State of the ARC Meme
I rarely do meme’s (or it is memes?) on this blog because my reading is typically dictated by the book events or author interviews I’m scheduled to do. However, this seemed like a really easy one to join in on, and it appears other book bloggers are having so much fun doing these together, so I thought ‘what the hell’. Big thank you to Avalinah for inviting me to join, you can check out the rules of State of the ARC here on her blog.
My stats won’t be interesting, but potentially shocking to other bloggers. First and foremost, I’m not a member of Netgalley (nor do I intend to be, much to FictionFan’s chagrin, and others). I have about 62 physical books on my shelf right now that I need to read and review, all of them being sent to me by publishers or authors directly. I would say 98% of them were sent to me by the publishers, very few are sent by the author, mainly because my review policy is quite strict.
Anyway joining this meme means being a part of the goodreads group that picks a theme for each month, helping direct you to a particular kind of book to help whittle down your TBR (To Be Read) pile. In October, (not surprisingly) 
the theme ‘creeptober’ won out, so we had to read a scary/creepy/eerie book. I chose The Good People by Hannah Kent, which I then reviewed on-air of the CBC a few weeks ago (the audio file was lost, but I promise I did it!). It was a great read for October, the atmosphere was uber creepy, but I found the book lagged a bit in the middle because the pacing wasn’t as tight as I would have liked it to be. Fans of historical fiction may be a bit more forgiving than I was though, so don’t strike this off your list if you liked Kent’s first novel Burial Rites, you’ll probably like this one too.
My TBR pile is only set to grow in the next month, as I’m searching for books to highlight in my gift-giving radio segment , so I’ve got a ton of stuff on the way. With that in mind, I might be too embarrassed to do another State of the ARC post for awhile, because I know I’ll be ashamed of the growing numbers. In case you don’t hear from me again on this topic it’s because…I’m failing at it.
I haven’t tried Netgalley either! High Five! :)
It’s not because I have stacks of ARCs though. I just already have a Goodreads TBR of about 400 books, so I just DON’T need any more to add to the pile!
You’re not failing… you’re winning at life! You’ve got all those great books to read! isn’t it wonderful?
haha you’re right, I think all voracious readers are winning at life-we’ve got perspective!!!
Hey, you’ve read one! That counts for something for sure :) and congrats on doing the meme. And thank you! It always makes me so happy when people join.
Also, it’s cool that you’re not on NetGalley! Don’t know if I’d be either if anyone mailed books to my country. But since they don’t, pretty much, NetGalley is actually pretty cool for me :) but considering you’ve got print ARCs, it’s probably smart boy to join yet another source of temptation :D
And hey – don’t be embarrassed of your numbers. Do you remember mine? 90+ ARCs :D
haha thank you for your kind words! They are greatly appreciated. And thanks again for inviting me to join, it was great fun!
Hahaha! I haven’t given up yet, though… tune in tomorrow! ;) I actually gave up on The Good People half-way through and flicked forward to the end, so I’m glad I’m not the only one who found it dragged in the middle. Still keen to see where she takes us next though! (Hopefully I’ll get an ARC of her next one through NetGalley…)
Oh I didn’t know she had another one coming so soon! Although not surprising either…
Oh, no, I just meant whenever she comes out with a new one… I haven’t heard anything about another coming soon.
Ooohhhh I see
I know you have a pile of books to read , but if you want a great mystery check out Ruth Ware Dark Dark Wood
https://reallifeofanmsw.com/2015/11/06/dark-dark-wood/
Oh I read this one when it first came out! My review is available on my blog if you’re interested.
I don’t use Net Galley, either. Or anything that you need an ebook for. Print only for me!
I have also been trying really hard not to *request* ARCs – the ones sent to me unrequested are enough for me on top of the other books I want to read!
But it’s fun to get unexpected book mail, isn’t it? I can’t think of many things much better!
I know, it’s such a treat! I’m avoiding requesting ARCS as much as possible too, I’ve got so much guilt LOL