It’s that time of year again, or actually it’s a little bit overdue. I often want to have this post up at the start of the second half of the year, but due to several reasons this didn’t happen. However, it’s still July, so it’s time to recap the first half of 2026. And what better way than doing this by the Mid-Year Freak Out Tag! I already have seen this tag being filled out by many fellow bloggers, and I did it several times as well. Compared to last year, my reading is progressing slowly, as I still haven’t met my reading goal of 50 books yet. Nearly though! Without further ado, let’s take a look about my findings of 2026 so far.
1. Best Book You’ve Read So Far in 2026?
To be quite frank, my reading is not extremely spectacular this year. Even though I’ve found multiple pretty nice books so far, most of the books I’ve read received a 3-star rating. Just because they were either not that good, or I just wasn’t vibing with them that much to deserve that prestigious 5-star rating. I’ve only rated 2 books 5 stars so far: A River Enchanted by Rebecca Ross and A Thousand Boy Kisses by Tillie Cole. I’ve totally lost my review mojo and it seems my ability to write them as well, so I haven’t written a review for the latter one yet. As I’m so incredibly behind, I’m not too sure if I ever will do so.
2. Best Sequel You’ve Read So Far in 2026?
I’ve read not even a handful of sequels so far this year and I notice I have quite a love-hate relationship with them. Devney Perry’s Rites of the Starling disappointed me greatly, and the same is happening to my current read, A Fire Endless by Rebecca Ross. The first book in this duet were my first 5 Stars of the year, but with this one I just don’t feel the urge to pick up. However, I read Julie Johnson’s Torrid Throne and that was a nicely surprising sequel.
3. New Release You Haven’t Read Yet, But Want To?
I have to admit that new releases do not have my priority this year, I’d rather clean out the TBR as I have so many unread books on there. But if I really have to pick one, I’d go with Shadow Reaper by Lynette Noni. I confess that it literally took me 5 minutes to come up with this answer, I totally blanked out. That’s how out of the loop I am ha! But this book has been published mid June, so I actually haven’t had time to pick it up yet.
4. Most Anticipated Release For Second Half of 2026?
I only know of one and that’s the newest book in the ACOTAR series by Sarah J. Maas. I totally don’t know what else will be published this year LOL. This aforementioned book still doesn’t have a title yet though, isn’t that a bit odd?
5. Biggest Disappointment?
Ohhhhh too many to mention. Dream Count by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Half His Age by Jennette McCurdy, Rites of the Starling by Devney Perry, The Courting of Bristol Keats by Mary E. Pearson, Metal Slinger by Rachel Schneider…
6. Biggest Surprise?
A Thousand Boy Kisses by Tillie Cole definitely is one. Judging by the title, you would expect a fluffy, yet shallow romance novel. Especially with the knowledge of this being a hype on TikTok, a platform that mostly can’t be trusted when it comes to popular books. They often lack quality. This one however, took a real deep turn and I loved it. It’s heartbreaking and trigger heavy, but all the more reason for me to enjoy it. I never expected this to happen honestly!
7. Favorite New Author?
I can’t decide on this yet, I always want to read more books by an author before I declare them a favorite or autobuy.
8. Newest Fictional Crush?
I still don’t do fictional crushes in 2026.
9. Newest Favorite Character?
I still don’t do this in 2026 either.
10. Book That Made You Cry?
Nope, still not a book cryer in 2026.
11. Book That Made You Happy?
I don’t like reading happy books, they lack depth and often end up with an average or even low rating.
12. Favorite Book To Movie Adaptation You Saw This Year?
Have there been any movie adaptations lately? See, that’s how out of the loop with new stuff and trends I am! Plus, I don’t watch TV, and movies fall in that same category. So you already know my answer. Moreover, the book is ALWAYS better.
13. Favorite Review You’ve Written This Year?
I don’t like my reviews that much anymore, that’s why I’m struggling so much lately. I feel like my review ability/mojo dried out, I just don’t know what to say anymore. I also feel like my review format is just not suitable for me, but I also don’t like the other formats I see on other people’s blogs. They don’t feel like they’re working for me either. I’ve tried writing different review formats, but nah. I end up deleting them. As you can see, I’m in limbo pretty deep.
14. Most Beautiful Book You Bought So Far This Year?
Same as last year, I only buy digital copies.
15. What Books Do You Need To Read By The End of The Year?
I want to knock as many books from my backlist of the TBR as possible. I really should check in on that though.
This was my first half of 2026. To sum it all up, I’m in limbo. I enjoy reading, but feel lost on the blog and writing book reviews. Especially as I have to write them twice, in both Dutch and English.
How has your first half of 2026 been going?