 We're back and we're ready to do it all over again. Friends, welcome back to my channel. Today, we're doing it. Today, we're gonna be reacting to my video, which was my most anticipated releases of 2022, the first half. So I do two videos every year. I do like a first half of the year, second half of the year of anticipated releases. And we're gonna be reacting to the first half of the year and seeing how many of them I've read. None, none. Um, cute. Yeah. How well do we think I'm going to do? I've done this before with my 2021 anticipated releases videos. They did not go well. So why do I do this? You guys seem to enjoy it. And so I just gotta give the people what they want. But like, why do you enjoy seeing me fail? Actually, you know, I've been doing a really good job recently of reading 2022 releases, but I don't know how many of them are gonna be on this list. Because sometimes I just, you know, pick up random ones that I'm not as excited for and don't read the ones that I said I was most excited for because who knows how my brain works at this point. We're gonna be separating the books into four different categories when they get revealed. We'll do read and liked and read and disliked to figure out of what I've read, how much do I actually know my reading taste. And then we'll have unread and still interested and unread and no longer interested. But before we get into the video, I wanna say such a big thank you to the sponsor of today's video, which is Serious Readers. You might have seen lately I've been talking about them a lot. I am obsessed with my Serious Light. So Serious Readers make reading lights and I love mine. I can't, like I'm generally not lying. I keep telling friends, family and real life. This isn't just like, of course there's sponsoring this video, but I genuinely love this reading light so much. As someone who doesn't like winter, I'm not a winter galley. This has been helping me so much in these dark, dark evenings and afternoons. Let's face it, it gets dark so early. It's been really helping me to read more, to stay more engaged in reading. It makes me look forward to reading even more in the evenings because it just, something about, I was thinking about how do I describe this, right? How does the reading light that I use make me feel when I'm reading? And it feels like it's like a breath of fresh air for your eyes. That's what my eyes feel like. They don't feel like they're having to like work as hard, I think, when I'm reading. I feel like in the clips when you see me done it on, it looks so bright. That's because my camera does a really good job of like drawing on light, right? So even in the clips where before I turn the light on, it doesn't look that dark. It's pitch black, like it's really dark, but my camera does a really good job of like uping, making it look lighter than it is basically. But it's a really comfortable brightness. I love it, guys. I can't tell you how much I love it. So I have a code which is MEG22, which will get you free international shipping. They can put any plugs, like plug bit, I don't know what the right word is, plug type. On the light that you need wherever you are in the world and this gives you free international shipping and it gives you a free compact light worth 150 pounds. What an amazing deal. If you use this code, you get a free light that's worth 150 pounds. So if you've been thinking about what should I ask for for Christmas? What should I get someone for Christmas if they're reading your life? I think this is a great gift that will last for years and years to come and really, it really ups my reading quality. I generally feel like that. So yeah, check out the link down below and use my code MEG22 for free international shipping and a free compact light worth 150 pounds with any purchase in the serious lights range. Okay, let's find the video, shall we? Why am I doing this? I love doing anticipated videos. I'm never gonna stop doing them even if I don't read as many of them. I'm just not great at reading new releases. I feel like I'm still working my way through my 2021 runs but I'm trying to get better. Okay, here we go. 30 most anticipated book releases of 2022. Hell yeah, we've got this. We were all so happy that day. It's actually hard to even imagine how terrible things would soon become. I really should get a new, this is like my brother's piano stool that I sit on when I film these videos. I should really get a better chair because it is so squeaky. Okay, let's draw a chart. This is so scientific, you guys. Okay, let's go. Let's go, let's go. Ba-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da-da. Hey friends, welcome back to my channel. I hope you're all good. Today, we're chatting about my most anticipated releases for the first half of 2022 and I am very excited. For the first half of 2022, I have 33 books to talk to you about. 