State of the ARC is a meme hosted by Avalinah’s Books in which we round up our ARCs and attempt to wrangle them into something approaching order. Sometimes it’s like herding cats.

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I only had one advance review copy for the month of April, and that was Wayfinding by M.R. O’Connor. It’s a nonfiction title due out April 30th, and I thought it was fantastic. It’s one of those books that makes you look at the world a little bit differently- in a very good way. Thanks to O’Connor, I’ve been getting my attention away from my screens and back onto my surroundings. You can find my review here:

• Wayfinding: The Science and Mystery of How Humans Navigate the World by M.R. O’Connor, expected publication date April 30th from St. Martin’s Press

 

I currently have five ARCs on my NetGalley shelf, though none of them is due for a while. There is a variety of fantasy, mystery, memoir, and one book about books. My current feedback ratio is 75%, which is just shy of the preferred 80%. I have 20 approvals with 15 books that I’ve reviewed so far, and I’m waiting to hear back about one more that I recently requested.

• I’m Sorry I’m Late, I Didn’t Want to Come: One Introvert’s Year of Saying Yes by Jessica Pan, expected publication date May 28, 2019, by Andrews McMeel Publishing
• For the Love of Books: Stories of Literary Lives, Banned Books, Author Feuds, Extraordinary Characters, and More by Graham Tarrant, expected publication date June 4, 2019, by Skyhorse Publishing
• Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia, expected publication date, August 6, 2019, by Del Rey
• The Long Call by Ann Cleeves, expected publication date September 3, 2019, by St. Martin’s Press
• A Hero Born (Legends of the Condor Heroes #1) by Jin Yong, expected publication Date September 17, 2019, by St. Martin’s Press

 

I’ve already started reading For the Love of Books, and it’s not quite what I expected. Usually, in a book about books, the author writes about their reading lives or how a particular book or two has affected their life. But this one reads more like a dash through the history of novels. I’ll probably get it finished up pretty soon since it’s been a quick read so far.

I was wandering through the ‘Read Now’ titles on NetGalley’s website, and I’m Sorry I’m Late, I didn’t Want to Come looked like it would be a lot of fun. I’ve read the first few pages, and Pan’s writing so far is clear and funny. If the rest of the books is as good as the opening chapter, it will be an entertaining ride.

I had initially bypassed The Long Call, which is the first in Ann Cleeves’s new mystery series set in the UK. I have nothing against Cleeves’s novels; I enjoyed Raven Black, which is the first in her Shetland series, and I loved the television show based on that series. I just wasn’t in the mood for a mystery when I was scrolling through St. Martin’s Press’s offerings the first time I saw it. But then I got an email stating that I had been pre-approved for the ARC, so I decided to give it a shot. Who am I to pass up a murder mystery set in the UK?

 

I don’t have a lot of books on the docket right now. Five is not that many, especially since some of them aren’t due until the fall. But given that I’m traveling to Iceland in September, I’m going to try to get through all of those ARCs in August and get reviews written and scheduled well in advance so I don’t have to worry about them when I’m traveling, or when I get home and am dealing with jet lag.

I might go through some of the “Read Now’ listings over the summer and grab a few things that look fun and/or interesting, but I’m not going to obsess too much over my ARCs since I want to get through a lot of the unread books on my own shelves in the next few months.

I’m still enjoying my NetGalley experience so I plan to continue working with them to find upcoming releases to read and spread the word about. St. Martin’s Press is fast becoming a favorite imprint, since there has only been one book I’ve gotten from them that I didn’t enjoy. The rest have been wonderful. Who knew I’d develop a preference for a particular publishing house?