Why do you like / dislike the "Twilight" quartet, and a few Qs on teen & 20s fiction {details inside}?

I did read the Twilight books. They were fun reads but nothing particularly special. I have always enjoyed vampire stories, and with few exceptions, they do tend to be rather silly or just plain bad. So I went into this series with no particularly high expectations, particularly since I am no longer of the teen audience the books were geared toward. They were fun reads, but beyond that, I can't understand the obsession people have with them. Also, the glaring inability to properly edit the books as the series progressed became increasingly annoying.

The Tortall books by Tamora Pierce have been a favorite of mine since the beginning of middle school and I continue to read them now as news one come out. I believe I own them all, and my older paperbacks are getting to the point where they might need to be replaced.

All of Robin McKinley's books. Many of them are fairy tales re-told which is a lot of fun. My favorite though has always been The Blue Sword, a fun alternate world fantasy adventure about young Harry Crewe. I own most of them, but am a bit behind on her most recent releases.

Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones, and its sequel Castle in the Air. The style and characters are great and there are funny moments all around. There is a third book that I haven't read yet, but it's on my TBR list. I don't actually own these, I stole them from my sister, but they are worth having.

The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan. This is a series I have just started reading, but for someone who has always had an interest in Greek mythology, this is a great find. Certainly geared toward the younger readers, this series brings the gods of ancient Greece into the modern world in a really fun way, and uses a variety of other characters from myth in the character's adventures. I'm borrowing these from the library at the moment, but will probably end up buying them later.

Ecstasia or I Was A Teenage Fairy by Francesca Lia Block. While the second one is not necessarily categorized as a fantasy, I think they both qualify, as do many of the author's other books. Her lyrical, poetic style and interesting characters have always drawn me to her books, and still do. I own them all.

The Dark Hunter series by Sherrilyn Kenyon. A really interesting combination of Greek mythology and vampire tale, I love this series. Definitely aimed at an adult audience and a bit more in the romance genre than I would normally read, these books are a ton of fun. I only own the first 3 or 4 and have borrowed the rest.

The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley. I believe I first read this in high school and it has been a favorite ever since. Arthurian legend is a huge interest of mine and I love this re-telling from the female perspective. Definitely one I own, along with most of the prequels, though I haven't enjoyed those quite as much.

BA: "Ghost of Perdition" by Opeth, "Ghost Love Score" by Nightwish, "As Your Ghost Takes Flight" by Saves the Day, "Glass and the Ghost Children" by The Smashing Pumpkins, "Hunting For Witches" by Bloc Party, "Witchcraft" by Frank Sinatra.

Well, I didn't want to read the books, not even watch the movie! then I bumped into a friend (she's 32/33) and she was totally hooked up with the whole saga! So I said 'ok, I'll give it a chance', and watched the movie. When I started watching it for the 3rd time, I realized I was hooked too. Then I read the 4 books in no time (a week or so). I got completely into the series, I guess because of the story and because at the time I was suffering for my ex and the guy in the book (Edward) was so ideal...anyway, I loved the books - well or terribly written, doesn't matter, the story catches your attention immediately - and just like someone else said, they introduced me to the 'fantasy/vampire' world.

Now, after that, I read 'Evernight' and now I'm reading 'Stargazer' from Claudia Gray. I intend to read lots of other vampire books, I love the plots, and the passion they express...you end up liking vampires, you know?

And apart from all that, I have to say, for me, books and movies should take me to other worlds, other realities...they should make me forget about my own reality for a while...that's how I decide wether a movie/book is good or not...and the Twilight series, and the Evernight series (so far) have accomplished that. Even if the main characters are teenagers (I'm in my 30s) :)

I have no interest in reading Twilight because it sounded a lot like the late 90s tv show, Roswell, except in Roswell they were young aliens in high school and not 200 or so old vampires (they haven't graduated yet?). Later I found out the vampires sparkle and the main female character was a "Mary Sue". Oddly, two of my older cousins (both near 30ish years old) loved the books and didn't find the sparkling vampire bit or high school bit odd at all.

As for your other question, why no Sookie Stackhouse books on your list?

9 books out (plus 1 book of short stories that just came out today)

Supernatural/Humor/Romance

for the 17+ crowd (doesn't have much sex, but when it does, it's graphic)

I started reading these books 3 or 4 years ago and LOVED them. They're pretty light and will make you laugh, but are also fairly well planned out. Oh, and not overly romance, too.

