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OK, I have gotten sucked in to a fabulous new series of books.
They are addicting. Dark-chocolate-covered-strawberries addicting. Find-myself-reading-rather-than-sleeping addicting. Ordered-the-next-three-in-the-series-before-I-fin ished-the-first-book addicting.
They are, dare I say it, as enjoyable as Harry Potter (forgive me J.K. Rowling)
It's Stephenie Meyers' "Twilight" series.
I feel like I should be raising my hand and stating "Hello, my name is Newsmom and I am a Twilight-aholic."

This is all my brother's fault.

He read the series a few months ago and was telling me about how good the books were when we were talking on the phone one day (he's 22 and goes to Sonoma State). He admitted to getting sucked into this series of books about a teenager and her exploits with a vampire. I remember thinking "Good God man, what kind of crap are they foisting onto you at college nowadays?" to which my next thought was "Good God, I've only been out of college six years and already I'm so not cool."

The next time my brother came to visit I dragged him on an errand to the grocery store and wound up picking up two copies of the first book, "Twilight," the other being for my mother as a thank you gift (side note - all the books are like $10.99 or so - quite the deal). I started reading my copy a few days later. I finished it in about 12 hours (stretched over the course of 5 days, three of which were a holiday weekend and two of which I worked). I read it every free moment I had. Working out at the gym. In the tub. Through weary, exhausted eyes before falling asleep. When the UPS man banged on the door to deliver my Amazon.com package containing the next three in the series, I jubilantly opened the door and had to refrain from cheering and hugging him.

The story line is a little corny - junior in high school moves to small town in Washington and promptly falls in love with a gorgeous vampire teen boy - but the action-packed dramatics that ensue keep you turning pages and the author's writing style lends itself well to the story form and audience she is targeting (tween and teens). I think part of the reason it's so appealing is because it dredges up memories of what it feels like to have that first crush, that first innocent love that felt like your sole reason for existence. And, like Harry Potter was (at least for me), it's just a ridiculously entertaining read.

So far, I am about two-thirds of the way done with the second installment and I can't wait for my lunch break so I can head to the gym and read more. My only concern is what will happen to my free time once I finish the fourth book. I shudder at the thought.

I tell you what though - the next time I think up a crazy plot line or story idea, I'm writing it down. Apparently the author (a mom of three and BYU grad) got the idea for these books from an interesting dream she had. Her husband encouraged her to write it down and expand on it. And now they are millionaires.

I'm sure a lot of you are already aware of this wildly popular series, but just in case your like me and unaware that the series even existed, check it out. Reading "Barnyard Dance" or "Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See" for the trillionth time to your kids before bed won't be nearly as painful knowing that after they shut their sweet eyes, you have a wonderfully escapist novel to enjoy.