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In the next few days, I am going to write an article with my answer to the age old question: "How can I get an ARC?".

But in thinking about my answer to that question, I realized that there is a more critical topic that needs to be discussed before we can intelligently look at how to obtain an ARC - "What are ARCs and why do they exist?"

Quite simply, Advance Review Copies are the literary equivalent of an early screening of a movie - they exist as part of a marketing strategy to build word of mouth (aka "buzz") about a particular book in the days/ weeks/ sometimes even months before its release. But the goal is always pretty obvious: To sell more books. Period.

It doesn't matter if a particular author just wants to be published at all and would maybe like to make enough money from their book to buy a Nintendo Switch or if the author in question is a "mega/ mega" - has a mega contract with a major publishing house. At the end of the day, writing books is a business and it is about making money. Yes, authors by their nature are very creative people. And particularly at the Indie level, they tend to be almost Renaissance People with how many different artistic abilities they have to have, since they themselves do *every* job that a major publishing house can farm off to dozens or potentially even hundreds of people. But at the end of the day, the goal is always the same: to sell this product - in this case, books - to make money. And the money isn't just for the author, even on the indie level. While the author and their family are important enough, many times au...

This week we are looking at a tale of three friends getting together to spend one last perfect summer together in a former monastery in the English countryside. This week, we are looking at One Last Summer by Victoria Connelly.

This was a solid tale of three middle aged women long out of college getting back together for one perfect summer to reconnec...

This week, we look at an intensely dark and gritty new police procedural story that is intended to launch a new series. This week, we look at The Memory Man by Steven Savile.

This was one of the darkest, grittiest books I've read in quite a while. It opens with the brutal torture and murder of a Swedish politician, and it only gets darker from there. All across Europe, we see people getting mailed human body parts with a note demanding a meeting, going to the meeting... and disappearing. Clearly, a serial killer is on the loose. Eurocrimes Division agent Peter Ash, based in London, gets roped into the mystery when his friend, a fixer for the Catholic Church, asks for a favor in Paris. Eurocrimes Division agent Frankie Varga gets roped into it by a my...

Last month, I wrote about a troubling trend I've been made aware of recently among Advance Reader Copy (ARC) readers. Continuing discussions around ARCs, mostly with fellow ARC readers this time, has revealed another troubling topic.

Specifically, the question has come up in multiple discussions on different walls and groups regarding what to do with ARC copies once you are done with them and in particular whether it is acceptable to share them.

The very first time an author gave me a book - I don't even remember if it was an actual ARC or not - was several years ago now. I had been reading this author for several years already and had interacted online with them for at least a few of them, and had been absolutely devouring a particular series. But I was unexpectedly let go from my job - just a couple of weeks before the new book in the series came out. This author was kind enough to send me a copy of the book at their own expense, even the shipping. But they specifically told me that I was to never give the book to anyone else.

Thus, my first "ARC" came with explicit instructions.

Over the years, I would become more active with more ARC work for more authors, and at least for me it was always understood implicitly that these ARCs were never to be share...

This week, we're talking about yet another new-to-me Lake Union author's newest book, the first in a new series. This week, we're looking at Wildflower Heart by Grace Greene.

This book ultimately is all about finding yourself again after loss. And it resonat...

This week we look to an excellent post Apocalyptic zombie tale by a promising debut author. This week, we look to The Post by Kevin Munoz.

This was a book that was very reminscent of Cormac McCarthy's The Road in terms of overall bleakness. The key difference being that while I often cite The Road as the singular worst book I have ever read, this particular book w...

This week, we look at a book that introduces a new spinoff series from a well established world. This week, we look at Ghost of Himself by Pandora Pine.

This was an excellent entry point into an existing well-established world. You get enough of a sense of the larger world without being overwhelmed in the details and thus not being able to enjoy the particular story you are currently reading. Indeed, just the opposite is true: the current story is the laser focus at all times, and you get just enough background to understand where the variou...

2018 was going to be a big year in books for me from the start. At the end of 2017, I realized I had averaged more than 70 books in each of the last two years, so I set myself what I saw as an ambitious goal: 108 books. It started out as a specific list of books, with the acknowledgement that I would add the occassional Advance Reader Copy (ARC) and would probably end the year at 120 or so - still nearly double my recent average. I distinctly remember even 53 books being very difficult in 2008, but my life had also been much different at the time, as a new person in my day job profession, new husband, and driving 100 miles one way to work for over half of that year. 2018 was going to be much easier - I was working a fairly easy job in a settled position in my career, married to the same lady from 2008, and working just 15 minutes from home.

I started the year with a couple of 19th century philosophical works, Civil Disobedience by Henry David Thorau and On Liberty by John Stuart Mills. Those would be the oldest books I read this year, and the only books published before the current Millenium. Over the course of the year, I would find many amazing books, a few duds, march through my mountain of a TBR (while adding even more, peril of a bookaholic), joined several more book and author groups, started a book blog, and overall surprise myself in a couple of ways:

1) I surpassed my original goal of 108 books in *October*. I closed the year at 156. 2) I didn't realize it until counting yesterday, but of those 156 books, 46 of them turned out to be ARCs!

But let's take a brief look at some "best of 2018", shall we? I believe we'll break it down by month before finally picking from those selections for the annual award. January Total books: 15 Series of the month: Spinster Series by Becky Monson Humor of the month: Thirty-Two Going On Spinster by Becky Monson Tear jerker of the month: n/a Nonfiction of the month: Endurance by Scott Kelly Audiobook of the month: Endurance by Scott Kelly Most Interesting of the month: Endurance by Scott Kelly Book of the month: Endurance by Scott Kelly

February Total books: 11 Series of the month: The God Tools by Gary Williams and Vicky Knerly Humor of the month: The Girl He Knows by Kristi Rose Tear jerker of the month: n/a Nonfiction of the month: The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander Audiobook of the month: n/a Most Interesting of the month: Infinity Lost by S Harrison Book of the month: The Good Liar by Catherine McKenzie

March Total books: 8 Series of the month: Sabel Security Thrillers by Seeley James Humor of the month: Element 42 by Seeley James Tear jerker of the month: Infinity Rises by S Harrison Nonfiction of the month: