2021 Mid-Year Check In Tag + Statistics

Honestly where has this year gone but also can it go any faster? I would like for 2021 to be over now, thank you very much.

I’ve been trying to get this post up since the past week but something keeps coming up and as I write this I really hope I can finally hit publish because I’m so excited for you all to see the books I read and the overall stats of my reading! If that’s what you’re here for then let’s just get going 🙂

2021 Mid-Year Statistics

Let’s talk statistics and charts first!

This year my goal is a 100 books and I’m not only on track but actually ahead of my schedule. Recently my reading has slowed down a bit so I’m glad I have a little bit of leeway when it comes to this goal.

By the way, all the graphs and pie charts are thanks to the reading spreadsheet I use which is made by Kal @ Reader Voracious. I’m a disgrace when it comes to maths but I do love seeing pretty charts so she’s the only reason I get to track my reading like this 🙂

In terms of reading by genre, I do tend to read a lot of contemporaries and fantasies. This year I’ve been drawing away from contemporaries a bit so I’m only a little surprised to see the number for fantasy and contemporary books to be the same. The rest of the statistics make sense although I do want to read more mystery and thriller books because I really enjoy them.

As usual, I’m more of a backlist reader and this year I’ve been DNFing a lot of books because my patience runs thin and I guess my standards have improved? I always feel incredibly guilty but also relieved upon DNFing so I try to focus more on the relief.

I’m actually so surprised that I’ve mostly been reading ARCs this year. I’ve been doing my best to stay on top of my arcs and review copies and I guess it has paid off cause I only have one pending arc. But then again, I requested and got approved for only about fifteen-ish ARCs so they were easier to manage.

As usual, ebooks reign as my reading format cause I’m a broke student also almost all my arcs are e-copies cause I’m an international reader. I don’t mind actually, I quite like highlighting and bookmarking my e-copies. I’ve been quite slow with audiobooks though, despite this being a format I enjoy.

I’ve been having a great reading year! As you can see, I’ve had tons of 5-star reads followed by an equal amount of 4.5, 4 and 3.5 stars. Even books that I give a 3.5 star rating are usually quite enjoyable so this has not been a bad reading year at all. At least until now, fingers crossed for the next six months

Again, no surprises here that I’ve been sticking majorly to young adult books. But I’ve finally started diving more into adult books, specifically adult fantasies and oh god I’ve really been missing out, haven’t I?

Also, here’s an update on the Beat the Backlist 2021 Challenge which is the only year-long reading challenge I’m taking part in. I’ve decided to challenge myself to the 50 prompts challenge and so far I’ve only completed 15 prompts. I’m kind of behind but for me this is a very stress-free challenge. I just want to complete as many prompts as possible and I’ll do my best not to worry about getting 50 backlist books to fit into those prompts 🙂

2021 Mid-Year Check-In Tag

1. The best book you’ve read so far this year?

Why do we have to start with this god-awful question? Fine, I’ll narrow it down to three. The Midnight Library by Matt Haig, Son of the Storm by Suyi Davies Okungbawa and The Infinity Courts by Akemi Dawn Bowman. The Midnight Library literally made me cry so much and my copy is filled with highlights. Son of the Storm just blew my mind by being a wonderful and perfect fantasy construction with such great themes! And then there was The Infinity Courts which is honestly such a great concept with excellent execution and a jaw-dropping climax.

2. The best sequel you have read this year?

I really don’t know if I’ve read any sequels this year and I also count third books as sequels so my answer would definitely be A War of Swallowed Stars by Sangu Mandanna. This was the PERFECT third book and ending to a breathtaking trilogy. It was so painful ye wonderful and everything I had dreamed of ❤

3. New releases you haven’t read yet but want to?

Oh my god, SO MANY!

Off the top of my head, I’m still waiting for my preorders of Kate In Waiting by Becky Albertalli and Hani and Ishu’s Guide to Fake Dating by Adiba Jaigirdar. I’m also hoping to get to The Ghosts We Keep by Mason Deaver and Dial A for Aunties by Jesse Sutanto soon.

4. Most anticipated release for the second half of the year?

How We Fall Apart by Katie Zhao, A Dark and Starless Forest by Sarah Hollowell and The Donut Trap by Julie Tieu.

5. Biggest disappointment?

I’ve had a couple of disappointing books but I think the one that was the most heartbreaking is We Unleash the Merciless Storm by Tehlor Kay Mehija. I absolutely adored the first book, We Set the Dark On Fire! I buddy read it with Nandini and Shruti and we were all raving about it. Which is why it crushed me that the second book was so bad, I dnfed it at about 80% cause I just couldn’t go on. The plot was extremely predictable, everything that the characters did was either boring, made no sense or predictable. And I guess I missed Dani’s POV. All in all it was a disaster and l was able to predict the ending about 35% into the book, ugh

6. The biggest surprise?

I swear I could go with We Set the Dark on Fire for this one, that’s how polarizing this duology was for me. But another surprise for me was The Bone Witch by Rin Chupeco. Like I know everyone around me keeps raving about Rin Chupeco and her books, especially this series but I didn’t realise how immediately gripping the narrative and story would be. Like I was absolutely hooked and the audiobook narrator just made things a 1000% better!

7. Favourite new to you or debut author?

I could honestly pick between a few authors or debuts but I’ll go with the author Laura Taylor Namey whose book A Cuban Girl’s Guide to Tea and Tomorrow swept me off my feet. Seriously, it was SO good whether it was the romance, the food or the characters. Everything just made me swoon and fall in love and I’ve already added all of Namey’s other books to my TBR 🙂

8. Newest fictional crush?

None as such. I usually have crushes over characters over the span of a series after I really get to know them. Like of course I have a few characters that I absolutely loved but none that I would classify as a crush.

9. Newest favourite character?

Ooh I’ll probably go for my favourite morally grey character Priya from The Jasmine Throne by Tasha Suri. I absolutely adore how Priya is such a badass and powerful character and yet she’s scared, soft-hearted and wants no bloodshed. But like she will kill if she needs to and I honestly can’t wait to see her grow more and more powerful as this book progresses.

10. A book that made you cry?

I honestly cry so much while reading so like half the books I read could qualify for this prompt, lol. But I absolutely bawled my eyes out when I read We Are Okay by Nina LaCour. Like what was that book, I literally cried throughout it, the writing was so beautiful!

11. A book that made you happy?

I recently read Afterlove by Tanya Byrne and most of that book was cute lesbians being in love and my heart was so full, I could cry with happiness. Such a soft and cute story, it really is fluff at its finest.

12. Favourite book to film adaptation?

I think we’re going to get a lot if Grishaverse answers and since I haven’t really seen many adaptations, I’m going for Shadow and Bone as well. The show is so much better than the Shadow and Bone trilogy! They actually made Mal likeable and the whole plotline got better with the Six of Crow characters so I can’t complain 🙂

13. Favourite post you have done this year?

I know the question says one but whatever, I’m going with my top three.

Building My Personal Library: How Do I Decide Which Books to Buy and Discard?

I Don’t Follow A Tight Blogging Schedule and Maybe Yo Shouldn’t Either

Recommending Books As Per Your Tea Preferences!

14. Most beautiful book you have bought this year?

Without any doubt, my copy of Percy Jackson and the Greek Heroes. It’s the most gorgeous book I’ve ever set my eyes on, both inside and out!

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

Probably all the ones on my 2020 5 star predictions post because I really want to see whether these books stand up to my expectations.

I’m not tagging anyone but feel free to do this tag if you haven’t yet and would like to!

Have you read any of the books I mentioned? What are your thoughts on them?

How has the reading year been going for you so far?