#ARCApocalypse Update: September 2020

Time for another ARC update! For my 2020 #ARCApocalypse info and TBR, check here!

On the downside, I broke my ARC limits in August and hauled more books than I found the timeto read. On the upside, most of the things I hauled were very quick reads I plan to knock out ASAP, like graphic novels, manga, novellas, and poetry books! 

I think my problem is that I haven’t been doing a great job of sticking to my “put it on my wishlist for a week” rule, which I really need to start doing again ASAP, because when I do follow that rule, it helps so much.

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I also decided last month to add a new “try a chapter challenge” section to this monthly post! Each month, I’ll try the first chapter of 5-10 review copies and determine which ones I want to continue, which ones I’m no longer interested in, and, rarely, which ones I might read SOMEDAY but not soon enough to leave on my ARC list. Then, I’ll pick at least one to read before the next #ARCApocalypse update post!

If you’re participating in ARC Apocalypse, feel free to copy this post format if you like it! ?

✨ ARC ban rules ✨

1. I must read AT LEAST 1 more title than I haul every month
2. if a book wasn’t already an anticipated release, it goes on a “wishlist” for 7+ days first
3. I have to check kindle unlimited before hauling indie titles

✨ last month’s ARC hauls ✨

1. Last Case at a Baggage Auction
2. Witches Steeped in Gold
3. The Roommate
4. Aster and the Mixed-Up Magic
5. We Are the Ashes, We Are the Fire
6. Shelter for the Damned
7. A House at the Bottom of the Lake
8. Cradleland of Parasites

9. The Way of the Househusband, Vol. 1
10. Ever After
11. Witches of Brooklyn
12. Omni, Vol. 1: The Doctor Is In
13. My Riot
14. Fangirl, Vol. 1: The Manga
15. Odessa
16. Barely Functional Adult
17. The Weirn Books, Vol. 1

✨ last month’s ARC completions ✨

1. Loathe at First Sight ⭐⭐ (REVIEW)
2. The Roommate ⭐⭐⭐⭐💫
3. My Riot ⭐⭐⭐
4. Omni, Vol. 1: The Doctor Is In ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
5. The Way of the Househusband, Vol. 1 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
6. Fangirl, Vol. 1: The Manga ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
7. Barely Functional Adult ⭐⭐⭐💫
8. The Weirn Books, Vol. 1 ⭐⭐⭐⭐
9. Odessa ❌ (DNF)

✨ ARC wishlist ✨

(These are the titles I’m considering requesting/accepting this month!)

1. Spoiler Alert
2. Beyond the Ruby Veil
3. The Fourth Island
4. Plain Bad Heroines
5. Instant Karma
6. The Factory Witches of Lowell
7. Honey Girl

netgalley ratio:

2020 & 2021 ARC numbers:

62 unreleased + 114 released & unread = 176 to be read/reviewed

unread ARCs releasing this month:

1. Scritch Scratch
2. Fable
3. Cemetery Boys
4. When No One is Watching (currently reading)
5. Ever After
6. Witches of Brooklyn
7. Yellow Jessamine
8. The Raven (currently reading)

9. Nobody Knows But You
10. The Invention of Sound
11. One by One
12. The Ghost Tree (currently reading)
13. Horrid
14. Watch Over Me
15. Legendborn
16. Who I Was With Her

17. Cursed Objects
18. Dying is Easy
19. The Left-Handed Booksellers of London
20. Miss Meteor
21. The Silvered Serpents
22. Vampires Never Get Old (currently reading)
23. A Deadly Education
24. Beauty Tempts the Beast
25. Burning Roses

✨ ARC try a chapter challenge ✨

Last month’s pick: The Silence by Tim Lebbon
Status: still reading (and enjoying!)

This month, I decided to sample 10 ARCs that all came out before 2020.

Ink and Bone — Rachel Caine

This starts off fairly interesting, but not enough to make me want to pick it up any time soon, honestly. I think this was an unsolicited paperback I was sent years after the book released, so I don’t feel too bad for setting it aside.

VERDICT: remove from ARC list only (leave on overall TBR)

✨ — ✨

Lost Boy — Christina Henry

Anyone who knows how much I adore CH’s books is probably surprised to see this here, but after I DNFed the eARC, a publicist asked a while back if she could send a paperback for me to consider trying again someday because I only DNFed it due to triggers and made it very clear that I want to try this again someday when my son is older and the treatment of one of the little boys in this book hopefully won’t hurt my heart so much. The publicist said it was a very “no strings attached” review copy, so this is another one I don’t feel guilty about removing from my ARC lists, though I 100% will try this again sometime.

VERDICT: remove from ARC list only (leave on overall TBR)

✨ — ✨

The Navigator’s Touch — Julia Ember

I feel a bit bad about this one because I think the author is really lovely, but my tastes have changed SO MUCH in YA fantasy since reading the first book in this series that it only took a few pages for me to realize I no longer have any real interest in continuing with the sequel. 😟

VERDICT: remove

✨ — ✨

Hope and Other Punchlines — Julie Buxbaum

This is actually one I’ve read the first half of before, and had put back on my ARC TBR because I wasn’t feeling it but had liked one of her other books. Honestly, though, I don’t think liking one other book by this author is any reason to force myself to finish this one that I wasn’t enjoying!

VERDICT: remove

✨ — ✨

Twin Lakes: The Autumn Fires — Melissa Lason & Michelle Garza

The first chapter didn’t grip me enough to make me need to continue it right now or anything, but I did like it enough to continue it some time soon!

VERDICT: keep

✨ — ✨

The Kiss Thief — L.J. Shen

I’ll be honest: I didn’t even give this a fair chance. I had forgotten it was on my TBR to begin with, but I have read so many quotes and reviews of Shen’s books that I don’t really have any interest in anything of hers at this point. That said, if this is a book you think I should REALLY give a try, let me know and I’ll consider it!

VERDICT: remove

✨ — ✨

Daisy Jones and the Six — Taylor Jenkins Reid

Okay, I honestly have no clue why I haven’t read this yet. Holy shit. I’m so hooked already. The end of the first bit, where Daisy says, “I had absolutely no interest in being somebody else’s muse. I am not a muse. I am the somebody. End of fucking story.” 🤯🤯🤯

VERDICT: keep

✨ — ✨

Normal People — Sally Rooney

Nope. I do not enjoy this writing or these characters at all.

VERDICT: remove

✨ — ✨

A Boy and His Dog at the End of the World — C.A. Fletcher

***UNSOLICITED*** This was an unsolicited ARC that I wasn’t interested in when it showed up, but held on to just in case I wanted to try it someday. Well, that day has finally come, and I… am still not interested.

VERDICT: remove

✨ — ✨

Teach Me — Olivia Dade

I had honestly forgotten I had this eARC until I started looking at Olivia Dade’s upcoming release and realized it was the same author! A romance about a plus-size heroine = a book I should have started ages ago, especially given how much I loved the first chapter!

VERDICT: keep

✨ — ✨

I kept 3 out of 10 on my ARC TBR this month! I feel like that’s a percentage I’m really comfortable with: I brought my TBR down quite a bit while not being totally brutal and removing all or almost all of them, like I did last month!

Out of the ones I’ve kept, my first priority (and the one I plan to finish before the next #ARCApocalypse update) is going to be TEACH ME! This seems like such a fun and quick read, plus if I love it, it gives me an excuse to request the ARC of her new book Spoiler Alert. 😂

— destiny ♥

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