33 books, okay. So the first few have already come out. The first one is the chosen one by Echo Brown. So I read Black Garden Limited by Echo Brown two years ago. I don't think I was like, yeah, I haven't read that. I'm still interested. I don't own it though. And I feel like I'm gonna own a lot of what I'm still interested. I'm gonna own probably a lot of these books, but I have not read them. And this one, when it first came out, was really tricky to get in the UK. So I just never got it, but I still won it. I'd still love to read it. I loved Black Garden Limited. I don't really know, I haven't heard many people speak about this though, but I suppose I didn't hear a lot of people speak about Black Garden Limited and I still read and loved it. But yeah, we're not off to a good start because I have not read that. Expect, something unusual, something a little about the box and something that is really gonna like put a different slot on things. So I'm really excited to read this. Then we have The Monarchs by Cas Morgan and Danielle Page. So I read The Ravens. Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, ding. I have read The Monarchs and I liked it. Oh my God, I'm dropping my pen. So excited. Yeah, I really liked The Monarchs. I'm so glad I read this and finished off a duology, bish bash bash. I think, where are they? There they are. Hi, girlies. I think The Ravens, The Monarchs duology is just like a good YA duology. Like it reminds me of why I still love to read. The camera is really freaking me out because there's like just a little box around my mouth. It's like loving my mouth right now. Wherever I move, the box follows my lips. This series, I would say, reminds me of why I love reading YA. It is a bit like more mature YA, I guess, in location because they're at university in this. It's like a sorority of witches and I love witches. But it doesn't read old, I would say. I think university is such a fun location, right? Because we can have shocker, adult and YA books set there. We can have murderous, dark academia, but I also think we can have characters like finding themselves, right? It was young adult themes. I don't, I think it can be both. So yeah, I really loved this. It reminds me of why I love reading YA. It was just solid, good, fun YA. Next is The Key in the Lock by Beth Underdown. I'm gonna be honest, don't know too much about this. Still don't know too much about it. I'm weird and still interested. It's right here. It's literally right next to me. Come on, girl. Here she is. I own it. I haven't heard anyone talk about this. I don't think it's been like a super big release, but I still would love to read it. I mean, look at that front. It's literally like Cluedo. It's literally like a Cluedo map. I just know this is like a gothic mystery. It's really sure. Is it one of the books that I'm most looking forward to reading? No. Like compared to a lot of other mysteries I have. I feel like I never really knew what this was about. And I kind of just knew it was a mystery and liked the cover. You know, it says a masterclass in atmosphere, haunting, vivid and urgent, gothic mystery, beautifully written, chilling, sad, beautiful. Like I think I will love it. I should read this soon. Is it one of the books I'm most excited to read? No, but like, you know, it's probably out of all my new releases. Out of all my 2020 releases I own, it's one of the ones I'm less like looking forward to reading. Then we have Love and Other Disasters by Anita Kelly. This is probably one of the only romances on my, I haven't read it. I wish that I could just disappear. Do I own that or have I given that to my mum? Yeah, I've unhauled that apparently. I think I've given it to my mum. Yeah, I will say no longer interested. I've given it to my mum. It's somewhere in the house still, but I don't. It's not here with me. You know, I've just realized, romance doesn't have to be for me. And that's okay. And I'm just trying to be more selective with the romances that I really like. The only romances I've ever really loved, like adult romances, I would say Ali Hose wouldn't tell you a bit. They're pretty much it. So I'm trying to find authors, either just read them or like find authors that give a similar vibe to them in terms of what I'm looking for. I think I just like Grump Sunshine maybe. And yeah, I just wasn't interested in this anymore. Next, we have Daughter of the Moon Goddess by Sue Lynn Tan. It's not going well. It's really not unread and still interesting. One of the most gorgeous books I own. I have the Fairly Edition and like, I love it. I love it so much. I really want to read it. Oh my God, the illustrations on the inside. Sorry, I'm doing an awful job of showing you because I just have so much stuff on my lap right now. You know, this is one of the books I want to read by. But I'm just a bit scared. I don't know, I think I'm going to go to Bastard Rapids. I'm a bit scared. I've already bought the Fairly matching edition of the sequel and it's on its way to me at