State of the Stack #81 (March 1, 2019)

This is my monthly State of the Stack post. It is my way to keep track of my review books and to hopefully reduce the stack that I have waiting for me. I take a look at my review commitments on or near the first of the month. Link with Avalinah's Books (description below) to check out other people's progress.

Here is my Review Books Spreadsheet I list them in publication order and sort them by month. I can quickly see how many books I have for each date. Ideally, this keeps me from over-committing to review books. Check my spreadsheet to find out where I got each book.

I also do this post because sometimes (frequently) review books sit on my stack for a while before I read and review them. I try to read and review books within two weeks of publication date. Sometimes I can't, though, if too many books are releasing on the same date or if the book arrives too near its publication date and my calendar is already full.

I am very grateful to the authors and publishers who support my reading habit.

I Read This Month

These are listed in the order I read them. Links go to my reviews for all that have been posted already. Otherwise, the date the review is scheduled for is listed.

1. The Pioneer by Bridget Tyler (Feb. 28)
2. Thornbound by Stephanie Burgis (Feb. 24)
3. Trouble on the Books by Essie Lang (March 3)
4. The True Queen by Zen Cho (March 5)
5. Murder in Belgravia by Lynn Brittney (March 9)
6. Murder from Scratch by Leslie Karst (March 10)
7. Sherwood by Meagan Spooner (March 12)
8. The Deepest Blue by Sarah Beth Durst (March 13)
9. Secrets Never Die by Melinda Leigh (March 14)
10. Killing November by Adriana Mather (March 20)
11. An Artless Demise by Anna Lee Huber (March 27)

Read Previously, Reviews Posted This Month

1. The Military Wife by Laura Trentham (Feb. 2)
2. The Blood Spell by C. J. Redwine (Feb. 5)
3. Past Due for Murder by Victoria Gilbert (Feb. 6)
4. Say You're Sorry by Karen Rose (Feb. 8)
5. Immoral Code by Lillian Clark (Feb. 12)
6. In the Dark by Cara Hunter (Feb. 13)
7. How I Became a Spy by Deborah Hopkinson (Feb. 14)
8. Broken Homes by Ben Aaronovitch (Feb. 16)
9. Foxglove Summer by Ben Aaronovitch (Feb. 19)
10. My Favorite Cowboy by Donna Grant (Feb. 20)
11. We Set the Dark on Fire by Tehlor Kay Mejia (Feb. 21)

I Added These Books

These are listed in the order I received them. Links go to Amazon. Date published is listed in parentheses.

1. Missing, Presumed Dead by Emma Berquist (May 21)
2. Hide and Seek by Mary Burton (April 23)
3. The Ghost Manuscript by Kris Frieswick (April 2)
4. The Darwin Affair by Tim Mason (June 11) 
5. Below the Fold by R. G. Belsky (May 7)
6. Smitten by the Brit by Melonie Johnson (May 28)
7. Under the Table by Stephanie Evanovich (April 16)
8. Girl in the Rearview Mirror by Kelsey Rae Dimberg (June 18)
9. The Old Man in the Corner by Baroness Orczy (June 11)
10. Read on Arrival by Nora Page (May 7)
11. Sweet Tea and Secrets by Joy Avon (June 11)

My Review Pile

April

The Devouring Gray by Christine Lynn Herman (April 2)

Caterpillar Summer by Gillian McDunn (April 2)

The Ghost Manuscript by Kris Frieswick (April 2)

Grave Destiny by Kalayna Price (April 2)

Dreaming Darkly by Caitlin Kittredge (April 9)

A Dream of Death by Connie Berry (April 9)

Come and Get Me by August Norman (April 9)

The Hummingbird Dagger by Cindy Anstey (April 16)

Under the Table by Stephanie Evanovich (April 16)

Hide and Seek by Mary Burton (April 23)

May

The Lovely and the Lost by Jennifer Lynn Barnes (May 7)

Below the Fold by R. G. Belsky (May 7)

Read on Arrival by Nora Page (May 7)

Spark by Sarah Beth Durst (May 14)

Missing, Presumed Dead by Emma Berquist (May 21)

Smitten by the Brit by Melonie Johnson (May 28)

June

The Soul of Power by Callie Bates (June 4)

The Darwin Affair by Tim Mason (June 11)

The Old Man in the Corner by Baroness Orczy (June 11)

Sweet Tea and Secrets by Joy Avon (June 11)

Girl in the Rearview Mirror by Kelsey Rae Dimberg (June 18)

August

Stolen Things by R. H. Herron (August 20)

Next Month's Plan

I am keeping up with my review commitments. I'm also DNFing more books. I have decided that if I am not enjoying the book at the 10% mark, I am going to quit reading it. This has happened seven times already in 2019. I must be getting to be a much pickier reader!

I have also been slower to add books to my review stack. I go and look at NetGalley and Edelweiss but nothing is really catching my attention.

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I am also linking up with the State of the ARC meme. Here is the explanation and rules.

State of the ARC is a monthly meme at Avalinah’s Books meant to motivate you to finish up all your long overdue ARCs (Advanced or Early Reader Copies). You can track your reading progress and link up with your own post. Most commonly it comes out on the 30th of every month.

Rules of State of the ARC:

• Mention that you’re linking up with State of the ARC @ AvalinahsBooks, which is a fun way to share our ARC progress, challenges, wins, woes and mishaps.
• Include the link to this post, or the current State of the ARC post. You can use my State of the ARC image too.
• Don’t forget to visit all the other people in the link-up and comment.
• And most importantly – have fun!