Although I usually find it easier to fill blog posts with numbers and statistics, I actually always really enjoy seeing other bloggers and booktubers fill out the Mid-Year Book Freak Out Tag. Originally, this tag was created by Earl Grey Books, and in the meantime, it has become a true classic within the book community. It is the ideal way to pause halfway through the year to reflect on what you have already read, which books have stayed with you the most, and what you are looking forward to in the coming months.

Last year, I filled out this tag for the first time, and I liked it so much that I would like to make it an annual tradition. So here are my answers to the Mid-Year Book Freak Out Tag 2026!

The best book you have read so far in 2026

That is a difficult question right from the start. After all, I have already given seven books (rounded) five stars this year, so choosing is anything but easy.

When I think of this question, three titles immediately come to mind: Weavingshaw, Call of the Bone Ships, and Blood Over Bright Haven.

If I have to limit myself to just one book, my final choice goes to Weavingshaw. Not only because it was a fantastic book, but mainly because it managed to surprise me completely. I started it with tempered expectations and ended up with a new favourite.

The best book you have reread so far in 2026

Oh yes, I am just shamelessly adding my own category. After all, more than half of my five-star books this year were rereads, and I simply couldn’t resist highlighting those as well.

My favourite rereads were without a doubt Magpie Murders, The Duchess Deal, and Daughter of the Forest. Three completely different books that each proved once again why they have stuck in my memory for years.

The best sequel you have read so far in 2026

Fortunately, this question is much easier to select just one of.

Call of the Bone Ships stands head and shoulders above the rest for me. While the first book took a while to fully draw me in, this sequel felt like everything finally fell into place. The characters, the world, the emotions… everything only grew stronger.

But Wayward by Blake Crouch and Legendary by Stephanie Garber certainly deserve an honorable mention here as well.

A new release you haven’t read yet, but want to read

For this, I mainly look at the beautiful books that arrived via my subscriptions this year.

The three I am currently most curious about are The Unicorn Hunters, The Poet Empress and Thistlemarsh. All three sound exactly like books that are right up my alley.

The most anticipated release in the second half of the year

Quite a few interesting books are still coming out this year, but there are actually only two that I am almost certain I will start reading immediately after receiving them.

These are A Trade of Blood, the third part in the Shadow of the Leviathan series, and The Knave and the Moon, the conclusion of The Stonewater Kingdom.

The worst book you have read so far in 2026

Fortunately, this year I finally learned to DNF without guilt.

Because of that, I have already saved myself a lot of frustration. However, I stubbornly finished one book, even though I actually knew much earlier that it wasn’t going to amount to anything.

And that was The Irresistible Urge to Fall for Your Enemy.

Sometimes I just have to learn to accept that a book isn’t for me. For many books, I can quickly come to terms with that, but with this one, I stubbornly kept hoping for a turning point. Unfortunately, it never turned…

Biggest disappointment

Fortunately, disappointments this year mostly ended as a DNF.

The Courting of Bristol Keats and The Everlasting are the biggest examples of this. Both of these actually hurt, because I was really convinced that they would both become new favourite books.

Additionally, I would also like to mention The Last Murder at the End of the World. I finished this one, but ultimately found it only mediocre. The disappointment lay mainly in the fact that I had expected much more from the author of the fantastic The 7½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle.

Biggest surprise

Fortunately, there were at least as many positive surprises.

The complete Caraval trilogy had been sitting unread on my bookshelf for years. I was even a bit afraid that I had completely outgrown that kind of YA fantasy by now. Apparently not!

Additionally, the Wayward Pines trilogy was also a bullseye. Not only is it a very enjoyable, binge-worthy series, but I got extra pleasure out of buddy reading it with a colleague, so that we could message each other in between with speculations, or sometimes just “WTF????!”.

Favourite new author

Here, too, it is impossible for me to name just one.

My biggest discoveries of this year are without a doubt Heba Al-Wasity and R.J. Barker. I read something by both of them for the first time this year, and both made a huge impression immediately.

Newest favourite character

I am fishing in the same pond again and choosing characters, and actually the whole world, from The Tide Child series.

Joron Twiner from this series is undoubtedly the character that surprised me the most. While I felt absolutely nothing for him at the beginning, he crept up on me gradually, and I really started rooting for him. Those are the characters that stick with me the longest, even years after finishing the book.
And yes, the mysterious Guillaime certainly deserves a mention here as well.

A book that made you cry

Although I knew this book was an emotional journey and therefore knew in advance what was coming, Daughter of the Forest managed to completely knock me down emotionally once again.

Some books simply never lose their impact.

A book that made you happy

Those are actually two very different types of books.

The Word is Murder gave me a lot of pleasure thanks to the clever structure, the wonderful mysteries and the humor between Hawthorne and Horowitz.

And besides that, rereading Tessa Dare just made me incredibly happy. Sometimes you just need a romantic book that is funny, charming, and completely over-the-top.

The most beautiful book you bought this year

Anyone who follows my blog a little knows that this is perhaps the hardest question of all. Quite a few beautiful special editions have been added to my bookshelf again this year.

But if I have to choose one book spontaneously, I would go for my Illumicrate edition of The Poet Empress. It just keeps drawing my attention every single time I walk past my bookshelf.

Which books do you want to have read by the end of the year?

When I started preparing this tag, the final book of The Tide Child trilogy, The Bone Ship’s Wake , was at the very top of my list.
Small spoiler: I actually finished that book already this month.

Furthermore, a re-read of the original Mistborn trilogy is also on the schedule. I managed to convince my friends, with whom I previously finished all the Harry Potter books and films, to start Mistborn as well. I am really looking forward to that.

Additionally, I finally want to cross some older books off my TBR. I especially want to read The Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater and A Court of Silver Flames by Sarah J. Maas, particularly the latter now that new sequels have been announced.

And of course, I also hope to finish at least one other fantasy series from my The Broken Binding subscription. If I stick to the order in which I received them, that will probably be Chronicles of the Wolf Queen.

But ultimately, my biggest reading goal remains the same as always: simply continuing to enjoy reading. I want to put as little pressure on myself as possible and, above all, keep choosing what I feel like reading at that moment.

There you have it, I have answered all the questions for the Mid-Year Book Freak Out Tag.

Maybe I cheated a little here and there by giving more than one answer, but I actually see that mostly as a positive thing. It simply means that in the first half of 2026, I have already read an incredible number of books that have stayed with me.

I am now naturally curious about your answers: what was your favourite book of the year so far?

Cheers,
Charlotte