Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish and is now hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. Each week a new theme is suggested for bloggers to participate in. This week’s prompt is Reasons Why I Love [insert your favorite book title, genre, author, etc. here].
Hello Readers! I hope you are all staying healthy and safe. May is flying by, right? Or is it just me? Needing something positive? Check out my Bookish News to Smile About!
My brain has not been very creative lately, so I decided to talk about my love of ARCs this week. Admittedly, it’s a love/hate relationship sometimes, but love always wins out in the end. 😉 I’ll be listing the top ten reasons I love getting advance reader copies, as well as sharing some of my favorites over the years!
(Link to Goodreads synopsis through the book title.)
1
First to read
If we’re being honest, this is probably the reason most of us love getting ARCs. We get to read books first, before the rest of the world. There’s something about having that first glimpse into a world, like an explorer in uncharted territory. I was so very happy when I was invited to read The Honey-Don’t List. I’d been denied access when I requested it through Netgalley, but then a few days before publication, an invite showed up. A lovely surprise! (My review)
Alternate choice: What You Wish For by Katherine Center (My review)
2
Discover new authors
I’ve discovered so many new authors from ARCs–some that are even auto-buy or request authors for me now. Katherine Center is my top choice. I was introduced to her through an ARC of her novel, How to Walk Away.
Alternate choice: The Dinner List by Rebecca Serle
3
Debut novels
It may sound strange, but I actually like to read debut novels. I enjoy getting to be one of the few readers to read someone’s first attempt at writing fiction. Their baby. Their dream come to life. It’s an honor and a privilege. If you’re a follower of my blog, you’ve probably already heard me gush about The Most Fun We Ever Had, but I still can’t believe it was a debut. Want more? Check out my Engaging Debut Novels You Might Have Missed.
Alternate choice: Cape May by Chip Cheek
4
Pick up books I wouldn’t have otherwise
While I try to choose ARCs I know I will enjoy, sometimes I do accept books I probably wouldn’t have picked up on my own. Maybe they’re books that wouldn’t have come to my attention because they’re so far outside my norm? Or maybe they deal with a subject matter I’m not typically very interested in? But for whatever reason, when these books landed in my mailbox, I couldn’t resist. My current read, Hollywood Park, is one of those books, and so far, it’s riveting!
Alternate choice: After the Eclipse: A Mother’s Murder, a Daughter’s Search by Sarah Perry
5
Gush and rant with other early reviewers
I love getting to gush and rant about books with YOU before the rest of the reading world is able to. 😉 I recently finished Beach Read, and I love that I was able to discuss how much I LOVED it with other bloggers who had already read it, as well. (My review)
Alternate choice: The Tourist Attraction by Sarah Morgenthaler (My review)
6
Get that next book in the series
It’s always nice to get that next book in a series I’ve been waiting to read just a little bit before the rest of the world. I was able to read the entire Jane Hawk series by Dean Koontz through ARCs, whether by requesting them or winning them. I was already a big fan of Koontz, so getting early access was a treat!
Alternate choice: The Living (Warm Bodies, #3) by Isaac Marion
7
Get an author’s next “big” book
Maybe it’s not the next book in a series or a debut novel, but it’s a successful author’s next book! I was excited to get an advance copy of Artemis by Andy Weir, after his success with The Martian.
Alternate choice: Mrs. Everything by Jennifer Weiner
8
Great for reading challenges
This is my third year to participate in the Popsugar Reading Challenge, which tends to have some specific and harder-to-fill prompts. And ARCs work great for that. When Good Boy showed up in my mailbox, it perfectly fulfilled a prompt I didn’t already own a book for. (My review)
Alternate choice: Love You Hard: A Memoir of Marriage, Brain Injury, and Reinventing Love by Abby Maslin
9
Building relationships with authors and publishers
I’ve loved getting to establish relationships with authors and publishers. Granted, they probably don’t recognize my name at all, but I recognize theirs when that request comes in. There are certain publishers that regularly send me invites to read their latest books, and it’s such a nice thing to know who you’re working with. I read The Family Upstairs by Lisa Jewell (My review) and I’ll be reading Invisible Girl, as well.
Alternate choice: Big Summer by Jennifer Weiner (My review)
10
Saves money
Let’s be honest, getting advanced copies saves us money, too. Although, if I really love a book, and I only have an e-copy of it, I’ll try to pick up a physical copy, as well, to display on my shelves. But I am thrifty and usually only buy books when they’re on sale or used. I loved Judy Blundell’s The High Season, and was happy to come across a physical copy.
Alternate choice: You Think It, I’ll Say It by Curtis Sittenfeld
How do you feel about ARCs? What do you love most about them? Let me know in the comments!
