The 2026 Mid Year Freak Out Book Tag
25 July 2026
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: Best Books, Best Sequel, Book Review, Book tag, book-blog, Books, Books you need to finish by the end of 2026, Favourite Characters, Most Anticipated Books, reading, The 2026 Mid Year Freak Out Book Tag
I’ve seen this tag a lot just recently and wanted to take part – this is my first year and I’m a little late as July is almost over but here goes. The tag has been running for quite a few years and was created by Ely @ Earl Grey Books and Chami @ Read Like Wildfire.
Best Book I’ve Read So Far This Year:
The Children by Melissa Albert
Best Sequel I’ve Read So Far This Year:
A Drop of Corruption (Shadow of the Leviathan #2) by Robert Jackson Bennett. This is a great series that started with The Tainted Cup, if you haven’t read this yet I highly recommend it, particularly if you like fantasy and mystery combined.
New Release I Haven’t Read But Want To:
The Tapestry of Fate by Shannon Chakraborty I have a copy of this but I’m a little behind – I need to pick it up soon as I absolutely loved The Adventures of Amina Al-Sirafi.
Most Anticipated Releases for the Second Half of 2026:
Ooh, this is a tricky one because there are a lot of good books coming out soon. I’ve had to go for more than one but I have restrained myself to three:
Biggest Disappointment:
I don’t tend to have a lot of books that are disappointments to be honest because if I’m not enjoying it then I stop reading and I don’t love reviewing books I haven’t finished (which isn’t a judgement on others simply a personal thing). But, I did try a book earlier in the year called Loving a Vampire is Total Chaos by Aura Hayes and this book really didn’t work for me so I had to set it aside, but don’t take that to heart as it does seem to have a lot of reviews and a very decent rating so I think it was probably a case of wrong mood.
Biggest Surprise:
This Kingdom Will Not Kill Me by Ilona Andrews – I’ve read this author partnership before and really like their style so to say it was a surprise sounds a bit off – it’s more that I wasn’t sure how I was going to feel about the story itself. As it happens I absolutely loved this – way more than I ever expected. And I highly recommend it.
Favorite New Author:
This has to be Antonia Hodgson for the Raven Scholar. An excellent read that I still need to post my review for – spoiler alert – this one is highly recommended too.
New Favorite Character:
Anne of Brittany, from the The Unicorn Hunters by Katherine Arden. She is a fantastic character to read. This is a fascinating story beautifully combining history and speculative fiction and with absolutely lush writing.
A Book That Made Me Cry:
Well, it didn’t exactly make me cry but it is quite an emotional read and I think I needed to be in the right head space before I started. As it happens I really enjoyed We Burned So Bright by TJ Klune.
A Book That Made Me Happy:
The Calamity Club by Kathryn Stockett). This is a fantastic book, I absolutely loved it. It made me tense and, yes, it did make me happy.
Books I Need to Read By the End of the Year:
Yes, I have gone for more than one because I have so much excitement right now for so many books. Obviously I won’t repeat the three above but here are a few that I can’t wait to pick up:
Friday Face Off: Traitors’ Nest by Frances Hardinge
24 July 2026
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: Frances Hardinge, Friday Face off, Traitors' Nest
Today I’m returning to the Friday Face Off, originally created by Books by Proxy). This is an opportunity to look at a book of your choice and shine the spotlight on the covers. Of course this only works for those books that have alternative covers (although sometimes I use this to look at a series of books to choose a favourite). So, if you have a book that has alternative covers, highlight them and choose your favourite. If you’re taking part it would be great if you leave a comment/link so I can take a look at what you’ve chosen.
This week I’ve chosen a book by an author that I really enjoy. Traitors’ Nest by Frances Hardinge which is due out later this year. This sounds really good – here’s the description and check out the two covers below:
My favourite:
I find both of these covers interesting for different reasons but I really like the font for this one and the more explosive colours.
Which is your favourite this week?
Can’t Wait Wednesday: Wondrous by Heather Fawcett
22 July 2026
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: alice, Book Review, Books, Can't wait Wednesday, Fantasy, Heather Fawcett, Lewis Carroll, Wishful Endings, Wondrous
“Waiting On Wednesday” is a weekly meme that was originally created by Breaking the Spine. Unfortunately Breaking the Spine are no longer hosting so I’m now linking my posts up to Wishful Endings Can’t Wait Wednesday. Don’t forget to stop over, link up and check out what books everyone else is waiting for. If you want to take part, basically, every Wednesday, we highlight a book that we’re really looking forward to. This week my book is: Wondrous by Heather Fawcett. I’m loving her work and so seeing this new book on the horizon is very heart warming, plus, who am I kidding, I’m always there in a heartbeat for any sort of retelling of Alice in Wonderland. Check out the cover and description below:
Timed to the 75th anniversary of Disney’s enduring classic Alice in Wonderland, this young adult sequel follows teenaged Alice on a curious new adventure down the rabbit hole, many years after her first visit to Wonderland.
Now eighteen, Alice feels much more comfortable spending her days in Wonderland than in the “real” world. After all, no one in Wonderland will judge you for being strange! But things in Wonderland have seemed off lately, especially when Alice encounters another teen, and then another . . . both of whom also claim to be named Alice.
