still gave it three stars, however, because it doesn't lack the Holmesian charm at all and I was only disappointed by the cases themselves. 

I think this was War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy. I didn't go into this expecting to be blown away by it, but rather thinking it would be a very interesting, yet slow and sometimes boring read. 
I was utterly surprised, however, when I found myself loving the story and especially all of the characters as much as I did. True, there are some rather boring digressions by the author on Napoleon and why great men aren't great, but that didn't take from the story at all. I flew through this book in two weeks, which is quite good, considering its length, and I was hooked and enjoying myself nearly all the time. I'm planning on reading Anna Karenina sometime later this year, so hopefully this will be just as surprising! 
This is 100% Henry James. We studied him in one of my seminars for English Literature this semester, so I read a few of his many books over the last couple of months. As I've already mentioned multiple times by now, his Portrait of a Lady struck me as a complete masterpiece, and I thoroughly enjoyed the other books we've read by him, too. 
Roderick Hudson is another one worth mentioning here. It's a very slow book with not too much happening, plot wise, but it kept me interested and invested all the time. James' writing style is just so beautiful, I frequently catch myself simply admiring his language and the way he creates his stories. So if you like beautiful, character driven books that rather serve the purpose of exploring philosophical themes and human nature, I can only recommend Henry James to you. 
I have to repeat myself yet again, as this goes to Emma Woodhouse from Jane Austen's Emma. Despite the fact that she strikes the reader as rather silly and arrogant, this heroine is a very intriguing character from the very beginning, she feels so full of life and energy,. The change she goes through, after realising that her attitude towards other people and her her habit of match-making aren't as good as she thought, are so well done and inspiring that I just couldn't help loving her. 
Again, Fool's Assassin by Robin Hobb. After reading so many books set in the Six Duchies, I'm so attached to these characters that I really can't help crying when more tragedies befall them. 
Also: the first two Harry Potter books I've re-read this year so far. I just love them so much, they usually make me cry at some point.  
A Midsummer Night's Dream by William Shakespeare. This was my third time reading it, I think, and I just adore the humour and wit in the writing. The fight between Hermia and Helena makes me laugh every time.

Since I've just started blogging and reviewing, this is rather hard to say. I think I enjoyed writing my review for The Portrait of a Lady by Henry James most, because I really loved that book and tried my best to conveying my adoration for this work. 

As if I could narrow it down to one answer for this question! I have a huge problem with buying beautiful books, I'm never able to stop myself. There is, for example, a huge order from the Folio Society Summer Sale on its way to me right now, and they are all absolutely beautiful. 
But I'm going to try and limit myself to only a few: Meetings with Remarkable Manuscripts by Christopher De Hamel. The cover appeals so much to my love for old medieval books, and when you open it, it's full of pictures of medieval manuscripts. I'm really excited to read this! 
Then there are all those Folio Society books I've managed to find on ebay this year, such as these stunning copies of Homer's Iliad and Odyssey, beautifully illustrated. Or my copy of Shakespeare's Sonnets, just look at the binding. There are loads more that I adore, but I'll stop now because this post is already far too long! 
 
I don't strictly plan what I'm going to read, as I'm very much of a mood reader. But one book I really hope to read before the year is out is Robin Lane Foxe's The Classical World. I'm really into history at the moment, and I've been very keen on this book ever since Jean of BookishThoughts mentioned it as a good introduction into ancient history. I'm also hoping to get to Anna Karenina soon, because I keep hearing amazing things about it.

So this was the Mid-Year Book Freak Out Tag! I apologize for the rambling and my inability to simply choose one book for each question, but there are just so many amazing books out there! Thank you for reading, and I'd love to hear other opinions about any of the books I mentioned :) 





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