some point. How many have we read? We've read one out of five. Okay. Okay, Megan. Then we have probably what I regard as one of my top two most anticipated releases of the first half of this year, which is The Maid by Neeta Prose. I've finally got my UK edition of it. I'm just scared, scared me. How many people are scared? Me too. I was really, really scared. I was feeling a little bit scared, feeling a little bit terrified. I'm not going to lie to you. Read and liked, read and liked. I feel like I read, I regained us a four when I read it, but I feel like it's more of a 3.5, but I did really enjoy it. This is like a murder mystery with The Maid, which seems to be like a trend at the moment. You're liking Maid murder mysteries apparently. It's a fun, cozy murder mystery that's pretty light, but when I read other murder mysteries, like when I've just read, for example, The Bill at the Mist, which was five stars, there's just so much to that, right? There's so much plot that happens and there's so much personal development that the characters go on and there's just so many layers of story. Whereas The Maid it feels is very simple, which I think is good for people wanting to get into murder mysteries. I think this is done so well because it's the perfect murder mystery to read if you don't read many others. Then we have The Overnight Guest by Heather Kudankov. Yeah, okay. Unread and still interested. I might be reading this soon. I'm not gonna say why. Yeah, I can't, I can't, I can't keep this a secret. But maybe I'll be reading this soon. Not sure yet, not sure, but I might be reading it. The reason that I haven't read it and I don't own it again is this was another one that for a long time was difficult to get in the UK when it came out. I think for like the first half of the year, it was like never available anywhere. You can only really buy on Amazon and like book depository, I think as well. You can't, Waterstones don't stock it, I don't think, which is where I tend to try and buy my new releases from. So who knows? Might be reading this before the end of the year, but have not read it yet. Then we have No Filter and Other Lives by Crystal Maldonado. So I read Fat Chance Charlie Vega this year. I have read it. Be proud of me, everyone. Applause, applause, applause. But I don't know, I remember being disappointed by it, but there is elements of this book I liked, but there's also elements of this book I didn't like. This is something that sits in the middle. See, this is why this category doesn't always, this categorization doesn't always work. Yeah, I gave it three stars. I'll say I didn't like it because there were elements of this I enjoyed. This is like a story about a girl who accidentally catfishes, like sets up a catfish Instagram account and maybe falls in love and has all this drama. This is the author of Fat Chance Charlie Vega, which I loved. It's my favorite YA romance I've ever read. There was just a few problems I had with the logic and the vibes of No Factor and Other Lives. I will say though, I love the exploration of family and the different forms of family come in in this book and the emotional conversations that were had around her situation. She lives with her grandparents, but her parents and brother live down the street and she only goes around there for one dinner a week and it's been like that since she was a baby. And so I thought that was a very different representation that obviously some people are experiencing and I just thought I had a lot of good emotional conversations about that. But in terms of like romances and like the actual plot, I didn't love it. I feel like I've been talking 21 minutes. Okay, Megan, shut up. We're going quicker now. As we have Reckless Girls by Rachel Hawkins. Read it, read and liked it. Yep. Producers, Ian Bitschup, Casey Musgraves. I read and really liked Reckless Girls. It is such a quick read. Like you will let you be turning the page. I think I read it in two hours. Like a 300 page book in two hours is pretty good for me. I could not put it down. It's fun, it's campy, it's ridiculous. It's a fun book. Is it the greatest work of fiction to ever exist? No, but I enjoyed it. And then we have Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson. Yeah, I haven't read it. Still interested though. This is just like, I guess kind of literary fiction or general fiction. And I just, I'm a bit intimidated by that. I'm a genre girl. I have no qualms about stating that. I like my mystery and my fantasy. General fiction with lots of meaning and et cetera, et cetera. Like I just, I'm intimidated by it. Okay, so I do want to read this, but it feels like something that intelligent Megan will read one day, not current Megan. And then we have A Flick It in the Dark by Stacey Willingham. This has already been optioned for like film or TV. Yeah, this one was like optioned when it came out for like TV, I think by Emma Stone's company or