Dracula was the first "big book" or adult reading level book that I read. I remember looking through the Scholastic catalog at school and being surprised to see there was actually a book called Dracula. I loved vampire movies and thought since all of the adults in my life were pestering me to read more that I'd give it a try. I LOVED it. For days I hung out on the hammock in our yard and read that book. I remember loving the detail--the stuff that could never be captured in a movie. After that I read Stephen King's Salem's Lot and a slew of really good and not so good vampire novels. I firmly believe that I own my reading life to Bram Stoker. That burst of enthusiastic reading made the stuff I was reading for school much more palatable. I fondly remember reading The Pearl and The Good Earth from around this time period.