TGIF: Thank God I have Family (who give me B&N gift cards!)

Puppy dogs + Books = Sara nearly exploding with giddiness.

Yesterday I ventured to a Barnes and Noble, completely unaware and unassuming, only to go on the very day that a group of people who take dogs to hospitals/nursing homes was gift wrapping to earn money. And they brought their DOGGIES!! They had their Golden Retrievers and the lot, but there was something special. Something exciting. Something truly monumental: one woman had THE dog I am considering getting (ie: talking my mother into being all right with): a Newfoundland dog. Of all the ridiculous dog breeds, they had the exact one I would love to cuddle with. Fate, I tell you. Destiny.

Anywho, I also had the extreme pleasure of walking around said Barnes and Noble, grabbing books off the shelf, and actually BUYING them. Normally I grab said books, walk around, talk myself out of spending $20 on a book I haven't researched enough to know whether or not it won't suck, and put it back. But thanks to the hefty supply of B&N gift cards I received at a family Christmas (I'm so easy to please) I am now the proud owner of:

Book of a Thousand Days by Shannon Hale (My parents were getting impatient so, after having debated with myself between it and a few others, I grabbed it on my way out. But Hale is a safe bet for a good read.)

Unwind by Neal Shusterman (I'm on an anti-Utopian, end-of-the world, post-apocalyptic spree right now.)

To Catch a Pirate by Jade Parker (Because, honestly, who doesn't want to catch a pirate? Johnny Depp. *drool* Also, I consider it "competition" for my current WIP. Loosely related competition, but competition nonetheless.)

And finally, a book that has been on my wish-list for (I kid you not) four years and was at long last discovered in the B&N sci-fi section,

We by Yevgeny Zamyatin, translated by Mirra Ginsburg (I told you I'm on an anti-Utopian, end-of-the-world kick. It's along the same lines as Brave New World and 1984. I'm 84 pages into it so far, and while the language is slightly archaic [first published in 1952 in Russian], it is way heavy, way deep, way terrifying. As are all anti-Utopian, post-apocalyptic novels.)

So, after a very long hiatus from reading (the last book I enjoyed was The Sweet Far Thing by Libba Bray this past August. I say "enjoyed" because I have read quite a few books between now and then. I just really, really disliked most of them.) I will return to the world of words full-force.

While simultaneously sneaking Newfoundland puppy pictures into my mother's purse. And sock drawer. And medicine cabinet.

Pictures like this.

PS: I still fully intend to get The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins as recommended by Jill. There are far more Christmas parties in my future, and far more people who know how easily shopped for I am. And it fits very nicely into my anti-Utopian, post-apocalyptic kick.