Patterns are a funny thing. Looking at my habits and such, I find that I write in patterns. I even read in them.

I’ve always been a reader, even in my youth. Being an only child, I found escapisim in books. They gave me friends that were realiable and would always be there no matter what was going on in my life. I vividly remember reading Francine Pascal’s Sweet Valley High books when I was in 5th grade. When I was sixteen, it was L. J. Smith’s Vampire Diaries series. And so begins the “series pattern”.

I, to this day, still love series books. I enjoy reading beyond just one book about the characters that I’ve grown attached to. Hearing their story and seeing how they handle events as their life unfolds as I turn the pages. Don’t get me wrong, single title books have their allure as well, and I would never turn my nose up to them, however, if I’m well into a series and I’m given a choice between a single title and the latest in a series, I’m going to choose the series book.

For an example, here are some of the series books I follow: The Hollows series (Kim Harrison), the Signs of the Zodiac series (Vicki Pettersson), the Night Huntress series (Jeaniene Frost), the ..In Death series (J. D. Robb), the Weather Warden series (Rachel Caine), the Dragonfire series (Deborah Cooke), the Jax series (Ann Aguirre), the Guardian series (Keri Arthur), the Outlander series (Diana Gabaldon), the Merry Gentry series (Laurell Hamilton), the Fever & the Highlander series (Karen Moning) and the newest series I’ve been reading, the Southern Vampire series (Charlaine Harris).

Now that I’m embarassed myself as to just how many books I read (’cause don’t forget, this is just the series books – that doesn’t even include the single titles I read from other authors) I’ve got stuff around the house to get to and errands to run.

Happy 4th of July to America!