Admit it. You have a reading guilty pleasure. You know, the kind of thing that would bring on a terrible case of the vapors for the literary elite or critics who only peruse classic literature. I admit, there are books I’ve enjoyed but have been wary to tell the world about, lest I seem less sophisticated and intellectual than I want to appear. But I’m tired of hiding. I enjoy reading a great many kind of tale and am ready to tell the world! I don’t believe that good books have to be tragic, or classic, or uber-intellectual to be great.

Great stories are those that transport you out of time and space, to another dimension in which your imagination is the only limit. Okay, that sounds very sci-fi-ish (which I LOVE). But it’s true. When you get lost in a good story, it doesn’t matter if the author has ever breached the New York Times Bestseller list because YOU liked it. For whatever reason, it tripped your trigger. And that’s okay. Deep breaths now, and repeat after me, IT’S OKAY.

In an effort to come clean to the world I’ve put together a list of the books I consider to be my guilty pleasures because they contain (to me) fascinating plot lines or compelling or interesting characters. But honestly, these books are just fun to read.

1. Sookie Stackhouse novels by Charlaine Harris – These are the books the popular True Blood series on HBO is based on. Vampires, Were-creatures, fairies, witches, this series has all manner of mythical being and Sookie is a telepathic, country bumpkin who attracts them all. The characters are kooky and fun and Sookie is a character you just can’t help but adore. There are about 11 books in this series and I’ve read every, single, one.

2. Twilight by Stephanie Meyer – I know, more vampires. But it wasn’t the allure of the undead that attracted me to these books, but the seriously magnetic attraction between Bella and Edward. I fully admit that I read the entire series in one weekend, abandoning my family for the drama in Forks, Washington.

3. Amish romance novels – I think it’s the radically different culture that makes me unable to pass up any book with a picture of an innocent Amish woman with a far-away look in her eyes. Often these books not only provide a glimpse into a fascinating group of devoted of Americans, but also have a strong message about faith that I find reassuring.

4. Various Young Adult (YA) works of fiction – I’m young at heart and many of the YA books on the market are just as interesting for adults as they are the young. Also, reading these books gives me another thing to talk about with my kids. My son read The Hunger Games trilogy and the Divergent series after I told him how awesome they were. I also had insight when he read The Giver by Lois Lowry for a class last year and needed an opinion. Booyah! In. Your. Face. Haters.

5. The Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove by Christopher Moore – This was the very first book my book club read and one other woman and I were the only people who liked it. Moore’s novels are often downright bizarre, but funny and this kind of humor is just my thing. Sure, many people might think a book about a gigantic, ancient, sea monster coming ashore and humping various large motor vehicles is off-putting, but it cracks me up.

So now I need to hear from you. What are your guilty pleasures? What do you need to get off your chest and proclaim to the world that you LOVE?