Mid Year Book Freak Out Tag

I did this tag in the past and had lot of fun doing it, so I decided I will do it again this year. I have read 59 books so far this year, which is the highest amount I have read in the last few years. 2018 has been an amazing year in terms of reading.

1. Best book you have read so far in 2018 – This is a difficult question to answer since I have SO many 5 star reads this year. It was difficult to choose between all the amazing books I read this year. But still if I have to choose just one, I will go with Bird Box by Josh Malerman which is now one of my all time favorites. The other thriller that ended up as a favorite is “The woman in the window” by A.J. Finn.
2. Best sequel you have read so far – It has to be Herding Cats by Sarah Andersen. I followed her comics online before reading her books. I can relate to her comics a lot and find them extremely funny. This is her third collection and it is a 5 star read, just like her other books. 
3. Best first book in a series you read this year – I discovered a wonderful Manga series this year, thanks to the recommendation of staff from Kinokuniya bookstore. Erased volume 1 (which is a bundle of two issues) was amazing and I can’t wait to finish the series. 
4. New release you haven’t read this year, but want to – There are quite a few new releases that I have on my TBR but the one that I am most eager to read has to be The Poppy War, which is an asian inspired fantasy with assassin schools. Everyone has been raving about it and I can’t wait to pick it up. 
5. Most anticipated release for second half of this year – It has to be Fire and Blood by George R R Martin. After waiting for so many years, we finally have a full length novel from him. We are also getting a sequel to Vicious by V E Schwab – Vengeful, which I have already preordered. We are also getting a sequel to my last year’s favorite book The Gentleman’s guide to Vice and Virtue by Mackenzi Lee. The new book is titled “The Lady’s guide to petticoats and piracy”. I am really excited for all these three books.
6. Biggest disappointment – This year also I ended up DNFing books that I would have given 1 or 2 stars otherwise. Out of the books that I finished reading, Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn got the lowest rating, which was 3 stars. After reading Dark Places, I had high hopes with this book but it was pretty disappointing. 
7. Biggest surprise – I am not a big fan of YA contemporary and I hardly read any so when I picked Simon Vs the Homosapiens agenda, I had no idea it will end up as a favorite book. It got 5 stars from me. I also saw the movie adaptation and loved it. The other surprisingly good 5 stars read this year was “The absolutely true diary of a part-time Indian” by Sherman Alexie. I didn’t expect it to love it as much as I did.
8. Favorite new author – Connie Willis is my new favorite author. Her book “Doomsday Book” was probably the best time travel book I have ever read and I love time travel stories. 
9. Newest fictional crush – None so far this year
10. Newest favorite character – Murderbot from All Systems Red. It was one of the best AI characters I have read so far. 
11. Book that made you cry – There is a book this year which literally brought tears in my eyes when I finished it. The ending was tear jerking but what really made me cry was the author’s note at the end. It might also be the audiobook format which made it more impactful. But still this book was way too realistic which is the reason for crying. 
12. Book that made me happy – Most of the books that I read were grim and sad. The only book that was funny and I had a good time listening to was The Collapsing Empire by John Scalzi. I was also happy to find a good space opera, after disliking The Expanse. 
13. Most beautiful book you have bought this year – UK edition of Circe by Madeline Miller. My paperback edition was so pretty that I immediately finished reading it. Holding the book itself was a pleasure. I finished this book and the content of the book was equally great.
14. What books do you need to read before the end of the year – I have a long TBR that I want to finish before the year ends. Here are the books –

Please consider yourselves tagged. I would love to see your answers to these questions.