Time flies fast. That is the reality of life. In the blink of an eye, we are already halfway through 2023. The past three years have been defined by the COVID-19 pandemic but things are starting to look up now. I hope we get to maintain this and that we avert another global pandemic. With six months nearly done, it is also time to reflect on how the year has gone, at least in terms of reading and books. This book tag, which I first did in 2017, sounds just the right barometer to gauge how my reading year has gone by. “Freak out”m however, sounds a little excessive for it is too early to push the panic button. Panic unusually seizes me around October or November, LOL.

You can check my previous editions below:

But before we can proceed with my 2023 Mid-year Freak Out Tag, let me quickly run through how my reading year has gone so far. The pandemic has allowed me to gain quite a reading momentum. I have read way more books than normal. Last year, for instance, I breached 100 books read for the first time. This year, I am already at 63 read books, ahead of nine books compared to my midway-2022 books read. Maybe reading 100 books before the year ends again is possible? Still, I want to be grounded and not pre-empt fate; I want to take it one step at a time, rather one book at a time. I want to embrace and enjoy the journey. On another note, here’s a summary of the reading lists I have for the year and the current status:

It is kinda obvious that I am lagging behind most of my reading challenges. Hopefully, I get to turn these figures around in the second half of the year; the ultimate goal is to complete all of them before the year ends. Without further ado, here goes my own version of Mid-Year Freak Out Tag.

1. Best book(s) you’ve read so far in 2023

It is quite a challenge singling out one book to call my favorite this year. After all, I have read over sixty books. There was a lot that left a deep impression on me. It comes as no surprise that works of Japanese literature dominate this list, with classics such as Natsume Sōseki’s I Am A Cat, Osamu Dazai’s No Longer Human, and Nobel Laureate in Literature Yasunari Kawabata’s The Old Capital. The Old Capital had an advantage as I recently visited Kyoto, the city at the heart of the novel. While I found Keigo Higashino’s The Devotion of Suspect X a slow-burning work of suspense, the plot twist caught me off guard.

Two award-winning books also provided me with memorable reading experiences. I commenced my 2023 reading journey with Barbara Kingsolver’s Demon Copperhead. Interestingly, I didn’t plan on reading the book but I eventually relented because of positive reviews of the book. I am glad I read the book because it was a riveting literary masterpiece; the book was awarded the Pulitzer Prize earlier this year and the Women’s Prize for Fiction more recently. The case is not the same as Shehan Karunatilaka’s The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida. It was a book I wanted to read the moment I encountered it in the 2022 Booker Prize longlist. Eventually declared the winner, the book is a scathing exploration of Sri Lanka’s modern history.

Salman Rushdie’s Victory City, on the other hand, is a book I have been looking forward to since I learned about its release. The announcement came shortly after the senseless attack on the Indian writer while he was on the way to a public lecture at the Chautauqua Institution in Chautauqua, New York, United States. In a way, Victory City was Rushdie’s homecoming. It was grand. Rounding up the list is James Joyce’s Ulysses, a book that many love to hate and hate to love. I can certainly understand; I started reading the book in 2017 but I gave up midway through. The book is complex. The shiting structure alone is enough to daunt readers. But hang on and the story will start to unfold.

2. Best sequel you’ve read so far in 2023

Almost five years since I read the first book in Douglas Adams’ popular science fiction series, The Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy, I was finally able to read the rest of the series. The last four books were as entertaining and witty as the first book. There is a reason why the series is beloved the world across.

3. New release you haven’t read yet, but want to

At the start of each year, it has become customary for me to churn out a list of books to be released during the year that I am looking forward to. For 2023, I have only completed one of these ten books. Four of these books are listed above. I managed to obtain a copy of Ann Napolitano’s Hello Beautiful and Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah’s Chain-Gang All-Stars. Meanwhile, I am struggling to find a copy of Abraham Verghese’s The Covenant of Water and Soraya Palmer’s The Human Origins of Beatrice Porter and Other Essential Ghosts.

4. Most anticipated release for the second half of the year

Two-time Pulitzer Prize winner Colson Whitehead’s latest novel, Crook Manifesto, and Elizabeth Acevedo’s Family Lore are both part of my 2023 Books I Look Forward to List. The former is about to be released on July 18 while the latter is due for release on August 1. I can’t wait to read both books; if ever Family Lore will be my first book by Acevedo.

5. Biggest disappointment

I started reading J.K. Rowling’s The Casual Vacancy cognizant of the fact that it should be read with a mindset separate from her popular Harry Potter series. To be honest, with the controversies surrounding Rowling and her pronouncements against the LGBTQ+ community, I wasn’t as enthused reading her book. However, the book has been gathering dust on my bookshelf so I decided to make the book part of my foray into British/Irish literature. While it had bright spots – Rowling is truly a gifted writer – I found the story bland and unnecessary.

