State of the ARC: June 2018

June 29, 2018

 

 

 

 

 

 

State of the ARC is a meme hosted by Evelina at Avalinah’s Books used to track ARC progress and motivate us ARC reading slackers.


My friend Evelina at Avalinah’s Books and I have a problem: We tend to let our ARCs pile up. Yup, that’s right. Our Advanced Reader Copies quickly become Current Reader Copies. And in some situations, even become Old Reader Copies. That’s right–we both have ARCs which are over a year old. SUPER guilty!

Evelina decided to take matters into her own hands! Not only did she start this lovely meme, State of the ARC, for people to try to grapple with their love-hate ARC relationship, but she also started #ARCsAnonymous on Goodreads. This group is geared towards just pushing through the ARC pile and making a difference. All are encouraged to join!


June Progress

June was a great month for reads and I was finally able to finish an ARC I’ve been reading for ALMOST A YEAR. I don’t know how I let that happen. It often does when I’m reading short story collections. Beautiful, beautiful short stories… you make it so easy to put you down but, in the end, you are always worth it.

All book titles are links to their Goodreads pages.

 

The Djinn Falls in Love and Other Stories edited by Mahvesh Murad & Jared Shurin

 

Like all short story collections, some really spoke to me and others went right over my head. I learned a ton about the different ways djinns are viewed through this collection. The biggest takeaway I have is to avoid them at all costs. I highly recommend this collection to anyone interested in better understanding the different aspects of djinns and love exploring folklore/mythology ideas in unique settings. Not quite retellings, but wonderful none-the-less.

 

My Review: The Djinn Falls in Love & Other Stories

 


Current State of the ARC

ARCs read in 2018: 6 ARCs

ARCs acquired in 2018: 5 ARCs

NetGalley Backlog: 11 books

Author Request Backlog: 3 books

Giveaways/Unsolicited: 6 books

Total ARC TBR: 31 books; 21 post-publication date

 

New year, new goal! This year, my goal is to read one ARC a month from NetGalley at a minimum. My current NetGalley feedback ratio is 62%. That’s a 7% increase from January! Woo-hoo! It’s the little victories, right? Right.

I hope to raise my feedback ratio to the coveted 80% by the end of the year through this goal. The trick here is that I’ll make my ratio goal if I keep my requests down… Limiting my requests will be key!

ARCs Acquired in June

Mwahaha! My lack of requesting strikes again! As we move into Summer and I glance over at my HUGE TBR I realize that I am finding ARCs less and less appealing. It’s brilliant. I hope to keep this trend up through the rest of the year.

Earlier this month I published a post focused on goal resetting. What did I learn? I’m over ARCs. It’s time to break up with NetGalley. But I’m going to be respectful and hold up my end of the bargain. I will keep reading and be writing reviews until my shelf is empty. Here goes!

 

Tentative ARCs To Read for June:

 

The Girl I picked up by recommendation from Evelina back in February. (She’s wonderful and terrible for me and my reading habits) I am on a quest to read more non-fiction this year, make this biography of Marilyn Monroe a key read! This was on my potential June TBR, so I’ll keep it going.

Year of No Clutter is another non-fiction which will help me with this goal. This is the oldest book I have on my NetGalley shelf. I downloaded this memoir from a demi-hoarder in September 2016. O_o What have I been putting it off? I am both intrigued and terrified…

The Edge of Everything is not the sort of book I typically read. It’s a YA paranormal with a bounty hunter as a prominent character. I’ve been reading The Raven Cycle lately and I’m in the mood to keep this paranormal thing going. Plus, Dani @ Perspective of a Writer really enjoyed it, so perhaps I will too?!

 

While I have three ARCs listed above, this is mostly to help keep my inner mood-reader focused. I still aim to only read one of these for July. After all, it’s summer! I don’t want to get bogged down in reading books I’m not interested in.


What do you think?

  • Do you participate in State of the ARC? Share your post below!
  • What ARCs are on your to be read list for June?
  • Have you ever considered breaking it off with NetGalley/Edelweiss? Why or why not?
  • Have you read any of the books I identified above? If so, share your thoughts!

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