{"id":9932,"date":"2024-11-20T01:02:16","date_gmt":"2024-11-20T01:02:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/books-we-read\/?p=9932"},"modified":"2024-10-21T19:02:42","modified_gmt":"2024-10-21T19:02:42","slug":"mid-year-book-freakout-tag-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.rutgers.edu\/books-we-read\/mid-year-book-freakout-tag-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Mid-Year Book Freakout Tag, Part 2"},"content":{"rendered":"

This post is a continuation of my Mid-Year Freakout Book Tag (Part 1)<\/a>, where I share my reading highlights of the year so far.<\/p>\n

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  1. Favorite new author (debut or new to you)<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    \"Cover<\/a>We Are All So Good at Smiling <\/a><\/em>by Amber McBride. This was another book I had read for my 548 class last year, and I thought it was so heartbreaking and sad. It\u2019s about this girl who stays at a psychiatric hospital for her suicidal thoughts and depression. While she\u2019s there, she meets this boy with whom she used to go to high school, who is also dealing with mental issues. The book is written in-verse, and McBride has such a beautiful way of adding poetry and spirituality into her work. The way she fuses Black spirituality with mental health awareness, discussions of how the main characters deal with depression, anxiety, and family issues makes it easier for me to relate to them. As someone who deals with anxiety often, this book provided comfort for me to understand where my anxiety comes from.<\/p>\n

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    1. Newest fictional crush<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      Skipped because I\u2019m not crushing on any fictional characters at the moment.<\/p>\n

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      1. Newest favorite character<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

        Laia from An Ember in the Ashes<\/em><\/a>. She reminds me so much of myself in many ways. Despite being a slave, she\u2019s strong, a survivor of abuse, and will do anything to save her family. She became a spy for the rebel group The Resistance to help get her brother out of prison. At first, she\u2019s reluctant to help her brother out of jail because she doesn\u2019t think she knows how to survive the intense environment of Blackcliff Academy, their Nation\u2019s most elite military school. Because she was a Scholar\u2013someone who is basically book smart\u2013she didn\u2019t think she could take being in such a high-stakes school, but her determination and resourcefulness made her a warrior. I loved Laia\u2019s kind spirit and strength in this book, and that\u2019s what made her my new favorite character.<\/p>\n

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        1. Book that made you cry<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

          \"Cover<\/a>Perfect Chemistry <\/a><\/em>by Cave Marie<\/a>. I\u2019ve written about this book before in my previous post about How I Fell Back in Love with Reading in Grad School<\/a>. I\u2019ll always talk about how much that book made me cry the first time I\u2019d read it. Between the characters Kai and Katie going through their individual hardships, Katie\u2019s infertility issues, Kai losing his daughter, there was so much to unpack throughout that book. What also helped was the fact it is a book about second chances and trying a relationship again after separating for years. This book is a great story to cry to if you want to get in touch with your emotions.<\/p>\n

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          1. Book that made you happy<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

            I can\u2019t pick just one book that made me happy because books in general make me happy!<\/p>\n

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            1. Most beautiful book you\u2019ve bought so far this year (or received) <\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

              I don\u2019t buy books as often anymore; I mostly borrow from my local library in Woodbridge. But I did receive the self-published version of Cave Marie\u2019s book Perfect Chemistry<\/em> earlier this year. It\u2019s so pretty!! I love looking at the cover and how beautiful it is. I think it\u2019s the best representation of the story.<\/p>\n

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              1. What books do you need to read by the end of the year?<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

                \"Cover<\/a>I still need to read a lot of books that have been in my TBR (To Be Read) list for years now. A lot of the books on my list are books I\u2019ve started but haven\u2019t finished. I hope to finish these books by the end of the year.<\/p>\n