C.H. Armstrong Books

Ahhhh….Books!  With the exception of my children and my husband, nothing makes me happier than books!  Yesterday I went to Barnes and Noble and came home with a huge stash of books.  It’s been a long time since I’ve purchased a “real” book. These days I do most of my reading on my iPad.  There’s just nothing like that instant gratification of finding a book that looks good and having it in  your hands within seconds.  And yet, nothing smells like a real book. Ahhh….

So here’s my stash from yesterday’s visit to Barnes and Noble.  I read The Fault in Our Stars by John Green some time back, so I’m anxious to read a bit more by him.  I found two young women (late teens) looking at a display of Green’s books and asked them which were their favorites.  They pointed to Looking for Alaska and An Abundance of Katherines, so I had to get them.  Then, I’ve been dying to read Sherman Alexie‘s The Absolutely True Story of a Part-Time Indian.  With Banned Books Week coming up in September, I thought I’d get a head-start on my “forbidden reading.”

Brighton Walsh is a new author I’ve just been introduced to through PitchWars on Twitter.  I read Caged in Winter recently and loved it so much that I had to pick up a few of her others.

The Martian by Andy Weir is one that came highly recommended by the bookstore staff.  Apparently it’s one of the most popular reader selections right now, so I purchased that one without reading the synopsis.  I’ll let you know what I think.

Gale Forman‘s If I Stay and Where She Went have been getting really good reviews lately and have been on my radar for a while, so it’s great to finally have copies in my hands.

Last month, I picked up a copy of Bully by Penelope Douglas.  I was surprised at how much I loved it.  Falling Away appears to be part of the same series, so I’m dying to get my hands on it and read more about some of the characters I met in Bully.  For my review of Bully, use this link.

JoJo Moyes is an author I’ve been hearing a lot about lately.  I keep seeing other readers recommend her books, so I thought I’d give her a try.  I wish I could say that I carefully selected One Plus One from among her many titles, but the truth is that it was on a display shelf and I chose this title because it was the first one I saw.  The synopsis looked good.

E. Lockhart‘s We Were Liars and Sarah Dessen‘s Saint Anything are two more titles I keep meaning to read.  Honestly, I know nothing about either of them except that I keep seeing the titles.  I haven’t even read the synopsis on the back, so I’m excited to be surprised.

Ahhh…Jennifer Probst.  Now here is an author I’m really looking forward to.  She has no fewer than a dozen titles, so there’s a lot to choose from with her books.  I thought I’d read some of hers before, but it doesn’t appear that I have.  How has that even happened?

Finally, who can resist a book with a pretty boy on the cover?  You can blame my mother-in-law for these three.  As we were walking through the bookstore, she picked up Jaci Burton‘s All Wound Up because of the beautiful man on the cover.  She put it in my basket for encouragement, and that’s all it took.  I picked up two more titles, both by Chantal Fernando, because of the pretty boys on the cover.  The synopsis for both books books appealed to me because they appear to be about a motorcycle gang and, as a huge fan of Jax Teller and Sons of Anarchy, I just couldn’t resist.  I’ll let you know.

So there you have it folks!  I’m finishing up Mary Kubica‘s Pretty Baby, then have Amanda Linsmeier‘s Ditch Flowers queued up next.  After that, I”m gonna have a hard time deciding which of my new books to read.  Which would you recommend?

Check out my latest haul!
Then check back to see what I though of these titles!