Mid-Year Freak Out Tag 2026

Hello everyone. Welcome to Bibliophilia Book Reviews and today I’m going to be talking about my Mid-Year Freak Out Tag for 2026. This year I’m doing just one or two books per prompt. Later, I will be posting my top books in different categories for the first half of the year. Here are my choices for this popular book tag:

1. Best book(s)

Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry

The book that (re)defined the Western genre, this book is a must-read and one of the best American novels I’ve ever read.

All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque

This book is a classic and an ‘anti-war’ novel. It gutted me and I absolutely loved it.

2. Best sequels

I have not read any sequels this year.

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

The Hidden Nations of Animals by Ryan Huling

This picture is borrowed from Goodreads.

The Story of Birds by Steve Brusatte

This picture is borrowed from Goodreads.

4. Biggest disappointment

Blood Over Bright Haven by M.L. Wang

This book was a disappointment all around. Badly written and full of tropes. M.L. Wang is no longer an instant-buy author for me.

5. Biggest surprises

When The Emperor Was Divine by Julie Otsuka

Biggest surprise of the year so far and the best book I read in February.

6. New favorite author(s)

Larry McMurtry. The other books of the Lonesome Dove Quartet are already on my TBR.

7. Best book(s) in Spanish

Las batallas en el desierto (Battles in the Desert) by José Emilio Pacheco

La amortajada (The Shrouded Woman) by María Luisa Bombal

8. Worst Book in Spanish

Los cuadernos de don Rigoberto (The Notebooks of Don Rigoberto) by Mario Vargas Llosa

Read my full review here.

9. Best Nonfiction

Twelve Churches: An Unlikely History of the Buildings That Made Christianity by Fergus Butler-Gallie

10. Worst Nonfiction

Everything is Tuberculosis: The History and Persistence of Our Deadliest Infection by John Green

This book is not bad. It is just not what I expected or wanted to read about tuberculosis. I do, however, commend the author for using his platform to bring consciousness about this disease.

11. Newest Favorite Character(s)

Augustus (Gus) McCrae and Woodrow Call from Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry.

This photo is not mine. Augustus McCrae (Robert Duvall) and Woodrow Wilson (Tommy Lee Jones) in Lonesome Dove (1989).

12. Books That Made You Cry

All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque

13. Most Gutting Character Death(s)

I’ve got three for this one (spoilers):

• Augustus (Gus) McCrae from Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry
• Paul Bäumer from All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque
• Thorkel from The Shadow of the Gods by John Gwynne (always expect this author to kill at least one of his characters).

14. Best Children’s Book

Frog and Toad by Arnold Lobel

This has always been a favorite.

15. Most Beautiful Book I Read

Winnie-the-Pooh by A.A. Milne

That is everything for the Mid-Year Freak Out Book Tag of 2026. I hope some of these books caught your attention and you pick them up soon. See you in my next post.