2018 Resolution Progress + State of the ARC

Posted December 28, 2018 / Book Challenges, Features, State of the ARC, Weekly Memes / 3 Comments

I’m here today to start some of the 2018 year-end wrap-ups! I CAN’T BELIEVE IT. First, I’ll be going through my resolutions from 2018 and seeing where my final status is for them. Did I complete everything or fail miserably? (Remember I did a check-in during the summer? Again, I’ll say it, time flies and I can’t believe it.) Second, I’ll be checking in with the State of the ARC meme to see where I stand at the end of the year. I was hoping to get to an 80% Netgalley ratio and spoiler alert, I did not. [See my 2019 resolutions and challenges here!]


Continue to not feel pressured to read and enjoy other hobbies ✔️ 

I’ve done a good job of this yet again. Sure, it’s led to some sad reading months, but that’s what happens! I also have learned that balance is so important. If that means I have to create a reading/listening schedule based on certain days of the week or month, so be it. I don’t want to feel pressured to read and avoid watching shows with Chris or enjoying a podcast.

Read 50% or less contemporary novels ❌

Alright so this one is VERY CLOSE – arguably the closest it’s ever been. I’m writing this at the end of November so I guess I won’t know for sure what this will look like by the end of December… but all of my holiday reads will definitely not help this case! My total right now is 52%. I completely plan on making this a goal AGAIN for 2019 because I have a feeling I can do it. My reading has expanded a lot so I don’t doubt I can make this work.

Read books from my shelves (at least one every month, total of 20+ in 2018) ❌

HAHA what even. It looks like I read 11 books from my shelves (plus probably a couple more), which is definitely not 20 books. I also didn’t even read one per month. Three of the books are review copies too which is definitely not what I intended. This is showing up again for 2019.

Start and complete 3 series next year, at least one reread ➖

I did start and finish the JACKABY series this year because of book club, but I didn’t succeed anywhere else. I wanted to reread a few series and I would let myself count that, but I never continued after the first book. I did successfully complete two series by reading their final books otherwise (THE THOUSANDTH FLOOR trilogy and THE AMATEURS trilogy) in November. I feel like this kind of counts in some way because I’m not great at finishing series in general. I also made a lot of progress on the ROSE GARDNER series that I started in 2018, with just a couple of books left to finish off in January.

Develop a blog schedule for each week that mixes in bookish and personal ✔️

I think I do a decent job of balancing things now. I read 120 books in a year, which averages to 2-3 book reviews per week on the blog. I do a lot of review round-up posts, where I feature 2+ book reviews, so that helps not overpower the blog with reviews. I try to keep some review copies separated, but not always. Allowing just 1-2 book review posts each week gives me flexibility to post more discussions (about books or otherwise), life-related posts, and wrap-ups. I’m happy with my schedule!

Develop a review system ✔️

My answer to this is that I don’t feel like I need much consistency with review types. I can write short or long ones, individual reviews or round-up style reviews – whatever I want. Who cares?

Pay off my credit card and/or develop a system for using it ➖

I definitely haven’t paid off my credit card but I have begun the process successfully and am working on my debts in general (car loan, student loan, etc.). My plan is to reserve commission for paying things down like this because it’s a chunk of money I don’t rely on that happens every once in a while. We’ll see! I am definitely aiming to spend less money in my life on stupid things and paying down bills/cards.

Organize my life and purge a lot of things ✔️

I’ve gotten rid of a lot of clothing items and we’ve made plans to purge more things. Our house is fairly minimal, with a combination of our tiny Portland lifestyle mixing in with more of our Connecticut stuff. We have a good amount in storage still at Chris’s parents’ but plan to throw away and donate things next year when it’s warm-ish to be in the basement for an extended amount of time.

Be more proactive in my career ✔️

I took an online course through my work on Coursera and enjoyed it. I’m doing a decent job of being proactive, following up with people, etc., which is really what I meant by this goal. I think 2019 will also be a good year for me professionally now that I am settled back in the office and have the ability to keep on track with everything.


State of the ARC is hosted by AvalinahsBooks, which is a fun way to share our ARC progress (or lack thereof!). Instead of linking up monthly, I’ll be making a quarterly post to check in on my ARC-related progress, especially as it pertains to my 2018 Netgalley & Edelweiss Challenge progress. I will not be including physical ARCs here because most of them are borrowed from friends and/or I don’t have as much trouble reading ones from the publisher. This will only be to help me with NG & EW.

