ARC August 2015 Has Begun!

Since I have a stack of ARCs by my bed that I would like to get read sooner rather than later (and I’m really just super excited to have ARCs to read) I’ve signed up for ARC August hosted by Read.Sleep.Repeat. I decided this will be a great way to motivate me to read through these ARCs as soon as possible. Which would be especially good considering several have been published in the last couple months, and the rest will be published soon. When I have them, I usually prefer to try to read ARCs before they are published if I can (that just so rarely happens with my GIANT stack of books to read).

When I signed up online I stated that I would like to try to get through 8 ARCs by the end of the month. That’s a rather ambitious goal, I know, but I actually have about 10 ARCs that I would like to get read as soon as possible, so as long as I can get those 8 read, I’m doing pretty good. (And if I happen to get to all 10, even better!)

Focusing entirely on ARCs this month means I probably won’t be able to get through my summer reading list, but let’s be honest – I probably wasn’t going to do that anyway. That list will roll over into the fall as it always does. The list has also practically doubled, since I was just at a book sale over the weekend and picked up another 8-10 books that will probably be added to my ASAP TBR pile. (It’s really bad when you have your TBR pile, then a special ASAP pile that also almost never diminishes…) I did manage to get through 7 of the books on my list, which is actually better than I usually do.

August also happens to be my birthday month, so I’m considering a giveaway in celebration. I somehow ended up with two copies of ARCs for We’ll Never Be Apart by Emiko Jean. I may give one of them away, but I’m waiting until I read it to decide – I want to make sure it’s a book I enjoyed first!

The eight ARCs I plan to read this month are:

Eight Hundred Grapes by Laura Dave: It’s a story about a vineyard and wine, so obviously I’m interested.

The Sparrow Sisters by Ellen Herrick: This is a debut novel described on the back copy as having “echoes of the alchemy of Practical Magic, the lushness of Saving CeeCee Honeycutt, and the darkly joyful wickedness of the Witches of East End…” How could I possibly resist that?

Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon: The cover art for this one caught my attention, and the story sounded interesting.

The Thing About the Jellyfish by Ali Benjamin: This is actually a kids novel, but the story sounded interesting. Plus, I have a signed ARC!

We’ll Never Be Apart by Emiko Jean: This book is also listed as a young reader, but it sounded interesting, and the cover really struck me as well.

All The Birds in the Sky by Charlie Jane Anders: The back copy made it sound like a coming of age novel with magic, so naturally it piqued my interest.

In The Unlikely Event by Judy Blume: I actually wouldn’t have picked this ARC up myself, but it was in a stack in the breakroom of the bookstore I work in and one of my managers just handed it to me, so I decided to read it.

The Fold by Peter Clines: This is another ARC I was handed, this time by a friend who is a manager at a different bookstore. I’ve been hearing a lot about this book since then, so I’m curious to check it out.

The two extra if I get time:

The Lost Girl by R.L. Stine: I grew up reading Stine’s Goosebump, then Fear Street novels so when I saw this one offered on Netgalley I couldn’t resist.

Saint Anything by Sarah Dessen: I’ve never read anything by Sarah Dessen. I rarely read any YA that isn’t scifi or fantasy, but this one sounded intriguing so I thought I would give it a chance.

And there’s the books I hope to get through in the next month. Hopefully for once I’ll actually be able to stick to the plan and not deviate as new books catch my attention (my greatest weakness).