I waited until I had seen the Twilight film to read the books. On the strength of that film I bought all 4 books at once, and immediately tucked in.
There are not quite the words to describe what an impact this has had on me. I am an intelligent independent 26 yr old woman, and I have been captivated like a naive 13 yr old. It feels wonderful! I read all 4 books (some 2200 pages) in 5 days. I barely spoke to anyone, I stopped to make food (but read while I ate). When I finished a book, despite my very sincere intentions to stop a while before starting the next one - I couldn't do it. Stephenie Meyer must have worked witchcraft in her words, because I am addicted. When I finished Breaking Dawn, I felt so strongly that I didn't want to let go of the saga that I immediately re-read it. Its irrational, but I love it.
In Twilight the basis of a timeless romance is laid. We meet Bella Swan: a clumsy, pale, awkward and yet pretty girl. A girl who never sees herself as others see her. This is a character that every single girl out there can relate to. Bella meets Edward. He's mysterious, gorgeous, unobtainable and everything about him draws her and us, the readers, into him. You want him as much as she does. When she's excited - so are you. This is the essence of why so many people love this book. We all felt like we were falling in love with him. Compared to normal boys, he's Adonis with uncompromised charm. Add that to the fact that he is tortured and utterly respectable and you have an uber-hero.
Naturally this perfect attraction faces its challenges. Conflict arises from obsessive vampire foes, the ultimate vampire "police", werewolves, personal sacrifice, love triangles and good old Biology. How could you get bored?! How could you put it down?
I don't know - I'm still in the moment. I hope you think this is enough to entice you... you'll really be missing out otherwise. The only question left is are you Team Edward, or Team Jacob?