Pre-Christmas Book Haul!

Every year, without fail, I get paid on Black Friday. And every year, without fail, that paycheck burns right through my pocket with the OMG AMAZING sales that are everywhere. Sometimes this impulse to shop is to the benefit of others and their Christmas gifts, and sometimes I just have to follow some advice:

It didn't help that this year I discovered Bookoutlet.com on Black Friday, where cheap books became even cheaper. I was also in need of some retail therapy, and snagged six books for under $30, which is a STEAL. Then, Cyber Monday rolled around. I usually don't get too geeked about Cyber Monday, because on most years my shopping budget is blown on Friday. This year, I was able to make room for some EPIC Kindle e-book deals! I've discussed my thoughts on e-readers earlier this year, but I may have to change my mind after scooping up 7 books that I really wanted for under $10. I also feel bad that I received my Kindle as a gift a couple of years ago, and so far all I've really read on it is the Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy. Gross. So I bought some really great books to hopefully inspire myself to read on it more often.

Without further chit-chat, here is my Black Friday/Cyber Monday book haul!

My Name is Memory by Ann Brashares : I loved the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series in high school, and was intrigued by this standalone by Brashares. A girl named Lucy is trying to attract the attention of a boy named Daniel. When she finally gets to spend time with him, though, she learns he is more complicated than she could've ever imagined. Daniel has "the memory"--the ability to remember past lives, and each life time of his, he has been drawn to Sophia, though in this lifetime, her name is Lucy. This sounds so incredibly interesting!

Losing It by Cora Carmack : I've heard a lot of really great reviews of this book!  Bliss is the last virgin in her group of friends, and she decides to swipe the V-card in the quickest and easiest way she knows how: a one-night stand. But just before the act, she freaks out and leaves him in her bed with a terrible excuse. The morning after, she walks into her first class of her last semester of college and her new professor is painfully familiar -- he is the guy she attempted her one-night stand with.

40 Things I Want to Tell You by Alice Kuipers : Bird seems to have it all. Hot boyfriend, loving parents who are still together, great grades, and an advice column full of Top Tips to help teens gain control of their lives. But then she meets Pete, the resident bad boy, and she can't stay away. The more time she spends with him, the more cracks are uncovered in her relationship, and her parent's marriage doesn't seem so perfect anymore. As corny as I think 'good girl meets bad boy' stories kind of are, I'm intrigued by this story, especially since Bird is a writer!

I Don't Care About Your Band by Julie Klausner : I love books that can make me laugh out loud, and this book has blurbs on the back from Patton Oswalt and Rachel Dratch. If they think this is funny, I trust them. Julie Klausner lays all of her awful dating experiences, and what she learned from them, out on the table in this memoir of her love life.

This Gorgeous Game by Donna Freitas : Olivia can't believe it when her literary idol picks her as the winner of his creative writing contest. As part of the prize, she gets to attend his class for free at the local university, and she gets to spend one-on-one conference time with him to polish her story for publishable perfection. Then he starts to take things too far with out of class texts, calls, and IMs, and suddenly her time with him does not become the experience she thought it would be.

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne : I think the whole world has heard about this book. One boy, stuck on one side of the fence that contains a death camp. Another boy, on the other side of the fence as the son of a man who has a part in what goes on to the other boy. They form a friendship. I have a feeling this one will wreck me.

And now, my Kindle books!

Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging by Louise Rennison : I remember reading this book in high school and dying of laughter. I wanted to re-read and finally finish reading the whole series!

Crash by Nicole Williams : This has been on my Goodreads TBR list for a while now, and of course, I couldn't resist. This is another 'good girl meets bad boy' novel where a ballet dancer with her sights set on Juilliard and then meets the bad boy. Somehow they fall in love and her chances of ballet success could be jeopardized. Dun dun dunnn.

Obsidian by Jennifer L. Armentrout : Sigh. There's a lot of hype around this book, the first book in the Lux series. Some people have even said that the books in this series are terrible, but they can't stop reading anyway. And everyone knows how much I love hugely hyped but awful series (See: Twilight, Fifty Shades, Rock Her). A girl gets a hot new neighbor who doesn't seem so hot once he starts talking and turns out being a doucher. But then he shows her that he can freeze time, oh yeah, and he's an alien. He also marks her with something alien that puts her at risk, along with hot alien neighbor and his alien sister, of their intergalactic enemies.

Requiem for a Dream by Hubert Selby Jr. : I love this movie, even though I describe it as being a 'night ruiner.' Harry and Tyrone both have big dreams. Harry wants to open a business with his girlfriend Sara, and Tyrone wants a better life out of the ghetto. To get rich quick, they purchase a large amount of heroin with the intent to sell. Instead, they become addicts of their own product. Meanwhile, Harry's mother has dreams of being on a gameshow, and becomes addicted to diet pills in the process. The movie has stuck with me for years, and I imagine this book is going to be devastating to read...but I can't wait anyway.

Fear of Flying by Erica Jong : Heralded as one of the great feminist pieces of fiction of all time, this is a story about a poet who takes a trip to Vienna with her second husband. While there, she indulges in her fantasies with other men. This book seems ripe with female sexuality and self-discovery, which I can always appreciate. I also have the sequel (I received it a long time ago as a gift without realizing it was the sequel of this one) ready to roll!

The Secret Sisterhood of Heartbreakers by Lynn Weingarten : I am currently obsessed with witches (thanks, American Horror Story!) and this book seems to have a touch of that. Lucy has just been heartbroken by her boyfriend. Three beautiful girls then make her an offer: they can heal her broken heart and let her join their group which is unaffected by heartbreak, but she must get a boy to fall in love with her and break his heart in seven days. Sounds kinda fluffy, but witches... Plus, their magic is derived from the tears of brokenhearted boys. Muahahaha!

Orange is the New Black by Piper Kerman : I, like the rest of the world, am obsessed/in love/addicted to the Netflix original series that stemmed from this memoir about a woman's year in a women's prison. I had this book on hold at the library FOR-EV-ER, but it never came, because, like I said, the rest of the world is obsessed with this story and probably wants to read it to. I'm hoping this will hold me over until season 2, and I'm also excited to find the differences between book and show.

Phew, what a haul. I have also devised a plan that will allow me to get to reading the books I own, instead of remaining hooked on library books. I'll tell you guys about that tomorrow.

Have you read any of these books? What did you think? Where should I start? Did you buy any Black Friday books?