State Of The ARC #67

By Leah's Books on October 1, 2026 • ( Leave a comment )

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.

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links, and I may earn a small commission at no cost to you if you purchase through my links.

I finished August with 34 ARCs left to be read.

I love September. After a long, hot summer, I always look forward to the arrival of autumn. It’s one of my favorite seasons—the rustling of leaves, cool breezes, boots, and pumpkin spice everything. I even found pumpkin spice protein shakes, and they’re pretty tasty!

I’m still doing my best to care for Mom, but she needs a lot more help and it is only getting worse. She has severe mobility issues but insists on using a Rollator and is very averse to the idea of using a wheelchair. She’s got her heart set on a scooter, but we would have to travel more than an hour to get to the nearest location for a seating evaluation, and that is more than I can physically handle. In fact, I spent the month of August trying to access the resources available to help Mom. We did get linked to an agency who comes weekly to provide in-home PT and OT. However, getting an aide to come for a few hours a day has been an ongoing struggle and it is surprisingly hard to find an agency. This is especially important for when I spend some time out of the house.

I’ve moved from documentaries to podcasts now. I seem to be completely hooked on true crime, and have found some really awesome victim-focused podcasts. Also, somehow I found one that talks about emergencies that occur in national parks around the world but it also overlaps a bit with true crime. It’s fascinating to see what we can learn about, so I’ve been listening to some on world history but haven’t quite found one that I really love. One more thing I’ve experimented with is fun press-on nail styles. I love the look of long, stiletto nails, but they aren’t the most easy to function with, so I will be trying a different style soon.

Like previous months, almost all of my reading was NetGalley ARCs, but it was a pretty well rounded month in terms of genres. Also, I curtailed my requests and was approved for less while still reviewing a nice chunk of my list. It has made a nice dent in the backlog, and I’ve been trying to alternate overdue reads with upcoming reads. I’m maintaining a nice pace, and if I can keep this up, I might get this to a somewhat manageable level before 2027. It’s been a long time since I had a short list, and I really want to get back there. My ratio is holding steady at 96%.

Here’s how this month went for my NG ARCs:

I got approved for 3 new books in September:

Fat Bitch by Cat Clark
The Laboratory Assistant by Natalia Loya (audiobook)
When the Woods Called Us Home by Rachel Griffin

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

The Man by Laura Sims — see my review here.
The Mystic and the Missing Girl by Vikki VanSickle — see my review here.
The Mystic and the Missing Girl by Vikki VanSickle (audiobook)
A Jew in the Woods by Berl Kagan — see my review here.
The Devoted by Catherine Cho — see my review here.
The Chinese Lady by Bo Wang — see my review here.
Untamed Coast by Kevin C. Morris — see my review here.
Our Strange Duet by Erin A. Craig — see my review here.
The Whitechapel Full Moon Society by Elizabeth DeLozier — see my review here.
Fat Bitch by Cat Clark — see my review here.