Following in the footsteps of Anne and Shannon on the What Should I Read Next? podcast, I decided to do a mid-year check-in before compiling August's TBR list. That's simply looking over the books I've read in 2024 and considering which books I have laid out to read in the second half. I'm thinking about whether I still wanting to go that route, or if I've changed my mind about what kind of books will engage me and make me excited about reading. This is the perfect timing for me to re-evaluate because, only in the past few weeks, I have been feeling an unusual heaviness and lack of separation when reading books that are very sad. It's affecting me for some reason! And there is no lack of sad books! There seems to be a newer trend of writing hard stories that end with only a small spot of light at the end of the tunnel. From beginning to middle until the last few chapters it's unlikeable characters, despair, and sorrow. Then at the end there's a little ...