2018 Mid-Year Freak Out Tag

1. Best book you've read so far in 2018? The best book that I read this year came out quite a while ago. Anne Frank Remembered: The Woman Who Helped Hide The Frank Family by Miep Gies
2. The best sequel you've read so far in 2018? I read a few books in a series that I gave 4 or 5 stars to, but the one I most remember would be If I Run by Terri Blackstock. It's a Christian thriller series that I started last year and I was pleasantly surprised that I enjoyed it as much as I did. The entire series is great!
3. New Release you haven't read yet but want to? There are several new releases I want to read, but since I have ARCs of these two, I really want to read them soon. Educated: A Memoir by Tara Westover and The High Tides Club by Mary Kay Andrews. 4. Most-anticipated forthcoming releases! One that has not yet released that I am excited for is Sold on a Monday by Kristina McMorris. 5. Biggest Disappointment of 2018 so far? The book I read that I was most disappointed in that I read this year is No Biking in the House Without A Helmet by Melissa Fay Green. Being an adoptive mom like her, although I have only 1 child and she has many more than me, I was really looking forward to this one and heard so many good things. Actually, it is one of my lowest ranked books that I 've read this year. I almost wish I had DNF'ed it. 6. Biggest surprise in 2018 so far? The biggest surprise was actually not a good surprise, but a surprise none the less. I was surprised how much I disliked Peony in Love by Lisa See. Most of her books that I read were 4 or 5 stats, but this one I hated and was tempted to DNFit. 7. Favorite debut so far in 2018? Born A Crime by Noah Trevor is the only book I rated highly in the first part of 2018 by an author who had not written a book before. 9. A book that made you cry? It takes a lot to make me cry in a book. Often a dog dying would do it. I can't remember specifically if any book that I read this year actually made me cry, possibly The Guardian by Nicholas Sparks or Anne Frank Remembered. 10. A book that made you happy? Reading makes me happy. I can't think of a specific book that made me happier than the rest. I wish I could say the Little House series, since it was nice to reminisce and although I gave many of them 4 stars, a lot of what I reminisced about was actually the tv show. 11. Favorite book-to-film adaptation so far? The only book that I read that was made into a film was Fried Green Tomatoes. I don't think I saw the film and wasn't that crazy about the book. I would really like to see Terri Blackstock's If I Run series made into movies, of which If I Live was the final book in this trilogy. 12. What books do you need to read before the end of the year? I want to finish the Little House series, since I have only 2 books left These Happy Golden Years and The First Four Years, I should get these done in the very near future. I then want to read Prairie Fires by Carol Fraser about Laura Ingalls Wilder

Love You by Stacy Finz

I received an advanced reader copy from the author herself and an e-ARC from NetGalley, (so I can read it on my Kindle) in exchange for an honest review. This is the 3rd book in The Garner Brothers series, which also included a short story, Each brother has had a story. This one is Win's story. He has a reputation of being a lothario, but after a former girlfriend tried to tie him to her with a pregnancy scare, he is trying to mend his ways by being more responsible, both personally and professionally. Darcy is the receptionist at Garner Adventure and would like a promotion with more responsibility. Win and Darcy are paired together to get a highly-desired account. At times, I wanted to shake each of the two main characters for being so dense about things, but overall I really liked them and rooted for them. I look forward to the final short story about two of the residents later this year and I believe a Christmas story in the Nugget series. I've very much enjoyed everything Stacy Finz has written so far and can't wait to continue reading more from her. Although this is a series, I believe that this can be read as a stand alone, but you will most likely want to go back and read the entire series. This book will be released on July 31st. Thank you to the author and to NetGalley for copies of the ARC.  4 stars.

WWWednesdays 7/11/2018

It's been awhile since I posted, but I really need to start again!  Since it's Wednesday, it's time for the weekly meme, WWW Wednesday hosted by Sam at Taking on a World of Words.

All you need to do is answer the following questions:

• What are you currently reading?
• What did you recently finish reading?
• What do you think you’ll read next?

So let's get onto it!

What are you currently reading? I am currently reading Little Town on the Prairie and not listening to anything at the moment, I was listening to Ready Player One, but the app that I was listening on, Axis 360, just shut down and lost my place in the book.  I haven't the faintest idea how far along I was, especially since I was listening on 1.5 speed.  This was my second attempt to read this; the first time I borrowed it from my library on Overdrive and although I loved the 80s references, I couldn't get into the story.  I'm fed up with Axis 360, which E-read Illinois uses, so I will just stick with Overdrive.

What did you recently finish reading? The last thing I finished was the audiobook, The Gates of Evangeline by Hester Young, which was really good!  On my kindle, I finished an ARC of Love You by Stacy Finz, which will be released at the end of the month.

What do you think you'll read next?  I have quite a bit yet to read in Little Town on the Prairie, so I doubt I'll be reading anything new before the weekend.  I'm thinking I may pick up Tears of the Desert: A Memoir of Survival in Darfur by Halina Bashit or Firefly Lane by Kristin Hannah.  We'll see what I'm in the mood for and I have several options for an audiobook.

So what about you?