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Friday, May 27, 2016

What Makes a Book Good?

The last three months have been really busy, getting things settled after Mom's passing. There wasn't time to do much else but I did try to make some time to read. Even with less reading time than I usually have, I did get to thinking about this topic.

It's strange how you can do something and never really give it much thought until something happens to draw your attention. On rare occasions I might pick up a book because I'm bored and have no idea what I want to do. Thank goodness that seldom happens. Now that I'm getting back to a normal routine (whatever normal is) I've been reading two books. The one I just finished was a historical romance, When a Scot Ties the Knot by Tessa Dare. It takes place in Scotland and starts out with a slightly unusual setting. I hated to put that one down before finishing it.

The second one is a Star Wars book. Over the years I've collected Star Wars books and only in the last year or so have I finally gotten around to reading any of them. I've read about six books so far. It's hard to read them in order when new books keep coming out that fill gaps between other books.

To get back to the original question: What makes a book good? Every reader has their own ideas on what they look for in a story. For some, if they don't find at least a hint of what they're looking for within the first few pages, or at least the first chapter, the book goes bye-bye. Some will stick it out, hoping the story gets better further into it.

I look for a few things, depending on the genre I'm into at the moment.  I enjoy a good romance, as long as it doesn't get "sticky" along the way. I don't generally read science fiction but I do enjoy time travel and like to see how the displaced character manages in their new surroundings. And if it's part of a time travel series, even better.

First off, the Star Wars books are written by several authors. That being the case, I figured somewhere down the line I'm going to run into a lemon. So far, not a single lemon to be seen. I'm familiar with the main characters from the first three films, and they help me get into the story in short order. (A couple books have plot lines taking place some three thousand years before Luke Skywalker's time.) I've also had the opportunity to delve more deeply into the characters' psyche and better understand what makes them tick. I don't stand on the fringes of the scenes watching and waiting for the characters to react to something. I'm involved.  I read one four-book series about several clone soldiers who were very close. (If you read a lot, usually you can pretty well guess how a story will conclude. Surprise!) In the fourth book about three chapters from the end, I ended up in tears when the climax was nothing like I expected. Good thing there was a box of tissues handy.

To sum up, what makes a book good for me: the setting, action and adventure, a romance that has the characters working together toward a common cause. Best of all, get me emotionally involved and I'll go looking for all your other books.

Won't you stop by the comments section and share with us what makes a book good for you?