What I’m Reading: Mid-2018 Update

This year, my reading goal was simply to read one book per week. As of June 8, I am 9 books ahead of that schedule at 31 books read since January. So I think it’s time to review my top and bottom picks! A note: I didn’t hate anything I read so far this year. A few I didn’t enjoy as much as others, but most of the books I really had fun reading!

Currently Reading (some more than others):

• The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas (how many times can you make a reader cry???)
• Scarlet (The Lunar Chronicles #2) by Marissa Meyer
• A Court of Mist and Fury (A Court of Thorns and Roses #2) by Sarah J. Maas
• Lab Girl by Hope Jahren
• Sirens & Scales boxset (very very slowly reading between everything else)

Favorite book of the year so far: The Fireman by Joe Hill

Okay, so I read a lot of really good books so far. But I was so fantastically impressed with this post-apocalyptic-feeling sci-fi that I actually shared it with my sister only a few chapters in! Imagine a world where anyone can be infected by a fungus that makes you burst into flames spontaneously. What an exciting and unique premise! And it’s so well done (no pun intended, but HA) I couldn’t put it down.

Least favorite: Dead Wake by Erik Larson

Again, most of the books I read this year I really enjoyed. But this one, though it was well done, I just couldn’t get into. I found it a little dull. It just wasn’t for me. But I did learn a bunch from it, which is the beauty of reading non-fiction sometimes. And I did really also like Devil in the White City by the same author, so it was probably just the subject matter.

Honorable Mentions (in order of reading): the books I also really really enjoyed!

• One Salt Sea (October Daye #5) by Seanan McGuire (I love her)
• When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandhya Menon (Oh my goodness, adorable!)
• Hushed by Joanne Macgregor (Gorgeous cover, fun fluffy read!)
• Born of Aether (Elemental Origins #4) by A. L. Knorr (such an awesome series!)
• Talking as Fast as I Can by Lauren Graham (the audiobook was fantastic!)
• Transcendent (The Kacy Chronicles #4) by A. L. Knorr (love this author)
• How to Hang a Witch by Adriana Mather (spooky and gripping… would have been good for Halloween!)
• Monstress, Vol. 1: Awakening by a bunch of authors (beautiful art, intriguing world)
• Etched in Bone (The Others #5) by Anne Bishop (one of my all-time fav series)
• Cinder (The Lunar Chronicles #1) by Marissa Meyer (so good)
• The Elementals (Technically #6 in the Elemental Origins) by A. L. Knorr (told you I loved this author)

Other books I read this year:

• Prism (The Color Alchemist #1) by Nina Walker (Really intriguing magic system)
• Namesake Vol. 3 (Love this whole storyline)
• The Cupcake Witch by Poppy Lawless (lovely cover, loved the idea of a cupcake witch, I just think it would be better as a novel than novella)
• Catching His Ladybird by Laura Greenwood (ever hear of a ladybug shifter? me either, it was kind of awesome and I wish there was more of it)
• Mermaid Saga Vol. 1 by Rumiko Takahashi (give me all your creepy mermaid monster stories)
• Daughter of the Burning City by Amanda Foody (another awesome magic system!)
• Stone of Tears (Sword of Truth #2) by Terry Goodkind (not usually my thing, but enjoyable)
• Stealing Snow by Danielle Paige (I was expecting something different, but interesting premise)
• Dark Places by Gillian Flynn (creepy)
• The Heart Goes Last by Margaret Atwood (I really liked this idea, it was a fun, though kind of messed up, read)
• Morning Glories Vol. 1 (another kind of creepy read, but in high school!)
• Devil in the White City by Erik Larson (also creepy, but this time because it was real)
• Free Comic Book Day: Bob’s Burgers (yessss) and Legend of Korra (yessss)
• American Panda by Gloria Chao (a great look at this culture and an awesome coming-of-age that had me hooked and emotionally torn)
• Kitty and the Midnight Hour by Carrie Vaughn (interesting variant on werewolf urban fantasy)
• Discount Armageddon (InCryptid #1) by Seanan McGuire (another interesting urban fantasy)
• soul like thunder by Sophia Elaine Hanson (I hardly ever read poetry but I DEVOURED this)

So that’s that! What have you been reading? What are your favorite and least favorite reads this year? Tell me below!