Current Netgalley Percentage: 72%

Egalleys read in Q4: 12

The last two books = currently reading / up next before 2019

 Toil & Trouble: 16 Tales of Women & Witchcraft 
  The Best Little Christmas Shop
  Just For Clicks The Princess and the Fangirl

ALL egalleys read in 2018: 46

  1. Pretty Dead Girls – Murphy
  2. As You Wish – Sedoti
  3. The Upside of Falling Down – Crane
  4. Surprise Me – Kinsella
  5. The Sweetest Kind of Fate – Cestari
  6. Legendary – Garber
  7. Finding Felicity – Kade
  8. Starry Eyes – Bennett
  9. Frat Girl – Roache
  10. No Filter – Collins
  11. The Elizas – Shepard
  12. Love Songs & Other – Pennington
  13. August/Everything After – Dotorksi
  14. Love & Luck – Welch
  15. Herons Landing – Ross
  16. From Twinkle with Love – Menon
  17. Dating Disasters/Emma – Seager
  18. Last Summer/Garrett – Spotswood
  19. The Summer List – Doan
  20. The Similars – Hanover
  21. To Catch a Killer – Scarborough
  22. Your Destination/Left – Spieller
  23. The Year/Living Awk – Chastain
  24. Good Luck Charm – Hunting
  25. Art/Inheriting Secrets – O’Neal
  26. Kiss Me in Paris – Rider
  27. After Nightfall – Banner
  28. Sadie – Summers
  29. Little White Lies – Barnes
  30. Last Wish/Sasha Cade – Young
  31. The Dinner List – Serle
  32. A Date with Darcy – Schmidt
  33. One Was Lost – Richards
  34. Intercepted – Martin
  35. Geography of Letting Go – Brody
  36. The Witch of Willow Hall – Fox
  37. Toil & Trouble – Spotswood
  38. Reckoning/Noah Shaw – Hodkin
  39. Daisy Jones – TJR
  40. Love a la Mode – Strohm
  41. In Dog We Trust – Kendrick
  42. Accidental Beauty Queen – Wilson
  43. The Proposal – Guillory
  44. It Started with Christmas – Hale
  45. Just for Clicks – McDowell
  46. The Princesss/The Fangirl – Potson

2018 ARCs

26 left to read | 50 read or DNFed
6 2019 egalleys already read

Reign the Earth AC Gaughen
When Light Left Us Leah Thomas
One and Only Jenny Holiday
More than We Can Tell Brigid Kemmerer
Folded Notes from High School Matt Boren
Valley Girls Sarah Nicole Lemon
Furyborn Claire Legrand
Cowboy Bold Carolyn Brown
When Life Gives You Lululemons Lauren Weisberger
The Opposite of Here Tara Altebrando
Whisper of the Tide Sarah Tolcser
All that I Can Fix Crystal Chan
Almost Impossible Nicole Williams
Chemistry Lessons Meredith Goldstein
Sandpiper Shore Debbie Mason
It Takes Two Jenny Holiday
The Impossibility of Us Katy Upperman
Dance of Thieves Mary E. Pearson
I Do Not Trust You Laura Burns
Broken Things Lauren Oliver
Grim Lovelies Megan Shepherd
Fight or Flight Samantha Young
The Corner of Holly and Ivy Debbie Mason
The Adults Caroline Hulse
The Cottage on Rose Lane Hope Ramsay
This Lie Will Kill You Chelsea Pitcher

Earlier than 2018 – Egalleys Only

All Things New Lauren Miller
Almost Missed You Jessica Strawser
Been Here All Along Sandy Hall
In a World Just Right Jen Brooks
Just Fly Away Andrew McCarthy
Nast Women 404 Ink
Never Never Brianna R. Shrum
Noteworthy Riley Redgate
The F Word Liza Palmer
The Future She Left Behind Marin Thomas
The Girl from Everywhere Heidi Heilig
The Incredible Adventures/Cinnamon Girl Melissa Keil
The Last Boy and Girl in the World Siobhan Vivian
The Love Interest Cale Dietrich
The Prophecy of Shadows Michelle Madow
The Sister Pact Stacie Ramey
Throwing My Life Away Liz Czukas
Tone Deaf Olivia Rivers
With Love from the Inside Angela Pisel

3 responses to “2018 Resolution Progress + State of the ARC

  1. Hey, overall, you did pretty fantastic on your goals (both personal and bookish). Good luck on getting your Netgalley percentage up. I know that you can do it. Your posts are so organized, I know you can kill your review pile too!

    Happy New Year, Lauren. Keep up the good work. Your blog is a work of art and I love it!

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