state of the arc #3

State of the ARC is a monthly meme hosted by Avalinah's Books. It's a way to track your reading progress and see how fellow book bloggers are doing as well.

The rules for State of the ARC are quite simple; I couldn't put them any better than Evelina already has:

• Mention that you’re linking up with State of the ARC @ AvalinahsBooks, which is a fun way to share our ARC progress, challenges, wins, woes and mishaps.
• Include the link to this post, or the current State of the ARC post. You can use my State of the ARC image too.
• Don’t forget to visit all the other people in the link-up and comment.
• And most importantly – have fun!

ARC STATS

My total ARC pile only grew by one this month! So far the summer months look a little sparse in terms of new releases I'm dying to read, which means that over the next couple of months I hope to make a good dent in my TBR. Another achievement this month was bringing my NetGalley ratio up to 60%! It may not be the coveted 80+% that they suggest but it still feels amazing to see that much progress. I still have quite a few titles with release dates through the end of May, but if I can continue managing my time well then things should be much more relaxed at the next check-in.

SYMBOLS DECODED

I've posted eight ARC reviews since the last check-in:

The Bad Daughter by Joy Fielding
New Boy by Tracy Chevalier (finished copy via Blogging for Books)
The Wicked Deep by Shea Ernshaw
The Strange Bird by Jeff Vandermeer
To Kill a Kingdom by Alexandra Christo
Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi
Ready Player One by Ernest Cline (finished copy via Blogging for Books)
My Dear Hamilton by Stephanie Dray and Laura Kamoie

In addition, I have ten ARC reviews queued up and ready for posting! On Friday I'll have a review of The Balcony by Jane Delury, which I won in a Goodreads giveaway. Throughout April you'll be able to read reviews of CIRCE by Madeline Miller, Ace of Shades by Amanda Foody, The Beloveds by Maureen Lindley, Liar's Candle by August Thomas, Sky in the Deep by Adrienne Young, and Brightly Burning by Alexa Donne! Thanks to my impatience I also have a few summer reviews queued up, including Onyx & Ivory by Mindee Arnett and Legendary by Stephanie Garber in May, and Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik in July.

This month I also had one DNF: Macbeth by Jo Nesbo. This was particularly disappointing since it was one of the first ARCs I got approval for on NetGalley and I love the Shakespearean tragedy. Sadly, Nesbo's writing style and I do not get along at all; I also had a lot of issues with how he chose to adapt the play to a gritty, 1970's crime setting so I gave up after 30%.

ON THE HORIZON

May is another busy month for new releases, so I need to get to work! My second-ever Edelweiss+ approval came in the form of All the Ever Afters by Danielle Teller, which takes a look at the Cinderella story from her stepmother's perspective. I also guaranteed my request for Undead Girl Gang by Lily Anderson via Penguin's First to Read program. Some physical ARCs on the agenda include What Should Be Wild by Julia Fine, a Goodreads giveaway win; Furyborn by Claire Legrand, courtesy of the #arcsfortrade community on Twitter; The Pisces by Melissa Broder (thank you Penguin Random House/Hogarth!); and Cauldron's Bubble by Amber Elby, which is actually a finished copy the author sent me in anticipation of its sequel coming out this summer!

There's a final push to make sure I honor all of my ARC requests through the month of May (which really means I need to be done reading by the end of April!). I gave in to temptation a little too easily and slightly over-committed myself for this month and next, but if I can read 11 books in the shortest month of the year then I have to believe that with a little discipline I can stay on track :) Then I can ease up on my pace a little and tend to some backlist titles calling my name.

Will we be covering any of the same ARCs this month? What review are you looking forward to reading? Let me know which review you're most looking forward to in the comments below!