Confession: I have an ever-growing stack of unread physical books heaped in a stack in our bedroom.

Additional confession: These aren’t even all the unread books in my possession, since I also read digitally.

When I first started writing about books online back in [redacted], I learned about the joy and sometimes curse of digital Advanced Reader Copies (ARCs). Sites like NetGalley, BookSirens, and Edelweiss+ are hubs wherein book reviewers, bloggers, and social media book people can request free, advanced copies of various titles in exchange for their honest review.

Does this sound like an absolute dream come true? I thought so, as well.

But, as I’ve written about before, these copies can end up stacking up much like the ones in my bedroom, leaving me with a reading backlog of epic proportions.

I’ve gotten a bit better at only requesting books I really want to read, which definitely helps, but my digital stacks are once again full to bursting. So, today, I figured I’d share a few of the books to be read in my digital archives!

(Full disclosure: links to specific books are Bookshop affiliate links, which earn me a small commission if you choose to purchase. I received free digital review copies of the books below in exchange for my honest review — many thanks to the services & publishers!)

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BookSirens TBR

BookSirens enourages you to have just one title on your digital shelves at a time, to better ensure you read and review in a timely fashion.

At this moment, I’ve got a holiday love story anthology called Romancing the Holidays waiting for me with a December 1st deadline. Plenty of time, right? … right?

There’s a St. Patrick’s Day, Halloween, 4th of July, and Christmas story in this collection, which sounds fun but also like I want to wait for the respective holidays to read those tales. Alas, deadlines will be deadlines.

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NetGalley TBR

Perhaps the most well-known digital review space, NetGalley boasts a ton of anticipated titles that readers can request access to read. Every now and again, I get approved for titles I don’t think I stand a chance for, and that is how my shelves have become packed with books.

Pictured above are just a few of my recent(ish) approvals for digital ARCs!

Love, Chai, and Other Four-Letter Words is my very first audiobook ARC, and I’m reading it right now between drives to work and walks. The story follows Kiran, an Indian girl who came to America for educational and career opportunities to help give her family a better life, and Nash, a white guy from Nashville with no family to call his own. The stakes are high as they begin spending time together, checking off NYC bucket list items… and perhaps falling in love, as well. The book itself came out on September 21st, and the audiobook releases on October 19th.

The Santa Suit by the well-known Mary Kay Andrews has been on my shelf awhile as I wait for it to feel like the right season to read this one. This one came out in late September, and has Hallmark movie vibes as the protagonist buys an old farmhouse hoping to change her life, There, she discovers a handwritten note in the pocket of an old Santa suit tucked away in a closet and decides to try and track down its writer. Romance, I presume, ensues from there.

Josie Silver wrote the phenomenal One Day in December, and I was thrilled to get approved to read her new book, One Night on the Island in advance! Two people stuck sharing a single cottage on a remote island due to booking confusion and a raging storm is exactly my kind of love story. It comes out February 15th, 2022, so I’ve got plenty of time to get to this one.

Finally, Not the Witch You Wed is my most recent approval, a fake-dating romance with a magical twist that comes out on February 8th, 2022.

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As you can see, my reading life is well full of books that I need to get around to reading and reviewing! It’s always exciting to get that early access to books, but also a bit daunting if you let it get out of hand.

If you’re a fellow book blogger or reader, I’m curious — do you review advanced copies of books, or do you prefer to keep your reading life obligation free?

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