Happy Wandering!
I enjoyed Artemis. It was so unexpected. My TTT list today>
Yes! I thought it deserved more attention than it got. 🙂
I love ARCs too. I love being able to read stories early, and it definitely saves money (or at least the wait for the book to get into the library).
Yes! The library wait list can get sooo long. 🙂
Totally agree with this post! One of the first things I realised with ARCs is that I might not have found them without them coming to me. Plus as you said, it’s great getting to discover new authors 🙂
Anika | chaptersofmay.com
Yes, I hate to think of all the books I might have missed out on because I would have overlooked them. 🙂
I love ARCs too as it means I get to read the stories early ( downside though is you often have to wait longer for the next one to come out) , it definitely saves money and sometimes some of the books aren’t readily avaliable . I am also open to a whole new range of authors and books I might not have seen or discovered.
– I went with favourite tropes on The Phantom Paragrapher
Yeah, waiting for the next book in a series is a downside–unless you get another ARC. 😉
Love tropes. Can’t wait to check out your post!
In my bookseller days we got so many arcs. I loved them. Especially your first point was for me. I loved reading books before all the others and talking with people about it or recommending it. 🙂
I wish I could still do it.
My TTT post
Oh so fun! It would be hard to say no to any of them. 🙂
I’ve only read a handful of ARCs, but I really enjoyed them!!
You mean you didn’t read one and become addicted?? Ha! It’s a blessing and a curse. 😉
I haven’t read that many ARCs yet, but I agree that they’re a great way to discover new authors. And to save money! 😀
My TTT: https://www.traversingchapters.com/top-ten-tuesday-ten-reasons-why-i-love-fantasy/
You may be smart to not read many. Once you start, it’s hard to stop! 😉
I love that you chose to talk about ARCs! I still remember the day when I first dicovered NetGalley and got my first ARC approved. Or the first ever physical ARC I recieved, these moments were better than Christmas morning 😀
Yes!! That first one was a game-changer. 😉
Discovering new authors is very cool for sure.
My TTT .
Yes, always fun to find new stories. 🙂
ARCs definitely save me money as I tend not to buy books I’ve already read, though of course, I support authors through posting my reviews of them to Goodreads. I’ve also enjoyed getting to read anticipated sequels, books by favourite authors because of ARCs and discovered new authors. My only bug bear with them is that it’s easier to get ARCs through Netgalley than get physical copies and I don’t love reading on a screen, but it’s a small price to pay.
My TTT: https://jjbookblog.wordpress.com/2020/05/19/top-ten-tuesday-264/
I think it’s a pretty good trade-off, right? We give authors free advertising in exchange for a free book. Such a simple but wonderful thing. <3 Thankfully, I like to read digital AND physical books, but I can understand how reading on a screen would take a little bit of the fun out of getting ARCs, if you mainly enjoy physical books. :)
I love your take on this week’s prompt, Dedra! I think we all have a love/hate relationship with ARCs most of the time but I totally agree with so much fo your list. I realise lately how little I’ve been spending on physical books because I’ve been reading so many exciting new ARCs. And it’s always so satisfying to have a publishing house reach out to you personally to invite you to read certain books <3 I definitely thought that'd never happen to me! LOL fab list!
Yes, I remember being so excited the first time a publisher reached out! I definitely didn’t think it would ever happen for me, either. 😉 Thanks Dini!
And isn’t today your birthday?? Happy Birthday!!! I hope it’s a good one. <3
This was such a lovely list to read! Especially as I’ve only read one ARC before so I’m looking forward to a lot of things you listed:)
My TTT: https://moonlitbooks.home.blog/2020/05/19/tttwhyilovebooks/
Aww, you’re in for a treat! It’s definitely a fun experience every time an ARC shows up. 🙂
I think for me, getting an ARC is all about reading the next book from an author I love as soon as possible.
