How Is Our Reading Year Going?! 📚👀 (Mid Year Check In) [EP#54]

Time to reflect on our reading year so far! How are we doing with our reading goals? What books have hit, missed & what are we looking forward to for the rest of the year? Hope you enjoy this one :) Two friends, two time zones, and a shared love of stories. We are Freya Valerio (from Australia 🇦🇺) & Jaime Fok (from Canada 🇨🇦), book besties who are worlds apart. As lovers of fantasy, romance, and fiction - we'll dive into what we are reading, TBRs, recommendations, and all things books! Join us as we bridge together our time zones, one chapter at a time 📚✨ 📚 Long Distance Book Club:   / onceuponatimezone   ✨ Follow us on Instagram:   / onceuponatimezonepod   Jaime's socials:    / @jaimefok     / jaimefok     / jaime.fok   Freya's socials:    / @freyvalerio     / freyv_reads     / freyvalerio   Books Discussed: This Kingdom Will Not Kill Me - Ilona Andrews The Dark Mirror - Samantha Shannon Red Rising - Pierce Brown The Fellowship of the Ring - JRR Tolkien The Bright Years - Sarah Damoff The Burning Side - Sarah Damoff The Way of Kings - Brandon Sanderson Us Against You - Fredrik Backman Dungeon Crawler Carl - Matt Dinniman Neverthorn - Shannon Mayer The Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen 11/22/63 - Stephen King The Ballad of Falling Dragons - Sarah A Parker Into the Blue - Emma Brodie Jade City - Fonda Lee Yesteryear - Caro Claire Burke No Matter What - Cara Bastone Rhythm of War - Brandon Sanderson The Diviners - Libba Bray Recursion - Blake Crouch Shield of Sparrows - Devney Perry The Last Contract of Isako - Fonda Lee Daughter of No Worlds - Carissa Broadbent Chain of Gold - Cassandra Clare The Road of Bones - Demi Winters A Stage Set for Villains - Shannon J Spann Burn of the Everflame - Penn Cole The Knave and the Moon - Rachel Gillig Taipei Story - RF Kuang Victorious - VE Schwab Dead Beat - Leigh Bardugo The Sixth Faction - Veronica Roth American Hagwon - Min Jin Lee 00:00 - intro & current reads 11:22 - freya's europe tripe! 16:41 - how we're doing with our reading goals 27:21 - fable reading stats 32:34 - mid year book tags 32:50 - books we immediately want to reread 36:51 - new favourite authors 39:42 - most frustrating characters 42:04 - a book that should have been shorter 44:07 - a book that should have been longer 46:21 - series we want to read this year 48:59 - character most likely to start a podcast 51:08 - ranking our book club reads so far 54:56 - most anticipated reads for the rest of the year