something. Haven't read it, still interested. Okay, okay, okay, okay. I've heard it's like a good thriller. Like it's a fun time. We all have fun. We all enjoy reading it. Do we, you know, remember it forever? Not necessarily, but that's okay. That's okay. Next we have The Long Weekend by Julie McMillan. This is another thriller. Haven't read it, still interested. There's lots of thrillers on here that I haven't read them, I'm still interested in it. I do own it. I have really wanted to read this. Again, it's like couples. They go on this weekend retreat, they start dying. I'm here for the drama. Haven't read it. Come on, I feel like we deserve the next one to be one I've read. Do we have a book that's honestly embarrassing that I haven't read it yet? This is already out in the U.S. It's embarrassing that I'm out in the U.K. Yeah, okay. Where do young girls go by Seanan McGuire? Right and loved it. I love Seanan McGuire, I love Seanan McGuire. Oh, find the note, find the note. Where do young girls go was one of my new favorites in the, I need to reread the whole Wait for Children series. Cause I can say this, right? I only own, I am slurring my words. I can't even speak, I'm excited. I only own the three most recent Wait for Children series I think. Before that, I listened to them on audiobook. And when I listened to my audiobook, I loved them but I tended to give them like four stars. And since I've been reading them physically, I give them all five stars. So I need, I just like, it's like, I'm not the kind of person who if I've read a book already, I want to buy it again. Even though I know I'm going to buy this to reread it, it's just like, you know, frugal queen. So I do need to buy the first ones and do a whole series reread. I would love to do that. Like a whole, read the whole series the whole way through. 24 hour readathon or something. Might have to do that. I just thought of that. Oh my God, creative on the cuff. No, I'm joking. My mind, oh, it amazes me sometimes. Where the Jungle's going was five stars to me. I loved it. I always say, you're going to prefer as a person with the Rayward Children series, it's stories about these kids who have gone into these portal fantasies and then come back into our world and struggle to reclimatize. And half of the books are them in their world, usually for the first time when they enter their world. And the other half are set like in our world at Eleanor West School for Rayward Children and you always prefer one or the other. I think I usually prefer the school ones. I like the school setting. And then this one, one of our characters, Cora, goes to a different school that's really different to Eleanor West School for Rayward Children. Ooh, then we have the Paradox Hotel by Rob Hart. So I haven't read and still interested. Don't own the Paradox Hotel. This one's so interesting. It's like, I love a good speculative mystery, you know? This is about this hotel where you can time travel and like time doesn't exist and like lots of weird stuff. And there's a body in one of the rooms at the hotel, but only I think the manager of the hotel can see it. It's like warping in and out of time or something. Sounds so interesting. Another one that I haven't bought because it's super expensive. Another one that's like a bit more difficult to get, I think, again, only Amazon and Book Depository sell it. Can't get a Waterstones and it's like 25 quid. And I'm like, girl, I'm not used to those prices as someone from the UK. Then we have the Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea by Axie O. Haven't read it, still interested. Excuse me, excuse me. Megan, that behaviour is unacceptable. I don't like it. This is another beautiful fairytale edition that I own. It's gorgeous. I've heard wonderful things about it. I've heard it has beautiful writing. I've heard it's literally perfect for me, made for me, written for me. Doesn't mean I've read it, though. Then we have Gallant by the Eshwab. And I read this on Upsets for this like twice yesterday. I'm just gonna reach over here. I'm gonna show you it. And we all know where I'm reaching from. And we all know what that means. Okay. Mm-hmm. Yeah. This is what a lot of people tell me I'm gonna love. Mm. Haven't listened to them and read it, though, have I? We have Nine Lives by Peter Swanson. Not ready and no longer interested. Yeah, no, I've heard terrible things about this. The past two years, I've put Peter Swanson's new releases on my most anticipated live list and then they've both been no longer interested because they've had such bad reviews. And then we have probably my other top two Most Anticipated release for the first half this year. And that is the Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley. Read and like! Good job! Finally! I know a lot of people didn't like this. It's got quite a low rating. Good treat. 