PS: Dresden rocks! Read the latest book NOW! It's good :)

My wife borrowed them from a co-worker and basically so we could read the same thing I read the books and I guess it's just that they are what they are. If you don't think you're going to like them you probably won't and if you're really psyched about them chances are you will really like them. There isn't a ton of mystery about the books' target and I think they do deliver what they say they will. If you want what the books are promising, I think you'll be happy. Otherwise I just wouldn't bother. Personally, I thought they were fine. They aren't great, they aren't terrible. They are... hmm... they are Oasis. I don't find them to be cutting any edges or terribly compelling, but they're not offensive either. They're consumable. As someone who doesn't read very much, but was interested in starting up it was a good start because the pages turn easy and there was enough volume to get me comfortable reading a little faster, and I thought the sort of frivelousness of it was kind of fun. They certainly weren't great books, but they are fine at being what they are. It may also help that I haven't read a ton of books and thus don't have a ton to stack against them.

BA: Didn't Arthur Brown have a song or two about Vampires. I seem to remember this tune where he was talking about how he was a vampire and was going to turn this woman. Something like that. I remember thinking it was a pretty cool song.

I haven't read (or seen Twighlight) they were written mostly for young women I think. The only two Vampire books I have read are the original "Dracula" which is a classic and "Interview With A Vampire" by Anne Rice which was also very good. The teenage vampire books tend to make them love stories with a twist. I prefer the ones that treat Vampires as evil monsters like they did in "Van Helsing" the movie was OK but the vampire part was really well done.

I happen to like the Twilight Saga-but only because I found it oddly intriguing and it "woke" me up again to fantasy. I used to be a big fantasy buff in high school, but I became rather shallow and forgot about the things I loved most-the creativeness and the fun you can have while writing fantasy. While ready Twilight, I wasn't so much obsessed with Bella and Edward, wondering what was going to happen next, but my mind reverted back to an old story I was writing when I was a kid. Strangely enough, back then, I got the inspiration from Blood and Chocolate. Every page I read, I was constantly thinking about my lead characters. And so I reinvented my old story, and now I'm looking for a L.A. so I can publish my book.

I'll pretty much read anything-and I own a plethora of books, but I think on of my favorite series, are the Riley Jensen Guardian books by Keri Arthur. She is brilliant. :)

Hey!!!

lol Well....i have read all 4 books (i own them) i think what really drew me into the books was the romance in them. The love that they have for each other. Also the fact that they are "not suppose to be together". Once i started reading i just couldn't stop. I have also seen Twilight (i own it) and i intend on seen New Moon! I agree the book is written a little sloppy as it does jump around a bit. It would be better if it was more adult!

The Sookie Stackhouse books are really good too. I have read 1-8 and i am waiting to buy 9 to read it! They are also a TV show, TRUEBLOOD. which i have seen season 1 and i really like it!

Yeah, there's no chance I'm going to read the Twilight books either.

There were these books I remember from when I was pretty young, they must have been written by someone over on your side of the Atlantic. They were about these two children, I think either Irish or Scottish, who somehow get transported back to pre-Christian Britain. They hang out with the Celts and celebrate Samhain and, oh I don't know save the world? I'm having a hard time remembering much at all. I really liked them although I don't think they were a long series, maybe two or three books at most.

I'll try to go figure out what books I'm talking about.

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Extensive Googling has led me to think it may be a series of books by Orla Melling. I'm still not 100% sure though.

1. This is very surprising! I know some names have had their gender swapped during the years, take for axample Hillary, a name that now is considered a girls names was originally a boys name. But that so many people had swapped gender names surprises me a lot! Could it be that the names were used as middle names more so than first names? I could imagine it being some kind of tradition to give their children a name to honor their parents or some other relative!? I know in arabic cultures it's tradition to give children (boys and girls) a name that links them to their father or grandfather. I could imagine something similar here as well... I would be very interested to know more about this if anyone knows why this is the case... 2. Cleo and James, Cleo could pass as a boys name, and James sounds quite sweet! 3. Well I'm gonna avoid using the obvious names that have already been commonly swapped (Like Dylan or Taylor), but instead go for two names on my list: Leon & Alexandria

The reason I don't like twilight is because I have this image of vampires being (yes attractive) but also kinda savage, they should have the blood lust and the temper and violence, not sparkle in the sunlight and refuse to eat humans! True blood is my preferred vampire genre, team Eric Northmen over team Edward and Jacob any day!