2024 Mid Year Freakout

It’s been June for a while… which means we’re officially halfway through 2024… which means it’s time for the annual Mid-Year Freakout Tag!

In case you’re new around here, this is the one post that I will write with any semblance of consistency. (and on that note, thank you for sticking around with my sporadic posting schedule, everyone!) This post basically sums up all of my reading adventures for the first half of 2024. 

If you’re interested, you can check out the first and second Mid-Year Freakouts from previous years. 

Now without further adieu, let’s begin. 

Numbers and Math 

(Ew… numbers) 

I keep track of the books and movies I consume in a little journal. I knew the section for 2024 was thinner than previous years, but dang, I didn’t realize how few books I’ve read:

Six. 

Yes. In six months I have read six books. 

*hides* 

Now that I think about it, it’s not terribly surprising. I have so many other things happening in my life that I never sit down and read during the day. I do read before bed, but on good days I read probably one chapter per day. Thus I get through books much slower.

I know that’s really not much and I hope to change some habits, but hey, it’s better than nothing. Now, I will try to answer these questions with my very small list of options. 

Best Book So Far 

Hands down Frankenstein by Mary Shelley (closely followed by Jane Eyre, but more on that later…) 

I wrote a 3,000 words long essay that basically vomits all the things I like about this novel. The beautiful descriptions, the interesting philosophical ideas, and generally the idea of monsters has kept me up late at night thinking… even after finishing this months ago. I can’t wait to reread this. 

Best Sequel 

Well um… I haven’t read any sequels so far. So I went to my list of movies and I haven’t watched any sequels either. *facedesks* I’ll make myself read a sequel soon. 

New Releases You Haven’t Read But Want To 

I’ve been really out of the loop on new releases from authors, but Anna Rose Johnson’s The Luminous Life of Lucy Landry is on my list. 

Most Anticipated Release for Second Half of the Year 

Again… I am an old lady oblivious to the new releases of the world. 

Biggest Disappointment 

I’ll list a movie here: Gangs of New York. I watched this after listening to a podcast about the history of immigrants in New York. I had high expectations, but honestly, the podcast was more entertaining and I was a bit peeved about the costumes in the movie. 

Biggest Surprise 

Jane Eyre. I just finished reading this for the third time. I was so surprised by how much more I enjoyed, related to, and understood the book this time around. 

I related so much more to Jane and I actually understood her reasoning for doing things. I also just understood the story on a deeper level, and I was able to notice so many symbols and themes that previously flew completely over my head.

I always knew that this book was good, but I didn’t realize just how great is is until now. 

Favorite New Author 

While I did read some new authors, for this answer I will put down an author I already knew about: (because I’ve plain given up following the rules for this post) Sharon Creech. I’ve always enjoyed her books, but upon rereading Walk Two Moons and Chasing Redbird, I fell in love with her writing style so much more. 

Favorite Fictional Crush 

Mmmm… Wesley from The Princess Bride. I loved him as a little eight year old watching this iconic movie for the first time, and I still do : ) 

New Favorite Character 

This isn’t a new character, but St. John from Jane Eyre. I used to be massively confused about him. He always seemed random in the story and just didn’t make sense. But after rereading Jane Eyre, I realized the stark contrast between him and Mr. Rochester and it all made so much more sense. I don’t necessarily love his personality, but I do like the role he plays in the story. 

A Book that Made You Happy 

Walk Two Moons. While it didn’t make me happy, per se, (if you know you know) it is definitely a nostalgic comfort read that made me happy after finishing the book. 

Best Book-To-Film Adaptation 

I didn’t watch any book-to-film adaptations except for The Princess Bride, soo… inconceivable! 

Favorite Post You’ve Done This Year 

Like my reading list, the number of posts I’ve written this year is quite bare. But I really loved writing How to Keep From Injuring Your Books. It was more playful than normal and so much fun. 

Most Beautiful Book You’ve Bought 

I scored some colored copies of Little House on the Prairie from the thrift store, and they are gorgeous! 

Books You Want to Read By the End of the Year 

Haha… at the rate I’m going I might get a few more books in. 

• Wuthering Heights 
• Hamlet (I really wanted to read this in depth, but I only read a few sections for an English class)
• The Book Thief 
• I really want to reread The Hunger Games 
• And some poetry 

And thus concludes the very empty 2024 Mid-Year freakout. I promise to read more books next year.

Thanks for reading, everyone! Until next time!

-Hannah