State of the ARC | #10 – Adele Is Reading

STATE OF THE ARC MEME

State of the ARC is a monthly meme at Avalinah’s Books meant to motivate you to finish up all your long overdue ARCs (Advanced or Early Reader Copies). You can track your reading progress and link up with your own post. Most commonly it comes out on the 30th of every month.

Hello, and welcome friends!

I’m back at it in the ARC game. In January I had a difficult time not requesting books simply because there were so many titles that caught my attention. I ended up requesting a few of them, which in hindsight, is almost a burden to myself since I already have quite a few already to go through.

Since it’s still January, a goal I aim to achieve for 2019 is to get through almost all of the ARCs I have, and will acquire. Though the best thing I could do for myself would be to be able to read all of them. Yikes!

Titles I Read in January:

The Whispering of Trees C.Y. Bourgeois; I had The Whispering of Trees on my ARC list for a….long while. The Whispering of Trees went in a completely different way than I thought the story would go. I thought that The Whispering of Trees would be a happy story, and in some scenes that case is true. However, for most of the book The Whispering of Trees is a darkness to the story that is unstoppable. There are many trials and tribulations that Aggie goes through. Many of these trials are Aggie fighting for her life. (my review)
Trust the Wolf (Shifters, #1) by Zoe Ashwood; I approached Zoe Ashwood with an ARC request, and I am so glad that she allowed me to read and review Trust the Wolf for her. Trust the Wolf is a story that follows Emilia, a head strong woman who won’t take no for an answer; and Jason, a man who is duty bound to tell the Shifter-Authorities about Emilia. Which is difficult for Jason since his instincts are urging him to keep Emilia a secret. (my review)
Even If I Fall by Abigail Johnson; I requested Even If I Fall on a whim, not really expecting that I would be accepted to read Even If I Fall. Even If I Fall is a story that I will think about from time to time because of how the romance in this story comes about. These young loves sure as heck didn’t set out to fall for one another…especially under the circumstances that surround them. (my review)

806 by Cynthia Weil; 806 is a book that I highly underestimated. I thought that the story would go a certain way, and instead the story went the way it did. Honestly, the story that played out is way better than what I had imagined would happen. 806 follows three teenagers who are on the hunt for their biological father. And though we only read from KT’s point of view, I genuinely loved how the story played out. 806 is also one of the books that will go on the “This Book Made Me Laugh List.” 806 made me laugh in joy way more than I thought was possible. (806 will be reviewed on Feb. 04/19)
Foreign to You by Jeremy Martin; Foreign to You is a book that I was immediately drawn to because of the beautiful cover. I also requested Foreign to You on a whim and was super surprised when I was almost immediately accepted to read it. Foreign to You turned out to be a difficult read for me simply because of how sombre the story is. Don’t get me wrong, Foreign to You can be an enjoyable read for people. I just didn’t expect all the darkness that Foreign to You emulates. What counteracts that darkness though, is Jeremy Martin’s writing. Martin writes beautifully, almost lyrically. The way that Martin describes the surroundings in Foreign to You is wholly beautiful. (Foreign to You will be reviewed on Feb. 11/19)

There were two (2) ARCs that I was accepted for that I didn’t get around to reading. — And that’s totally ok! I’m very happy with the amount of books I read this January. Anyway, the ARCs I was approved for are:

Crown of Feathers (Crown of Feathers, #1) by Nicki Pau Preto; I’m looking forward to the phoenix aspect within Crown of Feathers. PHONIX’s!!!! (Crown of Feathers is going to be published on February 12th)
Cold Day in the Sun by Sara Biren; Now, I’ve only recently came across Cold Day in the Sun since this title comes out in March. NEVERTHELESS, I am over the moon excited about diving into this one. Especially since Cold Day in the Sun might have some forbidden/crush-turned-romance (!!!!), and a girl on an all boys’ hockey team. AHHH! I cannot contain all of my excitement.

Overall I had a pretty good month in terms of ARCs! I’m quite happy with the progress I’ve made to be honest with you.

I’m not paying too much attention to my Netgalley Feedback Ratio on Netgalley (ok that’s a lie. I totally am.) But what I mean is I like taking on new ARCs as well as reading the older ones that I have. In my mind this is me balancing out what I’ve received in the past and what I’ve recently acquired.

I’m also trying harder to read the books that I newly acquire, before the titles come out.

So…My Feedback Ratio on Netgalley is still at 62%, and will remain at that percentage until I read like, 4 or 5 ARCs I already have. Yeesh.

My goals for February will be to push that 62% up to a 63%. And to read as many ARCs as I can before I get bored of them and decide to read non-ARCs.