Lauren's Boookshelf: July 2023

Friday, July 7, 2023

Mid-Year Book Freakout Tag: 2023 Edition

We're halfway through the year (which is incredibly scary and confusing because how has it gone so fast?) which means it's time for my annual Mid-Year Book Freakout Tag! I've been doing this tag for a few years now and it's always quite fun. I've read 47 books this year so far so I've definitely got a lot of source material to pull from to answer these questions. So, without further ado, let's go ahead and dive in!

1: BEST BOOK YOU'VE READ

This is so hard to choose right now. I have read so many new favorites and great books this year that I already don't know how to narrow it down to top five, let alone favorite of the entire year. I think I'm going to mention two books for this one because, frankly, I love them both equally.

Up first, to no one's surprise, is Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros. This has taken the book community by storm recently and I am a willing participant in the madness. I read this only a week or so after it released in one sitting and it was everything to me. There's not one bit of this book that I have fault with and I am so incredibly in love with it. I can't wait for the sequel, which has me even more excited as there's only six months between the releases instead of the usual year or more. I did write a gushy book review here if you want to know more of my thoughts.

Then, tied for first, is the Hannaford Prep series by J. Bree. This is a why-choose, bully/organized crime romance. I am 100% the target audience for this book and it had actually been on my TBR for a while. I read another of this author's series and when I saw that this was by the same author I just decided to give it a go. Oh boy was it the best call I've made this year! I blew through this series so fast, and the sequel/prequel ones, and have already reread it in its entirety. I love the characters, I love the setting, I love the grittiness and the passion and the violence and the humor. It's...so good. I also wrote a gushy review for this one here.

2. BEST SEQUEL YOU'VE READ

I think I'm going to go with City of Souls and Sinners by Kayla Edwards. The first book, City of Gods and Monsters, was my favorite book of 2022. I am absolutely obsessed with these characters and this world so Souls and Sinners was my most anticipated book of this year. I read it so quickly and was giggling, kicking my feet, stressing, crying...you name an emotion and I was feeling it. I loved it and I am in such desperate need of the third book (hopefully March 2024). You can find my review here.

3. NEW RELEASE YOU HAVEN'T READ BUT WANT TO

There are so many new releases I haven't gotten to yet. I think for this I'm going to pick Yellowface by R.F. Kuang though. This is Kuang's newest release and it's a satirical literary fiction novel, which is quite different from her previous genres. I've heard nothing but amazing things about this one which has me excited. Also, it focuses on the publishing industry and as a publishing professional, I feel like I'll get even more out of this than if I weren't.

4. BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT

I think I'm going to go with Boys of Brayshaw High by Meagan Brandy. This had been on my TBR for years at this point and I finally decided to read it when I was wanting something similar to Hannaford Prep. However, this was nothing like I expected and...more importantly...it was not a why choose series like I had been led to believe. This isn't to say that this is a bad book to the right reader but it wasn't for me and my expectations.

5. BIGGEST SURPRISE

I don't know if I really have one for this one. Maybe Fourth Wing again? I try not to provide duplicate answers but this is the only book that really came out of nowhere for me when I didn't know what it was before and then became a top favorite.

6. FAVORITE NEW AUTHOR

For this, I'm definitely going with J. Bree. Out of the 47 books I've read this year, 20 of them have been J. Bree books. I've read all but one of the books she's published and I've loved every one of them. She's authors the Bonds That Tie series, which is a paranormal why choose romance series taking BookTok by storm; Hannaford Prep series, the why choose bully/crime romance series; The Queen Crow trilogy, a sequel series to Hannaford; Butcher of the Bay duet, a prequel duology to Hannaford; Angle Unseen, a companion to Hannaford; and The Mortal Fates series, which is a fantasy enemies-to-lovers which just started releasing this year.

Hannaford Prep is definitely my favorite of hers so far but The Mortal Fates is a close second place. Every single one of her series are so different from each other but also so different from other books in the same genres. And I'm obsessed with them. She's definitely become a new auto-buy author and I cannot wait to follow along with all her releases in the future.

7. NEWEST FICTIONAL CRUSH

I have to go with Ash and Harley from Hannaford Prep. Of course, I love all the boys in all of J. Bree's books but these two are just another level for me. The way they love and protect Lips, the way they're unapologetically vicious and how they embrace her world...they're everything. I'm eagerly anticipating the next books featuring these boys and Lips.

I also love Xaden Riorsen from Fourth Wing. He is the perfect example of a favorite brooding enemies-to-lovers slow burn love interest. I don't want to explain too much to avoid spoilers but he's wonderful and I love him and can't wait to see him again.

If you can't tell, these two books/series have taken over my life.

8. NEWEST FAVORITE CHARACTER

Once again, I'm choosing two...

We have Lips from Hannaford Prep and Violet from Fourth Wing. Lips is such a badass and she takes no shit. Violet is so strong in face of the difficulties she's facing. Both of them are so different from each other but I love both of them so much and I can't choose which I love more.

9. BOOK THAT MADE YOU CRY

Right so I could say Fourth Wing or Hannaford again, but I'm going to branch out and say The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy by Meagan Bannen. I read this in one sitting and it was so good. However, at one part in the book I was crying so hard that I was worried about waking up the others in my household because of it. I was...not okay. So many tears. But oh such a good book.

