30 days of thanks: Day 12

Today I'm thankful for books. Books that showed up at my door yesterday. Yep. So I could have a release party tonight.

Of course, not only those books, but books in general. I love reading books. My mother instilled the love of reading in me. I've been reading since I could, devouring Dr. Seuss, Donald J. Sobol, Judy Blume, then on to S.E. Hinton, then Stephen King, J.R.R. Tolkein, Ray Bradbury. I even enjoy some Shakespeare from time to time. Those are authors whose books (and plays)  I've read a lot. 

Some favorite books:

• Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
• The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
• The Crucible by Arthur Miller
• To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
• Lord of the Flies by William Golding
• Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
• The Jungle by Upton Sinclair
• Interview with a Vampire by Anne Rice.

More contemporary novels I've liked have been:

•  The Beet Queen by Louise Erdrich
• Fried Green Tomatoes at the Whistle Stop Cafe by Fannie Flagg
• The World According to Garp John Irving
• She's Come Undone by Wally Lamb
• Mystic River by Dennis Lehane (I also enjoyed his McKenzie series)
• Red Dragon & Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris (never read Hannibal)
• Geek Love by Katherine Dunn

When it comes to Young Adult fiction, some of my favorites are:

• The Wicked and the Just by J Anderson Coats
• Living Dead Girl by Elizabeth Scott
• 13 Reasons Why by Jay Asher
• The Pull of Gravity by Gae Polisner
• Breaking Beautiful by Jennifer Shaw Wolf
• Stupid Fast by Geoff Herbach
• Love & Leftovers by Sarah Tregay
• Popular by Alissa Tregay
• XVI by Julia Karr
• Divergent by Veronica Roth (I can't wait to read the rest of the series)
• The Hunger Games series by Suzanne Collins
• The Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling

Truly, I could go on and on all day. And if you're looking for recommendations from me, note, that aside from a few of these books, I read very much like I write, books that tackle tough subject matters. The stories aren't always pretty and there aren't always happily ever afters.

Are there any books you are thankful are in the world?

If you're in the Tacoma area, don't forget about my book signing tonight at Garfield Book Company at 7 pm.