Mid year check-in: best and worst?

[ufcasey]

Now that we're a little over half way through the year:
 
1. What is the best book you have read this year so far (don't count re-reads!)?
2. What is the worst book you have read this year so far?

The above books do not have to be published this year, just a book you read this year.

[travella]

Best Book: I had quite a few 5* reads this year in comparison to other years. My favorites are probably The Pearl That Broke it's Shell by Nadia Hashimi and All the Broken Places by John Boyne.

Worst that I finished: I Will Find You by Harlan Coben

[estrellita]

I think my favorite so far is As Long As The Lemon Trees Grow

Least favorite so far is The Collected Regrets of Clover

[dearprudence]

Best Book: The Boston Girl

Worst Book: Hell of a Book

[charlatti]

Best: The Covenant of Water and All the Light We Cannot See

Worst: Arch-Conspirator by Veronica Roth (how do you make a retelling of a Greek tragedy boring?)

[ufcasey]

Best: Little Secrets by Jennifer Hillier (loved this mystery/thriller!)

Worst: A Dawn of Onyx by Kate Golden (this reads like corny YA fantasy romance enemies to lovers where the "enemy" is a guy who is very nice to the girl and she is determined to see the worst in him no matter what)

[Vespasia]

I haven't really had any amazing or terrible books yet this year. 

The Terraformers by Annalee Newitz was disappointing and a DNF but I really only picked it up because I loved a previous book by her. 

A House with Good Bones by T. Kingfisher and How to Sell A Haunted House by Grady Hendrix were vaguely similar and a lot of fun. Not the best literature perhaps but the most enjoyable reads of the year so far. 

[krystee]

Last year was such a good reading year. This one has been very…fine. I would say top 5 have been:

-Homegoing
-Fairy Tale
-Lessons in Chemistry
-Black Cake
-Hello Beautiful (more for the lovely writing than the story)

Least favorite was maybe The Writing Retreat. Most disappointing for my high expectations were Happy Place and Romantic Comedy.

I enjoyed Riley Sager’s and Elin Hildebrand’s latest for good summer beach reads. Hide by Kierstin White was a genuinely trippy horror novel that stood out.

[estrellita]

krystee I just finished Romantic Comedy last night. I think that one made the bottom of my list! I was so disappointed 😞

[mrspez07]

Best:
Book Lovers
Take My Hand

DNF/Worst:
Carry On
Carrie Soto is Back

[tacokick]

Off the top of my head:

BEST:

Owner of a Lonely Heart by Beth Nguyen

Closer by Sea by Perry Chafe (possibly the only book written by a man I’ve truly enjoyed in years, possibly ever)

Exiles by Jane Harper

WORST:

Congratulations! The Best is Over by Eric R. Thomas

How to Survive Everything: A Novel by Ewan Morrison

Zero Days by Ruth Ware

The Golden Spoon by Jessa Maxwell

[sadie]

Best:
As Long as the Lemon Tree Grows
My Broken Language

Worst:
Spare (DNF)
Paper Names

[abs]

Best: Fourth Wing, Someone Else’s Shoes
Worst: Meet Me at the Lake, Things We Never Got Over

[CrazyLucky]

I have two five stars. They are A Man Called Ove and The House by the Cerulean Sea.
I only have a single one star and I feel bad because I know so many here liked it, but I didn't. It's I Have Some Questions for You.