10. BOOK TO MOVIE ADAPTATION

I'm going to go with Last Violent Call by Chloe Gong. This is a two-novella collection set in the Secret Shanghai universe which includes These Violent Delights and Foul Lady Fortune. I'm not going to reveal who it's about because that might give spoilers but the characters that these novellas follow are my favorites of the universe. While there was a little action and plot in these, the majority of these were just fluffy domestic stories. I loved every second and was smiling/giggling so hard throughout the entire thing.

11. FAVORITE BOOK TO MOVIE ADAPTATION

I haven't really seen any new adaptations this year so far. However, I've rewatched a few. I think The Hunger Games and The Martian remain some of my favorite adaptations. I always have such a good time rewatching them and I probably do so multiple times a year.

12. FAVORITE REVIEW YOU'VE WRITTEN

I think it's probably tied between Fourth Wing and The Crown of Oaths and Curses.

13. MOST BEAUTIFUL BOOK YOU'VE BOUGHT

Oh this is going to be so hard. I've been subscribed to Fairyloot and Illumicrate and I've gotten some Waterstones editions throughout the year. I also have so many preordered for later in the year. However, I think I'm going to go with the Fairyloot edition of The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi by S.A. Chakraborty. It has fancy endpages, embossing, stenciled edges, a fancy cover...it's just beautiful.

14. WHAT DO YOU NEED TO READ BY THE END OF THE YEAR?

This is a long list and I can't possible choose just one. I've narrowed down the list a bit and it's a mix of upcoming releases and backlist TBR books I want to get to soon.

Immortal Longings by Chloe Gong (publishing July)
Foul Heart Huntsman by Chloe Gong (publishing September)
A Shadow Crown by Melissa Blair
The Weeping Tide by Amanda Foody
Daughter of the Drowning Empire by Frankie Diane Mallis
Lady of Darkness by Melissa K. Roehrich
Very Secret Society of Irregular Witches by Sangu Mandanna
Song of the Marked by S.M. Gaither
Foundryside by Robert Jackson Bennett
Emily Wilde's Encyclopaedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett
Assistant to the Villain by Hannah Nicole Maehrer
Sword Catcher by Cassandra Clare

Thanks for reading!

xoxo

Lauren

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Monday, July 3, 2023

June 2023 Book Haul

This month was a pretty chill one when it came to what books I hauled. I only got five books this month, which is a pretty low number for me. There's not much else to say other than I've been saving money for other books or spending it on preorders for future months. I'm pretty happy with my haul this month so let's just dive in!

The first book I hauled this month was The Crown of Oaths and Curses by J. Bree. Now, at this point in the year, J. Bree has become a new favorite author. I've read all but one of her 20+ books by now. This one is her newest release and the start of a new fantasy series featuring witches and fae. I read it in one sitting and absolutely devoured it, loving every second. I knew it was one that I needed a physical copy of just like Hannaford Prep.

Then I got my June adult box from Fairyloot. This month's book was Shanghai Immortal by A.Y. Chao and featured an exclusive cover, stenciled edges, digital edges, a design on the naked hardcover, artwork on the endpages, and is signed. Fairyloot's editions are truly stunning and top tier at this point. I am pretty interested in this book but I will say that I only got it because I wanted July's book but ran out of skips otherwise I would have gotten the standard UK edition (which is stunning in its own right).

The next book I got was Blood & Steel by Helen Scheuerer. This is her adult debut and I've previously read one of her YA titles (and plan on continuing the series). This one I read on KU first and then decided I wanted to have the physical copy. It's a fantasy romance that I read in one sitting and couldn't put down. I really enjoyed it and I'm looking forward to the sequel coming later this year.

Then I finally got my copy of A Shadow Crown by Melissa Blair. This book released in May in the US, but as I'm in the UK it wasn't released here until the end of June. Initially, my preorder wasn't even going to ship until July but I was pleasantly surprised when it actually shipped on time. Now, after over a year and a half of waiting since I finished the first book, I have the sequel in my hands. I am so incredibly excited for this one and I hope to reread the first book and then dive into this one in July because I miss this world a lot.

The last book I got was Make My Move by J. Bree. This is a Hannaford Prep novel but it's more of a bonus book? It's the same as the second book, Make Your Move, but just told from the boys' perspectives. When I first read the series I didn't read it because I knew on my reread I'd do it as a tandem read. This month I reread the series because I missed the characters so much and that meant it was time to read this one. I already owned the bind-up of the series but this one wasn't included so, of course, I had to get it.

Thanks for reading!

xoxo

Lauren

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Saturday, July 1, 2023

June 2023 Wrap-Up

Oh boy was June a wild reading month for me. This was my largest reading month in almost three years with a total of 15 (!) books. Basically, I was in such a reading mood in June that every spare moment of my weekends was spent reading. And that's the crazy thing...most, if not all, of these were read on the weekends and not during the work week. I'm only imagining what I could've achieved had I been able to read during the week as well.

I found some new favorites, reread a few books, and had a couple disappointing reads. Overall, though, I'm very pleased with this month and I am hoping I can continue the reading vibes into July and get through a good number as well. Let's dive in!