Shopping Spree

We have a Winner! Miss Amy D. for Grand Meadow, MN won the fabulous prizes I had to offer and gave me the topic of A Book Shopping Spree. This was her response to her notification email:

Gotta love a girl who gives a good acceptance speech when none was warranted :)

So here goes my/her blog:
If you could go on a shopping spree, for books, would you be giddy as you were that time the drunk dad gave you twenty dollars too much for babysitting? Or would you do a funny lowered eyebrow, lip curled look?
Me? Not only would it be like the day I got paid forty bucks for three hours of babysitting but add the day I got my drivers license AND the day I grew boobies on top of that. These did not all happen on the same day, but they were truly great days in Sarah World. I'd be down right giddy.
I know reading isn't everyone's cup of coffee, but it's my favorite past time. When I first took up reading, I read lots of different genres of books.  Epic tales, autobiographies, non-fiction, horror, mystery, and finally settled in with a romance and I knew that was mine kind of reading. I had a well rounded view of how people wrote and what I cared for and what I didn't. 
Among the more 'cultured' things I've read, I read Roots by Alex Haley.
   
 It's long, but it's a well rounded tale with characters that I hated to see ill fated. Moving along with my diversified enlightenment, I read The Color Purple by Alice Walker. Good, good book. And if you want to go full stream go ahead and read The Help, too. I accidentally picked up an African American romance once. Somehow I feel like I should have known this one was different from the others being the cover was all done in colors of a Jamaican flag... I couldn't identify with the characters, so I quit that one early.
I do this. If the book goes nowhere, I quit. Some are easier than others to decide I want to go all honey badger and don't give a f*ck how it ends.

Like the third book of Fifty Shades? Yup, quit somewhere in the twelfth chapter. I did read the last two pages and was totally satisfied by not knowing all the Mr. &Mrs. Whateverhislastnamewas and boinking that was crammed in the middle.
    
Twilight and The Hunger Games- my sister had to talk my into finishing them. I will discuss my reasons in a different blog one of these days. I didn't even read The Girl series. I just thought I'd add them because it's been one set of books amongst my friends that they've recommended.
As far as series of books go, I loves me series of books. I enjoy the follow-through of a story even if it's different characters in each book. Romance writers tend to do this: Write books containing different members of a certain family. I like this because it's a bit of family reunion when earlier members are mentioned. Here are a few I've enjoyed:

 
The Full Series by Janet Evanovich and Charlotte Hughes



The Kentucky Bluegrass Series by Kathleen Brooks

Kowalski Series

Series I've enjoyed that are continuations of a set of the same characters-

Stephanie Plum Series by Janet Evanovich -  I caution you the beginning of the series is really well detailed and reads like a mystery, but poor Stephanie has been dressed like a sad nineties fashion victim. I had to mentally redress her. I also caution, the past few books have lost their luster. They really read like they've been copied and pasted for previous books. This saddens me because I used to count down the days until the new book release. I haven't even made it to the second chapter of the book that came out in November. But the early works are great!

Sookie Stackhouse by Charlaine Harris, Again, the series is dying. I have yet to read the last published book, but I was entertained through it. You'll be outraged by HBO's use of creative license on the True Blood series after reading these books.
     
Hanna Garvey Series by Suzan Ledbetter I love, love, love these books. These are my blanky books. They are the ones I reread when I need a vacation, need the comfort of thing remembered, I just don't know, I think it's the first series of books I had ever read and they spoke to me.


Shopaholic Series by Sophie Kinsella- The books rock, the movie sucks donkey butt.

Little House Books by Laura Ingalls Wilder- If you can't appreciate these books, you're dumb. And un-American.

In high school, I had a class called Novels. Best. Elective. Ever. I wasn't an avid reader at that time but I had filled my arts requirements, and the classes where we got to make and eat food, so I took Novels. I read a lot of Steven King. I liked Steven King back then. Today, I try not to let my emotions get riled up for no reason. Reading horror and suspense do not appeal to my want for unnecessary emotions. I also read The Odyssey. Ho Hum. While I can now appreciate the satirical outlook shows such as The Simpsons have taken on it, that's all the good it did me in life.

I'm not sure how a book shopping spree topic turned into Books Sarah's Read and Enjoyed, but so it is and I'll tell you more.
I would read anything Tina Fey ever wanted to write. I'm in the middle of Bossypants and Paul keeps looking at me weird because I'm busting out laughing. Tina Fey gets me. I get her. We could be friends. I think I'm going to read more of these type books- Betty White, Chelsey Handler, Jenny McCarthy....
Getting back to the original topic, if I were privy to a book shopping spree, I'd be able to check out all the books on the New York Times Best Seller list. If I could afford to read best sellers and top authors, I'd be a more educated and well rounded person. I just have such a problem with spending thirteen dollars on a Kindle book when the paper version is seventeen.  According to Amazon I have purchased (free books included) 180 books this year. Okay, so a few of those are titles such as "Orangy the Goldfish" are thanks to Ella, but 'tis true, I've read 180 books this past year. I'm counting paper books and pirated borrowed books in that total.
If I were to go on that spree, I'd go to an actual book store and look for titles to send to my Kindle app for my iPhone. There's something about bookstores that's a bit magical and upscale. The downtown (Rochester, MN) Barnes and Noble taking residence in an old movie theater building with it's castle balconies and starry ceiling, enhanced by the smell of the coffee shop and new books is invigorating to me.

There are SO many books and authors I'd like to lead you toward, but I'm going to leave you with what I've bestowed upon you this evening.