I love a good book series. There’s something about being able to connect with characters from book to book that just takes me in and holds me. I have quite a few series that I have read regularly or completely and would recommend to friends. A few are pretty obvious, but some of the others may interest you as well!

Harry Potter (J.K. Rowling) My favorite of all favorites. It took me a long time to read these because I kept saying I didn’t like “kid” books. I ended up loving them so much that I cried when I was done and couldn’t think about reading anything else for weeks. For a year, I compared every book I read to Harry Potter. The early books seem to be written a little more for kids and young adults. The later books are, at times, very dark with heavy themes. (7 books–series complete)

Twilight (Stephenie Meyer) Not much I can say about this one. You probably know more than you want to about it. (4 books plus a novella coming out–series complete?)

Vampire Academy (Richelle Mead) This series has blown me away. I picked it up on a lark at the grocery story and ended up reading all of them that were out in a matter of weeks. They are vampire books but like none other that I have read. By the 4th book, I was loving them as much as Twilight. (5 books–more to come)

Sookie Stackhouse Novels (Charlaine Harris) I also picked these up at the grocery just because I was looking for something new and saw that the “True Blood” series on HBO was based on them. I had not seen the series but figured I would read the books first. They are a quick read and kind of fun. More vampires but a lot of other creatures as well. (10 books–more to come)

House of Night (Kristin Cast and P.C. Cast) Eight books in this series so far. They are a quick read about (guess what??) vampires. The vampires are “fledglings” in a vampire school. A little romance but the teen crush variety rather than a lot of the “true love” variety. (8 books–more to come)

Hunger Games Trilogy (Suzanne Collins) This series was recommended by a friend who actually got it from her daughter. It’s geared toward young adults but also has some very adult themes. In particular, I think it has a lot to say about reality television and to what extent we get wrapped up in it regardless of the impact it has on the people involved. (2 books–last one coming in August)

Wake Trilogy (Lisa McMann) This is a short series of quickly read books about a teen girl who gets sucked into people’s dreams when they fall asleep. I’m actually reading the last of them right now and anxious to see how it ends! (3 books–series complete)

Shiver (Maggie Stiefvater) Supernatural but with no vampires. A lot story about teenagers with some big problems. I liked the book but am not sure about series potential. The sequel, “Linger,” comes out July 2010. (unknown series length)

Percy Jackson and the Olympians (Rick Riordan) A fun kid/young adult series based on mythology. This one was fun to read with my 9-year-old daughter. A number of my friends also read them alongside their school-aged kids. (5 books–series complete but a follow-up series starting in the fall)

Beautiful Creatures (Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl) Only the first of this series has come out yet, but it is a great read. Unlike most of the others, this book is written from the teen boy perspective. He falls in love with a girl with supernatural powers. It’s supernatural and romantic at the same time. The second book will be available October 12. (one book so far)

Undead Series (Mary Janice Davidson) More vampires and an interesting take on it all. These are very light-hearted. They are sometimes known as “Betsy the Vampire Queen.” I’ve read half of them and will likely read the rest when I have time but am not itching to read them all like the other series listed. (8 books out, 9th book being released July 201)

Kingdom Keepers (Ridley Pearson) These books take place in Disney World, so Disney fans will enjoy them. I know as many adults who loved them as kids who did! The stories are about kids who are trying to save the parks from evil that comes out at night. (3 books so far)

Those are my favorites! Click here to see what else I am reading.

Looking back on 2009, it appears that it was the “year of indulgent reading” for me. After spending years giving up most of my reading time to kids books and books about affiliate marketing and SEO, I spent almost all of this year reading what made me happy. Here’s a list of what I read this year, as close as I can remember. I know I read a few others that I gave away in our book night swap and a few that I checked out from the library and don’t  remember anymore. But this should be most of them.

Obviously my tendencies this year were toward chick lit, young adult, and supernatural. Prior to this year, I read mainly legal thrillers and chick lit. I can’t believe that the only business book that I read this year was Trust Agents! And more than business, Trust Agents was about life and connections. So I don’t think it even counts as totally a business book.

46 books total. That’s about a book a week! I think 4 of them were actually over Spring Break alone. And the Harry Potter books took more than a week each. There was only 1 book that I didn’t finish completely (I really, really tried but just couldn’t get more than halfway). I’m in the middle of 2 right now but won’t finish either by tomorrow. I guess they will be the start of my 2010 list!