3.68, I think it is. Yeah, I know a lot of people didn't like this but I did, right? I love the campiness that Lucy Foley brings to her books. They just feel like a production a little bit, you know? They give me vibes. They give me drama. They give me, you know? They give me it. I'm so excited for what she comes out with next. I just love her. What a lovely person. I've met Lucy Foley, let it be nine. Claimed to fame and she was lovely. She was a lovely, what a lovely person who deserves all the success and I'm so happy for her and her book is great. And if you say differently, you're wrong. Then we have Lake Law by Anna Marie Macklemore. Okay. Haven't read and still interested but I'm yet to read anything by Anna Marie Macklemore. An absolute disaster. A total disaster. You guys have permission to attack me. It's really bad at this point. I own two books by them and haven't read either of them. The spy every time Anna Marie Macklemore comes out of book I'm like, I need to read it. I'm so excited. Haven't read one yet. Like what is wrong with me? Then we have Until the Last of Me by Sylvain Nouvelle. This is the second in the series that the first one was A History of What Comes Next. Unread and still interested. This is the sequel to a book. I don't know where it is. It's a sequel to A History of What Comes Next which a lot of people didn't enjoy but I did. It's like this super unique sci-fi that I just think is so cool and special. Sylvain Nouvelle just gives me the drama I want again. He's someone who gives me a drama I want and it's like a controversial figure because not a lot of the people, apparently people don't love the drama. I do. Is it me? Am I the drama? I don't think I'm the drama. So yeah, it's a super cool sci-fi series and this is the sequel. I think there's gonna be one more coming out I think next year. So I would like to finish off this series when that one comes out and maybe read them quite back to back but yes, Unread and still interested. We don't need to talk about it, okay? Ooh, then we have The Book of Cold Cases by Simone St. James. I don't wanna talk about it. Unread and still interested. For a while there, I thought I was doing really well and then it's just gotten out of control. Now I did read a different Simone St. James this year and it's one of my favorite books I've read this year but I have not read The Book of Cold Cases but I'm glad I read The Broken Girls first because I think it's often seen as like her best one. So I'm glad I've read that and I know what I think of that and like that's my first experience with Simone St. James and I'm so excited to read this. I hope I might read this pull the end of the air and I've got a few different videos this could go in. Yeah, probably one of the ones I'm most excited for because it's like a little bit unusual. Then we have Inner Garden Burning Gold by Rory Power. I'm gonna say no longer interested for Inner Garden Burning Gold. Yeah, this isn't just what I want from Rory Power. Now I'm listening all for everyone writing what they want but I haven't heard good things about this. It's like a high, high fantasy when before that she's written like creepy horror that was like weird and that's what I love from her and I'm like finally someone like do you remind me of how I feel about Nina Lacour or Katrina Leno? Like they just give me the vibes I want, right? I like what I read from them and I expect you always give me the same thing. No, I hope anyone wrote what they want but I haven't heard good reviews about it. It's another series I'd have to start and like if I don't really wanna do that I won't do that and it's not what I want from her. So then we have Portrait of a Thief by Grace D. Lee. I would say I'm no longer interested in this as well. It just hasn't, there's so many books so little time. Do you know what I mean? And there's books that are exciting me more. I've heard pretty good things about Portrait of a Thief but, uh. That's it. Part of me thinks I can't really be bothered. Just rather eat my meal and go home but then another half of me thinks I'm actually quite interested what you've got to say because I don't know what she's gonna explain. It just was no longer, you know, no longer excites me so I'm just fine letting it go. There's so many books out there. I have 200 sitting right here for me to read. You know, if I'm not super bothered about it anymore I'm just trying to let books go. And then we have Amari and the Great Game by BB Alston. Okay, okay. Here's the thing. Unread and still interested, right? You can all clown me. But technically this doesn't fulfill like first half of the year and I was anticipating because I swear this only just came out. It got pushed back and pushed back. I think it ended up coming out in like October or something, like late in the year. So like I'm tempted to not even count this. I will but we all know when we look at the total that one of the books I did not, I like it was unfair. It was unfair. I wouldn't react to my like second half of the year