Favorite Author Friday

So, as you know, I do a lot of reading. As a younger woman, I used to spend hours at book stores (not that I don't now!) collecting piles and piles of books. I'd pull out my trusty plastic credit card and purchase said piles and piles of books and add the new aquisitions to the piles and piles of books already taking up shelf space at home. As I got older - and my credit card debt ballooned - I decided to stop buying so many books and simply read what I had at home. I found that, in most cases, I wasn't interested in the books I had so eagerly purchased and I couldn't remember why I had bought them in the first place.

I worked my way through my book shelves, reading, sorting, recycling and reselling. I ended up keeping only a fraction of what I once had - only the books that I really loved or by favorite authors. Now, when I go and spend hours at book stores, I gather a pile of books, sit and read the first chapters of each and make a list of which I would be intersted in reading further. Then I head to the library. When I find a book that I really love, I add it to my must-purchase list and am really much more sensible about that credit card spending. (Though I am still working on paying off all those previous purchases!)

There are a handful of authors whose books I will purchase straight away - sight unseen, first chapter unread. I have a history with those authors and have truly enjoyed every book they have written, so it's a safe bet for me to spend right up front. For example, whenever Jen Lancaster has out a new book, it's on the purchase list. (I was lucky enough to meet her once and get her autograph!) Although, thanks to Penguin books, I won a copy of her latest, Jeneration X! Same with Cathy Lamb and Sarah Addison Allen. Then there are the series - when the next books from Veronica Roth, Marie Lu, Jessica Spotswood, Beth Revis and Deborah Harkness come out, they will be purchased immediately.

What about you? Do you have favorite authors who you love to read and whose books you have to get your hands on as soon as possible?