Yep, there’s nothing like being one of the firsts to read the next big book from your favorite author. <3
I haven’t read any ARCs in a long time because I don’t post book reviews anymore, but when I did get them I loved being able to read the book before anyone else 🙂
So you were able to stop reading ARCs?! I didn’t know if it was possible. Ha! 🙂
I love your twist on this topic! I definitely have a love/hate relationship with ARCs, too. Mostly love. But at least a teensy bit of hate. I love being one of the first to read, but also, sometimes it’s difficult to find people to talk to about books! Knowing bloggers with similar reading tastes makes it a little easier, because usually, we have similar ARCs, but still. xD Sometimes, I just want someone to shout at haha. Saves money is a big thing for me, too! I’m so picky about what I read and love, and there’s no way I could buy all the books I read in a year (I’d never be able to afford it). I love spreading buzz about books, though, so this is kind of a win-win for me, and then I can buy the ARCs that I just loved! 😀
Yes, I totally agree about the little bit of hate. Ha! You know it’s bad when you’re a little relieved you get rejected for an ARC because you already have so many to read. I have to say I’ve done better this year. Last year, I accepted WAY too many ARCs and quickly became overwhelmed. This year, I’ve forced myself to be more choosey, and tried to limit my requests per month. Unless I reallllly wanted it. lol And yes, there is NO way I could afford to buy all the books I read. However, I do have enough already on my shelves to keep me reading for several years. But they wouldn’t be new releases. And that’s no fun. 😉
This is a very random question, but do you remember if there is a boat involved in Beach Read? I’ve been looking for a place to fit that one into my reading challenges, and I have a prompt open for a book that has a boat!
Yes, there is! It’s not a big part of the book, but there is one. Yay, for filling a prompt! ?
Finding new authors and/or books you might not have read otherwise is definitely a good thing! Here is my Top Ten Tuesday.
Yes, it is! <3
I agree with all this and it’s why I love ARC’s and it’s been killing me not to request any this year. I’m killing it on my own books though, so it’s accomplishing that! Although, I’ve been buying more books since the library is closed and that has killed my numbers. haha
Oh, but that’s awesome! I did set a goal this year to limit my number of requests… but I didn’t think about getting *invites* to read books. It’s hard for me to say no when those come in, but I’m getting better at it. I really want to read more books off of my own shelves. I’m at least doing better this year than last. 😉
I do love a lot of the things you listed about ARCs, but I was so bad at reading & review deadlines for them (back when I requested them) that I ended up feeling too guilty to keep requesting them. Now, I enjoy seeing other people review them so I know what books to add to my TBR pile!
It can be a struggle! It took me a few years to get the hang of not requesting or accepting too many books. I’m doing MUCH better now. I set monthly limits and keep an ongoing list I can check through Evernote, so I know if I’ve already got enough ARCs for a certain month. I make sure and leave plenty of room for my backlist reads and rereads. I used to feel very guilty, too, if I didn’t get to a book on time or at all, but I had to remind myself I’m only human. If it was something I was getting paid to do, then it would be a different story. 🙂
I don’t read many ARCs because I find deadlines stressful, but I do like helping build the hype for a book. It’s fun to be one of the first people in the world to read something.
I’m the opposite. I thrive on deadlines. Ha! At least when it comes to books. I don’t think I’d read near as many books if I didn’t have a deadline. I would end up getting distracted by other things (okay, tv). It’s why I love reading challenges, too. 🙂
I absolutely love your take this week! I received a fair amount of ARCs before I got into book blogging, but it’s something I never really got back into (because I am terrible with stress), so I was never really able to share them with others. I imagine it would be nice to have that early access and be able to share a love of something before it really “got out”. (Although I say that, I sometimes find it a little annoying when others do this since it creates this weird hype phase and spoiler-y online section, so…maybe not?) I also find myself buying sale or used books for money costs, so that’s another great thing about ARCs! However, I’ll gladly put the money towards helping that author out if I loved it, especially if it’s a debut novel. Overall, I have found two authors that I will purchase books from, thanks to receiving ARCs, so while they aren’t something I currently go to, I do hope to return to them again one day and can see all of the reasons to love (and hate) them!
You aren’t wrong about the hype phase–and shame on anyone who spoils a book. That is not acceptable. I’ve finally gotten to a point where I’m fairly good at knowing what I’ll enjoy, and I follow a lot of other early readers on Goodreads so I can check their reviews before I request or accept an ARC. That definitely helps to avoid the overhyped books. 🙂
All the reasons you listed are definitely “yeses” to my joy for ARCs. 🙂 Great list!
Thank you. <3
Amazing Post!!! I don’t request ARC’s. Too much of a scaredy cat, plus the pressure of reviewing books by a certain date would put me under way too much stress! ? It takes me a few weeks to prepare a review for the books from my shelves I read, and I only get round to them because I tell myself I have all the time in the world to get round to it- and maybe also because I let myself have cake when I’m done! ?
I love reading other bloggers ARC reviews though, it makes me more excited (or newly excited if it’s a book I haven’t heard of)!
Happy Reading! <3
Ha! I completely understand. Someone else said the same thing. I’m the opposite, though. I need a deadline or else I wouldn’t get much reading done. It’s why I love reading challenges, too. But it’s good that we know our strengths and weaknesses, right??
And cake is a great incentive! 😉