This meme was created by Evelina @ Avalinah’s Books!
I’d originally planned to focus on ARCs in January, but then I signed up for a bunch of buddy reads, most of which ended up being backlist titles. Which gave me a good head start on Beat the Backlist, but really stressed me out every time I peeked at the “ARCs” tab on my 2019 blogger spreadsheet — so we won’t be doing that again! 😅 From now on, I probably won’t sign up for more than one buddy read a week, and I’m definitely going to work on staying on top of my book club reads.
Still, I managed to get through a decent number of ARCs!
My January 2019 ARC stats: Netgalley (40.0%), Read & Reviewed (22.2%), Edelweiss (13.3%), DNF (11.1%), Goodreads giveaway (11.1%), Author/Publisher (2.2%).
My first goal was to catch up on all my Goodreads giveaway books, and I’m very close: I only have four backlist ebooks left, one of which I’ve started! So the print ARCs have been mailed off to Flapping Pages — check it out if you’re an international blogger or have ARCs to donate! (And yes, I’m going to keep boosting it because Kal is doing a wonderful thing with this program.) The backlist books came to a book swap hosted by my IRL book club; I brought three and only came home with a single new one (The Miniaturist, in case you’re wondering), so I’m counting it as a win!
I also planned to get through as many Netgalley ARCs as possible, because my ratio really needs rescuing. I’m up to 45% now (33 titles approved; 15 reviewed), and luckily future requests will make less of a dent in my progress because that’s how fractions work and the system is skewed against newbies. 80% badge, here I come!
I want to say that I did okay as far as not actively requesting more ARCs, but I did end up somehow acquiring 15 more review copies, 5 of which I’ve read/DNF’d this month:
- 7 from Netgalley
- previously pending, approved this month: Wicked Saints, Liquid Rules, Breaking and Entering, House of Salt and Sorrows
- available to download and I couldn’t resist: The Mermaid’s Voice Returns In This One (3.5/5), Just For Clicks, Blood Heir
- 4 from Edelweiss
- The Bride Test by Helen Hoang was available to download!
- 3 that I “downloaded” last summer but couldn’t access/read until this month: City of Ash and Red (1.5/5), A Body’s Just as Dead (2.5/5), Strategy Strikes Back: How Star Wars Explains Modern Military Conflict
- 2 from Goodreads giveaways
- waiting for my print copy in the mail: Small Town Hearts
- Kindle edition that I have yet to read: Sourpuss
- 1 from BookSirens: The Competition (2/5)
- 1 review request from the author: Kingdom Cold (DNF)
My State of the ARC bingo is also looking pretty good, considering it’s only January! This board is brand-new, so I’m pretty satisfied with having already filled in 4 spaces this month.
Since I still have 30 review copies left to read — which is exactly the same as I had left at the end of 2018! — I’ll continue to focus on finishing them off in February. (Why yes, I did notice that my statistics for this month include a suspicious abundance of multiples of 5, but I promise you these are the actual numbers! Fact really is stranger than fiction sometimes.) I can also feel my backlist TBR giving me the evil eye, but I swear I’ll get to you. Eventually.
How’s your state of the ARC looking? Have you read any good ones that I should look out for? Let me know!
Nine Tale Vixen 
Is State of the Arc only for arcs you’ve read or can it be for arcs you haven’t read yet but are currently reading/about to start?
Also your January stats look really good!
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thanks DB! I think it’s your ARC situation in general – iirc originally the goal was to keep track of the ones you have left, but you can also talk about the ones you’ve read/started!
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Oh, good! I might post one this month! Thanks – that does make sense, though – being able to add books you’ve also started.
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Looks like you’ve made really good progress! I think I may join this, I definitely went full throttle on NetGalley the moment I joined, haha!
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haha thanks! I’d definitely love to see yours if you decide to join! 💖
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Wow! You are doing great on your stats! Only 4 backlist ARCs!? You’re incredible! I don’t even want to talk about my stats. lol. But 2019 is all about getting caught up! Good luck for this next month’s reading!
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oh no, only 4 backlist left from GR giveaways specifically – lots more from netgalley and edelweiss 😅 good luck to you too!
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Yeaaaa January was the month of Overly Excited Scheduling Buddy Reads and the slump I had means I am behind on all of them. Never again.
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it really was! here’s hoping we both do better in February 😉
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I kind of did this already but I’m going to do it properly. I have a lot I need to read still. Too bad I have so many I need to read in Feb. :S
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oof good luck! 🍀
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Thanks. Now I just have to find the time and energy to do it. pumps self up I can do this!
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I will cheer for you on the sidelines Izzy! You will conquer the arcs and the backlist TBR, hehe since I don’t read ARCs I don’t have that pressure. I do however have review request books that need reading desperately, from last year because wow my reading game flopped
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thanks Clo! 💕 hopefully we can both catch up and have a good reading year 😉
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Love this! I have to say I am very impressed by your reading pie chart. I don’t get ARCs cause my blog is tiny (because I don’t work as hard as many do!!) but it seems like a lot of stress. I can see how the TBR would get out of hand very quickly. Too many books, too little time…
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aw thanks Lydia! my blog isn’t actually big at all either, but Netgalley and Edelweiss publishers are very nice (and also there are lots of books available to just download!) but yes, there are just so many books to read that it’s an uphill climb 😅
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