Ohh, I’m very excited for this State of the ARC. Why, you ask? Well, first of all, it’s the last one in the year and we get to tally our results and set new goals. But that’s not all… We’re also getting a new ARCs bingo! Isn’t it all exciting?

A GIF of Bunny from Sailormoon, with her eyes glittering

~ For Those Who Are New To The Meme ~

Anyone is free to participate! If you want to, just link up anytime during this month and refer to this page as to the rules of what to put in your post and how to link up. The next State of the ARC post is going to be on (most likely) January 31st, so if you can’t make this one, mark it down!

~ My Current State of the ARC ~

~ What’s Changed Since The Start Of 2018? ~

So! Back when we started State of the ARC in January, I had 102 total review copies – this number has now shrunk to 69, and if that isn’t an achievement, I don’t know what is! Here’s where I managed to drop by numbers the most:

• NetGalley ARCs dropped from 59 to 31 – so almost by half!
• Edelweiss stays stable – I’ve always had a similarly small number of review copies from there
• My other ARCs were at 33 when I started, now they’re at 31 – so I’m still accepting author and publisher ARCs and I should work on that batch!

Last month I had the last slot of my ARCs bingo unfilled. I’m happy to say I’ve filled it out! Slightly less happy to admit that it was a terrible book, but it was also my first ARC, won in some giveaway… before I was a blogger… It’s probably no surprise that it wasn’t a literary miracle. But it was my oldest ARC! And I’m happy to have finally finished it. And hey, at least it’s got a GORGEOUS cover for the ARCs bingo.

~ Bricks Knocked Down ~

Well, I didn’t read too many ARCs this month, compared to the previous months, but I’m glad of my progress! Especially because I knocked down the oldest one. Almost all books were really really good – except for that particular oldest one – Vasu and the Matsya Temple was written badly and I didn’t enjoy it. Now the other books! The Four Women was a really twisted little dark tale which I enjoyed and which left me pondering for days on end after I put it down – review to come in January. Christmas Secrets by the Sea was surprisingly good – you can read a more in depth review here. Shin, a sequel of Spinning Silk which I reviewed in spring, was also really cool – the review can be found here. Winter of the Witch was amazing and you can find the review here.

So that puts me at four proper bricks with the reviews already posted, and one lego brick because I’ve still got to publish the review.

~ State of the ARC 2019! ~

So it’s time to get motivated for the next year! And it’s time for a new bingo. I think that a half a year was a great length of time for a bingo of this size, don’t you think? We won’t get bored, but we’ll still cover most of the slots. This is why I am not changing the rules up – only giving you a new bingo with new slots! I’ve taken the liberty of picking my own slots this time. Here is your empty State of the ARC Bingo sheet for the first half of 2019 – up for grabs:

So why did I pick these slots? Well, I kept your oldest ARC and an overdue ARC, because that’s always relevant. Then I figured that everyone would have a fantasy ARC or a scifi ARC. Other that that, I would like to encourage you to read more diverse books, as well as books that have good mental health rep, so I’ve put that along with nonfiction, which should also be promoted, I think! Then I thought an interesting prompt could be a no-romance ARC, because so many books concentrate on romance, but don’t talk about a lot of other important things – like friendship, or ambition, or family. I’m sure you’ll find something! And I’ve also included a graphic novel / illustrated ARC – you can interpret this freely, so a kids picture book also works – I just wanted to change it up a little and add a prompt that was different.

And that’s it! You think you’ll be able to fill those slots before July?

#BeatTheBacklist Sign Up!

I will also use this space to announce that I’ll be joining #BeatTheBacklist again this year, because I really enjoyed it last time! The challenge asks us to post a TBR, but I won’t be locking myself into it. My goal is to read at least 36 backlist books. I’ll also be proudly reading for Hufflepuff this year!

So what ARCs did you get and which ones are you excited for in the new year?