When looking at the face of a book, what is the first thought that comes to mind? What about that book grabs your attention and draws you in? Would your thought be any different if you knew the author compared to if the author was foreign to you?

As an author and a reader myself, I have a few series that I would like to recommend to those who either have yet to hear of them or have yet to feast their eyes upon their glory. Of course, opinions will vary.

1. "The Vampire Diaries"

My first recommendation for you beautiful people would have to be one of my personal favorites, both in written form and live acting (television) form; "The Vampire Diaries." There are many twists and turns throughout this series including an underworld, children and other men and women being taken over and made to do things they usually would not do, and much, much more. Now, you may think that you do not have to read these books since you have already watched the show, but that is where you would be wrong. These books are 98% different when compared to the television show. For example, Elena, in the show, has brown hair and brown eyes; in the books, she has blonde hair and blue eyes. Yes, she does end up falling for both brothers in the books, which is one of the few similarities, but she does not become a helpful spirit in the show as she does in the books and she becomes a vampire much more quickly in the books than she does in the show.

2. "The House of Night"

Each friend is able to call upon a different element, but Zoey is special; Zoey is able to call upon every element; wind, air, water, fire, and spirit. There are no werewolves in this series, but there are Raven mockers and Kolona, an ancient evil brought back by Neferet, the High Priestist of The House of Night, to wreak havoc on the world.

3. "The Vampire Academy"

Yes, my third recommendation for you all is ANOTHER vampire related series; as you can tell by now, I have a thing for vampires. This book is not like the others, except for the vampires aspect. In "The Vampire Academy," the vampires here are able to be turned into something more than a vampire, they can turn Strigoi. A strigoi, to me, is a vampire with no humanity, no care about others, and a very powerful and uncontrolled drive for blood. If you are bitten by a strigoi, instead of dying, you will turn strigoi; kind of like a zombie bite.

The main female protagonist falls in love with a man who ends up being her trainer. He ends up falling for her, but ends up being attacked by a strigoi and, as you now know, has turned strigoi himself. The love of his life goes out searching for him and ends up realizing that there may be a way to help him as he still seems to be in there somewhere.

4. "Twilight"

Oh, look, another recommended vampire-related fiction series. Whatever will you all do with me? Yes, this one has had its moment, but it was my first vampire-related series that I ever decided to pick up and read without the orders from a school teacher. It will always hold a special place in my life, sparkling vampires or not.

In "Twilight," what I took away from it was that a young girl fell in love with a vampire who ended up showing her who she was and where she was meant to be in the world. Have you ever felt as if you were, as Bella would say, stumbling through life and feel as if you do not belong? I know that I have and, much like Bella, I feel as if my place would be exactly where she found hers to be; I just need to find mine...hopefully.

5. "Fifty Shades of Grey"

Tricked you here. I actually do have one non-vampire related recommendation for you all. Now, this I'd a huge battle between fans and those who view this series as abuse. What one must understand is that this is fiction.

Fiction, unlike nonfiction, is made up; imaginary. Yes, there may be some misconception about the BDSM lifestyle, but that doesn't take away from the real story at play here. An ordinary woman came into a broken man's life and, in a matter of months, put him back together and showed him what true love felt like.

This woman came into his life and taught him how to love. She gave his life true meaning and pretty much brought him to life. If this was a Hallmark movie (different setting), everyone would be eating it up, but it isn't, so they are not.