Walt Disney: An American Original (Bob Thomas)
*Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (J.K. Rowling)
*Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (J.K. Rowling)
*Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (J.K. Rowling)
*Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (J.K. Rowling)
*Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (J.K. Rowling)
*Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (J.K. Rowling)
*Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (J.K. Rowling)
The Tales of Beetle the Bard (J.K. Rowling)
A Walk to Remember (Nicholas Sparks)
Message in a Bottle (Nicholas Sparks)
-Losing It (Valerie Bertinelli)
Change of Heart (Jodi Picoult)
There’s No Place Like Here (Cecelia Ahern)
Olivia Joules and the Overactive Imagination (Helen Fielding)
Julie & Julie (Julie Powell)
-Tale of Edward Sawtelle (until I gave up)
*Dead Until Dark (Charlaine Harris)
*Living Dead in Dallas (Charlaine Harris)
*Club Dead (Charlaine Harris)
*Dead to the World (Charlaine Harris)
*Dead as a Doornail (Charlaine Harris)
*Definitely Dead (Charlaine Harris)
*All Together Dead (Charlaine Harris)
*From Dead to Worse (Charlaine Harris)
*Dead and Gone (Charlaine Harris)
The Undomestic Goddess (Sophie Kinsella)
Lucy Sullivan is Getting Married (Marian Keyes)
-A Minor Indiscretion (Carole Matthews)
A Touch of Dead (Charlaine Harris)
Trust Agents (Chris Brogan and Julien Smith)
Remember Me? (Sophie Kinsella)
The Kingdom Keepers (Ridley Pearson)
*Hunger Games (Suzanne Collins)
*Catching Fire (Suzanne Collins)
*Marked (P.C. Cast and Kristen Cast)
*Betrayed (P.C. Cast and Kristen Cast)
*Chosen (P.C. Cast and Kristen Cast)
*Untamed (P.C. Cast and Kristen Cast)
*Hunted (P.C. Cast and Kristen Cast)
*Tempted (P.C. Cast and Kristen Cast)
*Burned (P.C. Cast and Kristen Cast)
Vampire Diaries I (L.J. Smith)
Vampire Diaries II (L.J. Smith)
The Lovely Bones (Alice Sebold)
*Beautiful Creatures (Kami Garcia & Margaret Stohl)

Stars denote the books that you couldn’t pry out of my hands while I was reading them. I would recommend pretty much everything else that I read this year as well except for the ones with minus signs. If you are a fan of  books similar to the ones I read this year, I would be anxious to hear what else you recommend for me.

If you asked me what relaxes me more than anything else, I would have to say a good book. An enticing book will take my mind away to another world and allow me to focus on something besides working, the kids, the house, or my other responsibilities. The only down side to really good books is that if I get taken away too far, I don’t want to do anything else!

I’m not against reading business books, biographies, or even self-help books. I like learning in general. I’ve read everything from books about how not to be co-dependent to a history of the Conner Family in Indiana. They do say that variety is the spice of life (or at least I think I read that somewhere).

Despite all of that, I still find myself wanting to get lost in fiction. In the last year, I’ve even gravitated toward what they call “young adult” books, something that I would have never imagined. But after 4 Twilight books, 7 Harry Potter, 10 Sookie Stackhouse, 2 Hunger Games, 2 Vampire Diaries, and 6 House of Night books, I’m beginning to gravitate more and more toward the fantasy genre. After years of “chick lit” and legal thrillers, I have found my true escape.

This weekend I read a brand new YA fantasy called “Beautiful Creatures” by Kami Garcia and Margaret Stohl. While I was first getting into it, I read it off and on when I didn’t have anything better to do. By the halfway point, I was reading on every commercial of the Steelers game because I literally didn’t want to put the book down. Although the book is about high school students (and witches!), I was captivated by that feeling of danger mixed with the purity of first love that you only find in YA books.

Something else that I have discovered is that I am particularly drawn to the series books. I think it’s because I never want a good book to end. When you find a good series and can keep reading week after week after week, it’s like you really become a part of the world the author has created. Now I anxiously await not only the next Sookie Stackhouse novel, House of Night novel, and the final book of the Hunger Games trilogy (all coming this year) but also the remaining 5 books of the Beautiful Creatures series.

If you have any interest at all, I recommend checking out some of the books listed above. Even if you think to yourself “I don’t read kid books,” you might be surprised at how entertained and relaxed you will be when you enter the world of wizards, witches, vampires, or werewolves. If you are already a fan, let me know what I might be missing!

(**Note that the Sookie Stackhouse novels are NOT Young Adult like the others. They are similar to Twilight but with a lot more sizzle!)

I’ll admit from the start that I haven’t yet finished Trust Agents, by Chris Brogan and Julien Smith. Between two conferences in the last week, travel, and the first week of school, reading time has been short. But combining what I have read so far with what I have SEEN in the last 7 days, I can unequivocally say that everyone needs a copy of this book.

A week ago I could barely tell you who Chris Brogan and Julien Smith were. What I could tell you was only from what I read others said about them. Fast forward a week and I could talk your ear off about why I believe in them not because of what they say but because of what they do.

I first saw both Chris and Julien speak at Affiliate Summit. They outlined some of the main points of their new book. That would have been sufficient enough to make me read it. However, actually meeting them and talking to them about what they do and how they do it made me not only want to read the book but also tell everyone I know about it. Chris and Julien have that way of talking to you like you are the only person in the room. You WANT to believe them not because they are buttering you up or trying to sell you something. Instead, they are giving you little pearls of wisdom about how you can be successful.

A few days after Affiliate Summit I had the chance to meet Chris again at Blog Indiana. How excited was I when he called on me by name during a Q&A session? It was a perfect example of how he operates. You build trust, in part, by empowering people. I walked away from that Q&A feeling like a million bucks.

Trust Agents is all about how you use turn personal connections to leverage your message–whatever that message may be. In a “virtual” world where you are more likely to come across someone on Twitter or Facebook than at your local coffee shop, it can be difficult to establish trusting relationships. Trust Agents teaches you how to become a trust agent yourself and how to build relationships with other trust agents (what they call the Agent Zero of each network).

If all of that above isn’t enough to make you want to buy your own copy of Trust Agents, just do a quick Google search and see what everyone else is saying. Learn from people who are DOING it and not just talking about it. Learn from the people who are building networks of trust all over the place–Chris Brogan and Julien Smith.

(Chris Brogan and I at Blog Indiana after his keynote)