most anticipated right now and expect to have read a lot of them. So yeah, but I still don't own this because I wanna buy the Waterstones Edition and I just keep nods. Then we have Theatre of Marvels by LM Dilsworth. Okay, interesting. Read and Dislike. Yeah, this was two stars. We've got our first read and disliked. I was like, are we gonna get the whole video through without having a read and dislike? Apparently not. This is like a historical fiction about a woman who's a black woman who's like a circus performer and there's just a lot going on and I didn't enjoy this book. I didn't feel like it was written particularly well. It was a debut and it just felt like it wasn't my fate. Then we have Book of Night by Holly Black. This is Holly Black's adult debut. Girl, you've got a big storm coming. I'm reading Still Interested. You can clown me but I wanna know. I know a lot of people haven't liked this but I just wanna know what the T is, okay? I wanna be in on the information. Then we have Seasonal Fears by Shulin McGuire. So this is the, oh, When Were the Drown Girls Girl came up I was like, I really hope Seasonal Fears is not in this video. But it is. Security! Can you please escort this lady over here, Al? Unread and Still Interested, okay? I don't own it. I haven't had the best reviews about Seasonal Fears from people who have read it and who loved Middle Game as much as I did. Even though I know Seasonal Fears isn't necessarily like the same characters as Middle Game, I feel like just in concept alone it should have just been like a one-time thing and it wasn't. But I still am gonna read it because it's Shulin McGuire and I love Shulin McGuire. I give Shulin McGuire five stars like every time I read from her. So I'm still gonna read it but my hopes aren't tied. We have Siren Queen by Ney Vos. Cut the cameras, dead ass. Cut the cameras, dead ass. What is going on next door? Unread and Still Interested, can I get this one? Yep, here we are. I love this cover. I'm obsessed with this cover. Ooh, I do, I really wanna read it. But yeah, I haven't read it so what does it matter? I feel like I've reacted to this video a bit too early. If I've done it like the start of next year I would have had much better luck but alas, I've filmed it. It is what it is. Then we have Only on the Weekends by Dean Atta. Absolutely not. I really thought I would do better than this. Unread and Still Interested, I own it. I really thought I was actually gonna do better than this. I actually can't do it the last time I was happy. I literally can't tell you. I was coming in like, oh, we know I'm not good but I believed in myself. I really thought I was gonna do it. Moving on. Then we have Yerba Buena by Nina Lacourse. I'm done talking. I'm done talking. I'm done talking. I'm done. Like, what is the point? What can I say to you? I haven't read it. Still Interested. It's up there. It's Nina Lacourse. I've been so excited for this. I've been saying it's my most, like, got on my most anticipated books. I'm just skipping ahead, right? Oh, okay. Like, we're just gonna do this quickly. A Miramended, Unread and Still Interested, Harlem Sunset, Unread and Still Interested. Anymore? Anymore? That's it. I'm not even talking for the last two. I don't have to sit here and listen to this. So, yeah, I'm not, like, genuine moment here. I generally thought I would do well. Like, if not well, better than this. I've read six and liked them. One that I read and disliked. 21 that I have not read and I'm still interested in. And four that I'm no longer interested in. How has that happened? How has that happened? Time to go sit in a dark room for a bit. It's actually embarrassing. Now, here's the thing. If I had filmed this, like I said, at the start of next year, like, February time, I think the, well, 21 is a lot to overcome. I think I would have read at least four more. Listen, it is what it is. I don't do well, okay? I need to get better at reading new releases and like, fitting them into videos. It's just something that I am apparently not good at, right? I have video concepts, but they don't necessarily fit into new releases and the new releases that I'm most excited for. So that's something I want to get better at next year and being, again, even more selective with how many I pick. Even though I'm so excited for all of these, I only had four there that I'm no longer interested in. And like, one of them was from an author I've loved before. So like, I can't be blamed for putting it on the list. But there we have it, everyone. This video has gone on long enough. I've been filming for 45 minutes. I don't know how long this is. I've probably cut it down to like 20 minutes, but just the thought of editing this already is just another stab in the heart. Thank you guys for watching. I hope you enjoyed seeing me suffer. You always seem to, so. Thank you so much for watching this video. And yeah, I'll see you very soon in another one. Bye!