State of the ARC is a monthly meme temporarily hosted by Sarah at All The Book Blog Names Are Taken meant to motivate you to finish up your long overdue ARCs (Advanced or Early Reader Copies). This is its original intention, while some bloggers have tweaked it a bit for their own purposes, such as just keeping ARCs in order by due dates. Or you can just be a hot mess like me who sometimes misses publishing dates (or ignores them altogether) and needs a way to stay organized on what has been read, reviewed, or is still begging for attention. Thank you to Evelina @ Avalinah’s Books for coming up with this super helpful monthly meme.

I finished November with 13 ARCs left to be read. 

Is it just me, or does it feel like December lasted a really long time? Thanksgiving feels like forever ago, and while our Chanukah family party was only two weeks ago, it also seems like it was a lot longer ago than that. You know how everyone does book buying bans? I keep trying to do NetGalley requesting bans, and I really slipped up badly this month. After requesting a bunch of books, I wound up getting approved for a lot of them, and while I’m really excited about so many of them, my list is nowhere near single digits, like I was originally planning. Fortunately, a lot of these books aren’t coming out for a while. My ratio has slipped down to 94%, and I can’t really complain about that since it’s still in a pretty good place. 

 In support of the Harper Collins Union strike, I’m holding back any reviews for ARCs published by Harper Collins or their imprints. I do have a few ARCs from this publisher and their imprints on my NetGalley list, so hopefully this strike gets resolved sooner rather than later. In 2023, I’m hoping to get a better handle on my NetGalley ARCs and requesting habits, but I really can’t complain about how things went for me in 2022.

I got approved for 12 new books in December:

• A House with Good Bones by T. Kingfisher
• Against the Currant by Olivia Matthews
• Speechless by Lindsey Lanza
• Imogen, Obviously by Becky Albertalli 
• Mysteries of Thorn Manor by Margaret Rogerson
• Going Bicoastal by Dahlia Adler
• Silver in the Bone by Alexandra Bracken
• Sizzle Reel by Carlyn Greenwald
• Finlay Donovan Jumps the Gun by Elle Cosimano
• Gone Tonight by Sarah Pekkanen
• Blood Debts by Terry J. Benton-Walker
• The Sapphire Altar by David Dalglish

These are the ARCs that I read but haven’t reviewed yet:

• The Institution by Helen Fields — review held in support of the Harper Collins Union strike.

These are the ARCs that I read and reviewed, with links to my reviews:

• Candle Magic: An Enchanting Spell Book of Candles and Rituals by Minerva Radcliffe — see my review here.
• Rivers of London: Deadly Ever After by Ben Aaronovitch — see my review here.
• On the Savage Side by Tiffany McDaniel — see my review here.
• Speechless by Lindsey Lanza — see my review here.
• Against the Currant by Olivia Matthews — see my review here.
• Mysteries of Thorn Manor by Margaret Rogerson — see my review here.
• Finlay Donovan Jumps the Gun by Elle Cosimano — see my review here.
• Nocturne by Alyssa Wees — see my review here.
• My Dear Henry: A Jekyll & Hyde Remix by Kalynn Bayron — see my review here.

Here are the ARCs I still have to read:

• The Sapphire Altar by David Dalglish
• Damsel by Evelyn Skye
• Tear Down the Throne by Jennifer Estep
• A House with Good Bones by T. Kingfisher
• Blood Debts by Terry J. Benton-Walker
• The Soulmate by Sally Hepworth
• Silver in the Bone by Alexandra Bracken
• Untethered Sky by Fonda Lee
• Yours Truly by Abby Jimenez
• Pieces of Me by Kate McLaughlin
• Sizzle Reel by Carlyn Greenwald
• Imogen, Obviously by Becky Albertalli
• Going Bicoastal by Dahlia Adler
• The Déjà Glitch by Holly James
• Gone Tonight by Sarah Pekkanen

Which ARCs are you excited about this month?