This morning we had a little family breakfast for those of us who didn’t have to rush off to a real job. Since I sometimes forward emails of books I think my sister might like to her. I asked her if I should keep doing that. She likes chick lit. Or what I call chick lit along with a healthy variety of mysteries, etc. We moved around a lot as children and the first stops we made in any new town were, the post office, the bank and the library. We love to read. You try moving to a new town in the summer and you don’t know anybody at all. The libraries were our friends.

Well, I better explain what I mean by High Cotton. When the cotton is high, that is good. You don’t have to bend down so far to pick it. Yes, picking cotton is back breaking work. My mother swears she ruined her knees crawling around cottons fields because it hurt her back too bad to bend over and pick it. If we say someone is in high cotton, that is good. Things are going well for them. Now back to the story.

I just finished a new book by James Patterson called “Zoo”. It was a five star book. That fellow can turn a phrase. I’m a romance author. At least I think I am. I love action and adventure and mysteries along with a little romance and fantasy. If the characters who are doing the action and adventure and romance also happen to be paranormal, I’m okay with that too. So your boyfriend’s a werewolf, I won’t hold that against him. If the story is interesting, I’m going to read it.

I figured James Patterson’s “Zoo” would be something my sister might enjoy. But in response to my question about Zoo this morning at breakfast, my sister told me, speaking boldly and obviously quite proud of herself, that she no longer reads anything that costs more than $3.99.

She said that she gets so many great books ranging from free to $3.99 that she won’t read anything more expensive than that until she runs out of these great books by great authors she’s been reading. Oh, and um, she doesn’t foresee running out of those free to $3.99 books anytime soon. She’s right. There is a gold mine of good reading for $3.99 or less.

Well, that gave me something to think about.

I do sometimes read a more expensive book. But wait, let me explain. I got hooked on JR Ward’s Black Dagger Brotherhood before I even got my kindle. I have a handful of series that I’m invested in. Lee Child’s Jack Reacher series is another one I enjoy. Then there’s Patricia Briggs who writes the Alpha and Omega and the Mercy Thompson series. No better world building has ever happened anywhere. I love Karen Marie Monning’s Fever series along with Lara Adrian, Lori Foster and Kresley Cole.

Okay, maybe I’m invested in more than a handful of series. I’ve also discovered Susan Illene’s Sensor series which is more the genre I enjoy. Susan Illene is what I consider an indie author. Her books are great. Along with Susan Illene, I also read Jean Kilczer’s Star Sojourner series. I’m not really that into Sci Fi, but her stories are so well told and filled with action adventure and wonderful characters that I just read them all anyway. I’ve discovered other indie authors whose series I follow also, but there are too many to name.

I don’t plan to stop buying the more expensive books from the traditional publishing houses, especially if I’ve already read all the other books in the series, but I probably won’t buy any of those super expensive books unless they’re one of the series I already follow. I consider super expensive $15.00 for a kindle book. That’s just a lot to pay for a Kindle book. Fortunately, those only come out maybe once a year.

Like my sister, I’ve found a virtual gold mine of very good books by very good authors who sell their work for $3.99 or less. And if I pay $5.00 once in a while for a book I know is going to be worth reading, who cares?

This is a great time to be a reader. Those of us who love to read are in what we southerners call, “high cotton” with great stories which are well told in books of $3.99 or less.

Happy summer reading!