6. Biggest surprise

I wouldn’t say that there was a particular book that was a very big surprise to me. However, I did like the revelation toward the end of Mizuki Tsujimura’s Lonely Castle in the Mirror. I was about to dismiss the book as a typical young adult, but this plot twist made me appreciate the story. It changed the way I see the book. As such, I am tagging it as the most unexpected surprise, or revelation. Either is fine.

7. Favorite new author (debut or new to you)

Osamu Dazai. It was through fellow book readers-cum bloggers that I first came across Osamu Dazai. It was around this time that I kept seeing his works in local bookstores and online booksellers. This propelled a growing interest in Dazai’s works. It was to his advantage that I love Japanese literature. When my April reading journey shaped up to be a venture into the works of Japanese writers whose works I have not read before, Dazai was one of the first names that came to my mind. Surely enough, he did not disappoint. I liked No Longer Human, a classic text of the popular Japanese literary movement, the I-novel; Dazai is known to be one of the masters of this subgenre. No Longer Human, a scathing examination of what makes an individual, made me look forward to reading more of Dazai’s works.

8. Newest fictional crush

For as long as I can remember doing this book tag, I haven’t named a fictional crush. This year is not going to be different. I guess it is not my thing.

9. Newest favorite character

My foray into Japanese literature this year was brimming with cats. Each feline character was distinct in their own way. Each captured my attention in different ways. However, it was Tiger in Sôsuke Natsukawa’s The Cat Who Saved Books and the unnamed cat in Natsume Sōseki’s I Am A Cat that stood out for me. They are also among my newest favorite characters.

10. Book that made you cry

Unfortunately, there were no books that made me cry, so far, this year; it has been some time since I teared up over a book or a story. However, there were books that stirred some emotion in me. In the case of Dipika Rai’s Someone Else’s Garden, what made me feel bad was the state of women in modern Indian society which was perfectly captured by Rai in her debut novel. Young women, especially from the countryside, are cultivated for the sole of being married off. They are “someone else’s garden”, i.e. burden. Han Kang’s Greek Lessons, meanwhile, resonated with me because of its deep message on the beauty of language and connection. The characters were unnamed, which, in a way, means that the two characters can be any of us.

11. Book that made you happy

Technically, Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay’s The Aunt Who Wouldn’t Die shouldn’t be a book that can make one laugh, or happy. The messages embedded in the story are complex and deep. Like Someone Else’s Garden, the novel captured the state of women in Indian society. The execution, however, had a more sardonic, bordering on the satirical, tone to it. But while it started on a rather comedic sequence of events, it does carry a positive message for the future of women.

12. Most beautiful book you’ve bought so far this year (or received)

I guess I will go with Amado V. Hernandez’s Mga Ibong Mandaragat (The Preyeing Birds) because its cover is a portrait of a local Philippine scene. It is actually the cover that drew me into the novel which I hope I get to read this year. Interestingly, even ironically, I have never read a novel originally written in Tagalog. I am hoping that more Filipino works, including those written in other languages such as Bisaya, Hiligaynon, and Ilocano, get translated into English (or Filipino).

13. What books do you need to read by the end of the year?

I have many books I want and need to read this year. Among these books is Nobel Laureate in Literature Thoma Mann’s The Magic Mountain, a book that I have been looking forward to since the first time I encountered it about six or seven years ago. I was able to obtain a copy of the book just last year. No longer able to keep the tenterhook, I made ht ebook part of my 2023 Top 23 Reading List. Another book that made part of the said list is French writer Georges Perec’s Life A User’s Manual. I just bought the book sans any iota on what it was about or who the writer was. Apparently, the book is one of the 1,001 Books You Must Read Before You Die. That must account for something.

Another book I am itching to read is Bulgarian – three works of European writers in this list – writer Georgi Gospodinov’s Time Shelter. The recent for this is that it was recently announced the winner of the 2023 Booker International Prize. Ironically, I have yet to read the 2021 Booker International Prize, David Diop’s At Night All Blood is Black. I guess I have to include this one as well.

14. Favorite book community member

Apart from WordPress, Goodreads is the only book community that I am part of. Well, WordPress is not even a book community but through it, I have encountered several bookworms who share the same passion I have. I appreciate your blogs and I am grateful that you try to engage in my own blog. Your inputs are all appreciated.

So there goes my version of the Mid-Year Freak Out Tag. Interested to do it? Go ahead. Just don’t forget to tag me. 

Happy reading!