State of the Stack #74 (August 1, 2018)

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 Avalalinha's Books (description below) to check out other people's progress. She has just recently started a meme about review books.

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. Deep Cover by Scarlett Cole (July 26)
2. The Girl You Thought I Was by Rebecca Phillips (July 27) 
3. The Butterfly Conspiracy by Vivian Conroy (July 28) 
4. Sea Witch by Sarah Henning (July 30) 
5. These Rebel Waves by Sara Raasch (August 1)
6. To Catch a Witch by Heather Blake (August 1)
7. Set the Night on Fire by Laura Trentham (August 2)
8. Nine by Zach Hines (August 3)
9. The Point by John Dixon (August 4) 
10. #MurderTrending by Gretchen McNeil (August 8) 
11. Wild Hunger by Chloe Neill (August 9) 
12. The Truth Lies Here by Lindsey Klingele (August 15)

Read Previously, Reviews Posted This Month

1. Smoke and Iron by Rachel Caine (July 2) 
2. Somebody's Daughter by David Bell (July 4) 
3. Hullmetal Girls by Emily Skrutskie (July 6) 
4. Shelved Under Murder by Victoria Gilbert (July 7) 
5. When Life Gives You Demons by Jennifer Honeybourn (July 11)
6. The Disappearing by Lori Roy (July 12) 
7. Nyxia Unleashed by Scott Reintgen (July 13)
8. Between Frost and Fury by Chani Lynn Feener (July 18)
9. Paradox by Catherine Coulter (July 19) 
10. Contagion by Erin Bowman (July 20) 
11. Murder, She Reported by Peg Cochran (July 21)
12. The Griffin's Feather by Cornelia Funke (July 23)
13. The Impossibility of Us by Katy Upperman (July 25)
14. A Double Life by Flynn Berry (July 25) 

I Added These Books

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

1. A Moment in Crime by Amanda Allen (Dec. 11)
2. Cowboy, Cross My Heart by Donna Grant (August 28)
3. A Knife in the Fog by Bradley Harper (Oct. 2)
4. The Hollow of Fear by Sherry Thomas (Oct. 2)
5. Wolf Rising by Paige Tyler (Oct. 30)
6. In the Mood Fur Love by Eve Langlais, Milly Taiden, Kate Baxter (Oct. 2)
7. The Pioneer by Bridget Tyler (March 5, 2019)
8. Uncompromising Honor by David Weber (Oct. 2)
9. Deadfall by Stephen Wallenfels (Dec. 11)
10. The Antidote by Shelley Sackier (Feb. 5, 2019)
11. The Lies We Told by Camilla Way (Oct. 9)
12. What I've Done by Melinda Leigh (Sept. 18)

My Review Pile

August

Hidden Pieces by Paula Stokes (Aug. 28)

Through the Fire by Katie Ruggle (Aug. 28)

The Prodigy by John Feinstein (Aug. 28)

Second Chance at Two Love Lane by Kieran Kramer (Aug. 28)

D-Day: The World War II Invasion that Changed History by Deborah Hopkinson (Aug. 28)

Unpunished Murder: Massacre at Colfax and the Quest for Justice by Lawrence Goldstone (Aug. 28)

Cowboy, Cross My Heart by Donna Grant (Aug. 28)

September

Ten After Closing by Jennifer Bayliss (Sept. 4)

Ignite the Stars by Maura Milan (Sept. 4)

Her Majesty's American by Steve White (Sept. 4)

The Splintered Light by Ginger Johnson (Sept. 4)

Read and Gone by Allison Brook (Sept. 11)

In Cold Chocolate by Dorothy St. James (Sept. 11)

Burning Ridge by Margaret Mizushima (Sept. 11)

Dactyl Hill Squad by Daniel Jose Older (Sept. 11)

The Guilty Dead by P. J. Tracy (Sept. 11)

The Deepest Roots by Miranda Asebedo (Sept. 18)

The Storm Runner by J. C. Cervantes (Sept. 18)

What I've Done by Melinda Leigh (Sept. 18)

Rocky Mountain Cowboy Christmas by Katie Ruggle (Sept. 25)

The Grand Escape by Neal Bascomb (Sept. 25)

October

Sawkill Girls by Claire Legrand (Oct. 2)

Broken Things by Lauren Oliver (Oct. 2)

Damsel by Elana K. Arnold (Oct. 2)

Del Toro Moon by Darby Karchut (Oct. 2)

A Knife in the Fog by Bradley Harper (Oct. 2)

The Hollow of Fear by Sherry Thomas (Oct. 2)

In the Mood Fur Love by Eve Langlais, Milly Taiden, & Kate Baxter (Oct. 2)

Uncompromising Honor by David Weber (Oct. 2)

Mardi Gras Murder by Ellen Byron (Oct. 9)

The Hour of Death by Jane Willan (Oct. 9)

A Crafter Knits a Clue by Holly Quinn (Oct. 9)

A Murder by Any Name by Suzanne M. Wolfe (Oct. 9)

Grenade by Alan Gratz (Oct. 9)

The Lies We Told by Camilla Way (Oct. 9)

A Sorrow Fierce and Falling by Jessica Cluess (Oct. 16)

The Guggenheim Mystery by Robin Stevens (Oct. 16)

Six Cats a Slayin' by Miranda James (Oct. 23)

Wolf Rising by Paige Tyler (Oct. 30)

November

Little White Lies by Jennifer Lynn Barnes (Nov. 6)

Umbertouched by Livia Blackburne (Nov. 6)

A Wrench in the Works by Kate Carlisle (Nov. 6)

This Splintered Silence by Kayla Olson (Nov. 13)

The Lying Woods by Ashley Elston (Nov. 13)

A Scandal in Scarlet by Vicki Delany (Nov. 13)

December

Fire & Heist by Sarah Beth Durst (Dec. 4)

A Moment in Crime by Amanda Allen (Dec. 11)

Deadfall by Stephen Wallenfels (Dec. 11)

The Disasters by M. K. England (Dec. 18)

2019

The Hangman's Secret by Laura Joh Rowland (Jan. 8)

Dragon Pearl by Yoon Ha Lee (Jan. 15)

The Antidote by Shelley Sackier (Feb. 5)

The Pioneer by Bridget Tyler (March 5)

Next Month's Plan

August was a smaller month than usual for review books on my stack. Nonetheless, real life activities slowed down my reading and ate into my cushion of scheduled reviews. My goal for this month is to rebuild my cushion. With seven August releases and 14 September releases still unread, I think my time is pretty much filled.

A lighter August did give me a chance to read quite a few from my TBR mountain which is always a good thing. I chose to concentrate on finishing, or catching up, with series that I had begun.

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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!