Mid-Year Book Catch Up

Hello! Hope everyone is doing okay!

Today I’m coming to you with my version of the Mid-Year Book Catch up tags that float around at the moment. My reading so far this year doesn’t really fit into the main tag so I thought it would be better to have my own prompts and go from there.

Compared to previous years, I’ve not read a lot at all (probably a phrase I’m parroting on every blog post at the moment) but I’ve still books to talk about so here we are.

How many books have I read so far?

So I have read and finished 22 books. That’s half of what I’d usually have at this time of year but I’m okay with it.

Let’s break that down a little further into varying statistics:

New to me books – 14
Re-reads – 8

Physical books – 13
Ebooks – 6
Audiobooks – 3

Contemporary – 6
Fantasy – 9
Historical Fiction – 3
Classics – 2
Mixed Fiction (books I struggle fitting into a genre) – 2

Am I currently reading anything?

Yes, I am currently reading The Octunnumi by Trevor Alan Foris. I only heard about this book a couple of weeks ago and I had to order it straight away because it spoke to me on so many levels. I have a couple of niggles with the writing style but I do like it so far and I’m intrigued to see where it’s going. It’s not the easiest book to describe as everything surrounding it is rather vague but I’m gripped by the mystery of it all, especially as this is the first volume out of a prospective 12 books or something like that. You can only get it from its official website if you’re interested as it is not available in bookshops or online retailers. I will also say it’s a little on the expensive side but it’s also interactive (if your phone is compatible with its AR app – mine unfortunately isn’t *sad face*), comes with a couple of additional items, and is packaged in such beautiful way that’s simply stunning – it’s worth it for the price, even if you possibly have to wait a while between ordering and receiving the book.

What is my favourite book of the year so far?

I think out of the two it comes down to, it would be The Girl Who Reads on the Métro by Christine Féret-Fleury, translated by Ros Schwartz

I read this back in January or February and it was one of those books I completely lost myself in. I sat in my room, started reading and didn’t move until I finished it a few hours later. I really fell in love with the notion that the books we read say something about us, that they could change our own mindset, and there was a specific someone who left books in places for those who needed them. It was also refreshing to read a French-English translated book that, for me, flowed pretty effortlessly. I’ll certainly be checking out more translated works by Ros Schwartz at some point.

Any disappointing reads so far?

In a sense, yes. Right at the beginning of January I was reading the Left-Handed Booksellers of London by Garth Nix and although it was a fun, I didn’t love it as much as I expected to.

Are there any books I’ve DNFed?

Yes, I DNFed quite a few books, some because I wasn’t enjoying them and others because I fell out the mood and needed something else.

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Books that are staying DNFed:

• The Foundling – there’s too much convenience for my liking
• A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder – I just really didn’t like it, sorry!
• Virgin River – did not like the writing style. I’ll stick to the Netflix adaptation.

Books I’ll definitely pick up again:

• The Shadow of the Wind – wasn’t in the mood for literary style writing at the time
• The Shadow in the Glass – I got halfway and I fell into an anxiety spell due to the lockdown. The darkness of this book was not what I needed so it is shelved until I’m mentally ready to tackle the second half.

I’m in the middle when it comes to The Reckless Afterlife of Harriet Stoker and The Invisible Library. It has taken ages for me to initially pick them up and now they’re reshelved, I can see them sitting there for a long time again before I actively think about them.

Are there any books I want to hopefully read before the end of the year?

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It all depends on my mood but I could do with prioritising The Mask Falling, Dangerous Remedy, The Mercies and a few other books I’ve not decided on yet. Dangerous Remedy could be a fitting book for this month though since it is set during the French Revolution and it will be Bastille Day in just over a week.

So this post doesn’t get too long, that’s it for my prompts and reading stats. There are a couple more things I could include but they could always be individual posts too!

I really hope things pick up in the second half of the year. I want to be able to talk about so many more books rather than the same few over and over again!

What are your reading goals for the next half of the year?

As always, thanks for reading and have a brazzle dazzle day!
xx