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 April with 22 ARCs left to be read. 

Hello June! While summer is my least favorite season, the month starts out strong with some nice celebrations in my family—a birthday and an anniversary, and I already know that my group of friends is going to plan some really fun get-togethers. It’s probably going to mean a little less time reading, but it’s important to balance out my time a bit more evenly between reading, getting out and enjoying life, and practicing self-care. 

I spent all of May recovering from shoulder surgery. It was really difficult to do much of anything the first week, so I spent most of the first few days checking in with my friends, and have been taking it easy and prioritizing physical therapy. Other than that, I’ve had a pretty good month of reading. I caught up on my reviews from April, and did six more in May, so not too shabby. I was right on track to do really well until I suddenly downloaded five new books just before the end of the month. Oh well, they were all irresistible and I couldn’t help it. My ratio went up to 95% for most of the month, but now it’s back to 94%, although I don’t have any outstanding requests at the moment and I’m going to try to be really selective until things calm down a bit.

I got approved for 8 new books in May:

1. The Witch’s Workshop by Melissa Madara
2. The Voyage Home by Pat Barker
3. The Forbidden Book by Sacha Lamb
4. Bitter Waters by Vivian Shaw
5. The Undermining of Twyla and Frank by Megan Bannen
6. The Enchanted Lies of Céleste Artois by Ryan Graudin
7. The Phoenix Keeper by S.A. Maclean
8. Mistress of Lies by K.M. Enright

I posted the reviews I didn’t get to from last month:

1. The Perfect Guy Doesn’t Exist by Sophie Gonzales — see my review here.
2. Lilith by Eric Rickstad — see my review here.

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

1. Wandering Stars by Tommy Orange — see my review here.
2. The Hebrew Teacher by Maya Arad — see my review here.
3. Spoon to be Dead by Dana Mentink — see my review here.
4. The Sins on Their Bones by Laura R. Samotin — see my review here.
5. Ill-Fated Fortune by Jennifer Chow — see my review here.
6. The Witch’s Workshop by Melissa Madara — see my review here.

Here are the ARCs I still have to read:

1. Nearly All the Men in Lagos Are Mad by Damilare Kuku | Amazon
2. Norse Mysticism by Disa Forvitin | Amazon
3. Mirrored Heavens by Rebecca Roanhorse | Amazon
4. Lula Dean’s Little Library of Banned Books by Kirsten Miller | Amazon
5. Sleep Like Death by Kalynn Bayron | Amazon
6. Bitter Waters by Vivian Shaw | Amazon
7. Benji Zeb is a Ravenous Werewolf by Deke Moulton | Amazon
8. The Undermining of Twyla & Frank by Megan Bannen | Amazon
9. Lenny Marks Gets Away with Murder by Kerryn Mayne | Amazon
10. Sounds Like a Plan by Paula Samuels Young & Dwayne Alexander Smith | Amazon
11. Long Island Compromise by Taffy Brodesser-Akner | Amazon
12. Castle of the Cursed by Romina Garber | Amazon
13. A Sorceress Comes to Call by T. Kingfisher | Amazon
14. The Phoenix Keeper by S.A. Maclean | Amazon
15. Mistress of Lies by K.M. Enright | Amazon
16. The Enchanted Lies of Céleste Artois by Ryan Graudin | Amazon
17. The Pairing by Casey McQuiston | Amazon
18. Strange Folk by Alli Dyer | Amazon
19. House of Glass by Sarah Pekkanen | Amazon
20. Buried Deep and Other Stories by Naomi Novik | Amazon
21. The Forbidden Book by Sacha Lamb | Amazon
22. The Love Elixir of Augusta Stern by Lynda Cohen Loigman | Amazon 
23. Betty Crocker Found Recipes by Betty Crocker | Amazon
24. The Voyage Home by Pat Barker | Amazon

Which ARCs are you excited about this month? Do we have any in common? Have you already read any of the ones on my list?