Before long, card soldiers capture all three Alices, and they are taken to the Queen of Hearts’ castle, where a strange truth is it has been prophesied that a “blue Alice” would one day save Wonderland from terrible peril. Ever since, the White Rabbit has been opening portals to Wonderland for children dressed in blue named Alice. And now, the foretold danger has three terrifying dragons have appeared in Wonderland, from the worlds beyond the doors in Doorknob’s hallway.
The Queen declares that the Alice who can save Wonderland will be named “The Alice” . . . and the others will be cast out, never allowed to return. So Alice sets out on a quest to save the land she loves, meeting new friends and enemies along the way, including a strange boy who she isn’t sure she can trust. Is Alice truly “The Alice,” or is she just a footnote in someone else’s story?
Expected publication: October 2026
Top Ten Tuesday: I’ve gone with a freebie
21 July 2026
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: Bookish Wishes, Mark Lawrence, SPFBO, That Artsy Reader Girl, Top Ten Tuesday
Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme where every Tuesday we look at a particular topic for discussion and use various (or more to the point ten) bookish examples to demonstrate that particular topic. Top Ten Tuesday (created and hosted by The Broke and Bookish) is now being hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl and future week’s topics can be found here. This week’s prompt is:
Freebie: Ten Books I recently added to my wishlist
This brings me to the fact that recently I’ve added all ten of the Self Published Fantasy Blog Off (SPFBO) books to my list. For those of you who don’t know about SPFBO this is a competition, brainchild of Mark Lawrence, that is now in it’s eleventh year. Self published authors submit their books and ten judges (or teams of judges) are allocated 30 books each – they all choose a finalist which is then read by the other judges before a winner is chosen – there can be only one. I have taken part as a judge for the first ten years but stepped down for two reasons, firstly because I was struggling with the first phase of the competition, reading 30 books and narrowing it down to 1 book can be very difficult, secondly, there are so many fantastic book reviewers out there that I started to feel like I should give others a shot at judging.
Anyway, long story short. I always love the finalist stage where 10 books are selected by each judge or team of judges. These are the books, and I’m hoping to give them all a try and see how I get on, maybe choose a favourite of my own – and of course, no pressure, I don’t have to make the deadline and I have no book in the running so I can simply take my time and enjoy these – I know there will be ten fabulous reads here, I also recognise a few authors so I’m very excited. Take a look and see if there are any here you’d like to try:
I haven’t provided links today as I’m in a bit of a rush and also away at the moment, I’m hoping to do a more thorough post when I return that provides more detail on each of these finalists. But, I’ve provided a link here to Mark Lawrence’s finalist page which gives more details.
Do you fancy any of these?
Review: A Drop of Corruption by Robert Jackson Bennett (No.2 Shadow of the Leviathan)
20 July 2026
Filed under Book Reviews
Tags: #Shadow of the Leviathan, A Drop of Corruption, Review, Robert Jackson Bennett, The Tainted Cup
My Five Word TL:DR Review: in a nutshell, simply superb
I loved A Drop of Corruption by RJB, which didn’t come as a surprise as I’ve read and enjoyed so many of his previous books. What I’m particularly enjoying about this series, apart from the fabulous world and two amazing central characters, is the combination of fantasy and mystery. For sure The Tainted Cup was one of my favourite reads and Ana and Din made a great first impression but without doubt A Drop of Corruption was even better (although that feels almost impossible to believe given how strongly I felt about the first).
In this second instalment Ana and Din have been sent to the furthest reaches of the empire, a canton known as Yarrowdale to investigate the disappearance of a treasury official. It pretty soon becomes clear that the official has been murdered and as Ana begins to make her enquiries and dwell upon the strange circumstances, it soon begins to feel like, on this occasion, she may actually be out of her depth as the perpetrator of the crime is always one step ahead.
First things first, if you haven’t read the first in series this review may contain spoilers so be aware of that.
So, what did I love about this.
I thoroughly enjoyed being faced with an almost impossible to solve mystery. This is such an intriguing plot that hooks you quickly and pulls you deeper and deeper into its cunning web. I admit that I have such a lot of respect for an author who can come up with such a deeply perplexing crime whilst at the same time keeping so many things in the air and working smoothly together.
He builds on this fascinating world uncovering a remote outpost where canals take you deep into jungle type vegetation or travel to the sea brings you to the protective walls and the Shroud. I’m not going to say anything about the Shroud but leave you to discover it for yourself. It’s yet another small piece in this complex world where Leviathans could destroy everything. Speaking of complexity Bennett continues to build on the tricky politics at play and and breadth and span, not to mention ambition, of the Empire.
On top of this the relationship between Ana and Din continues to develop. We learn more about them both, Din is experiencing something of a crisis concerning his role and the way Ana quietly runs interference was really good to read. I think I mentioned previously that this strange duo have great potential to go on and appear in so many mysteries yet to come and I seriously hope that this turns out to be the case. We still have such a lot to learn about them and this world.
The writing is superb, the pacing is perfect, I frankly have no criticisms whatsoever and I simply cannot wait to read the next instalment. A perfect fantasy version of Holmes and Watson, this time with the added bonus of an almost Moriarty type foe in terms of his intelligence and ability to outfox Ana.
In conclusion. Thoroughly enjoyable and gripping.
I purchased a copy through Audible and really enjoyed this version.
My rating 5 out of 5 stars
Books and travelling with Lynn 