What constitutes a good read?

[Icecream]

This thread is doing me some good. I have trouble thinking about what I like about books.

 

I love something that is written poetically and makes great use of the English language - something that makes me think 'how the heck do they come up with these sentences?' and also makes me a little sad as I realise I can never aspire to such greatness.

 

I love this too. Well written lines make one think, and give the book more depth, and I often feel the same when I read them.

 

For me, a book needs to have something different, something new. I like experiencing different cultures. That is why my favourite books are fantasies, or have supernatural elements, or set in a different country. I also wholeheartedly agree with Wicci. A book I can really get into and be left wanting more of, is one where I can identify with the character, or one that gives me something to think about.

 

Kell, I also fell for the guy in Talented Mr Ripley when I watched the film. I too like the unusal in books, although sometimes these things are not quite so unusual and are more real than we think.

 

I think that the aspects of books which we like, especially books that make us think, are books that link with our own lives, even in a small way. If a book is written well, it can take the tiniest part of ourselves and transform it into something else entirely and give utmost enjoyment.

 

OK who put whisky in my coffee this morning?

 

Just as a couple of examples..

 

I enjoyed Empress Orchid by Achee Min because it was an experience of another culture, and it portrayed that culture very well.

 

On the other hand, I enjoyed Heartbroken by Susan Howatch, purely because, at the time I was heartbroken (no, not over a man, over something entirely different). Even though i had had the book for about three years when I finally picked it up, it turned out to be exactly the right time to read it.

 

LOTR is my faourite book. It just has everything in it that I just said.

[Michelle]

Yep, I think at the end of the day, I deem a book as being a 'damn good read' if I find myself getting lost in it, sitting up too late to read 'just one more chapter', and caring about the outcome of the characters. Sometimes a book can do that right from the beginning, at other times it comes on gradually.

[madcow]

Yep, I think at the end of the day, I deem a book as being a 'damn good read' if I find myself getting lost in it, sitting up too late to read 'just one more chapter', and caring about the outcome of the characters. Sometimes a book can do that right from the beginning, at other times it comes on gradually.

 

I couldn't have put it better myself

[Karen1]

Yep, I think at the end of the day, I deem a book as being a 'damn good read' if I find myself getting lost in it, sitting up too late to read 'just one more chapter', and caring about the outcome of the characters. Sometimes a book can do that right from the beginning, at other times it comes on gradually.

I agree with this too. Although I haven't come across one like that for a while.

[Paige]

Yep, I think at the end of the day, I deem a book as being a 'damn good read' if I find myself getting lost in it, sitting up too late to read 'just one more chapter', and caring about the outcome of the characters. Sometimes a book can do that right from the beginning, at other times it comes on gradually.

 

I agree completely with that too. I would name some examples I've read recently but I won't for various reasons.

[Guest]

Yep, I think at the end of the day, I deem a book as being a 'damn good read' if I find myself getting lost in it, sitting up too late to read 'just one more chapter', and caring about the outcome of the characters. Sometimes a book can do that right from the beginning, at other times it comes on gradually.

 

We're all in agreement on that one, then!

 

I much prefer character-driven to plot-driven books; the people are what do it for me - Scarlett and Rhett are the reason I've read GWTW three times. Amber St Clare is the reason I've read Forever Amber three or four times. You know what's going to happen to them and what they're going to do, but on the second, third, fourth read it's more about sitting back and thinking, "Wow, how did the author do that?" than anything else, for me at least.

[wiccibat]

I enjoyed 'My sister's Keeper' but hated the end, so did my daughters. It does give people something to discuss though.

I'll have to try another Picoult book as that's the only one I've read, any recommendation's?

[Guest]

I have Salem Falls, Keeping Faith and The Pact on Mount TBR so we could always read one together and discuss it when we're done?

[Michelle]

It's not for everyone, but I did 'like' Nineteen Minutes. I gave up on Salem Falls because I thought it was going to be predictable.

[wiccibat]

Thanks for the suggestions, I'll see what's in the Library. (Must do some real work now,quiet day, no boss )

[Freewheeling Andy]

It could be almost any style, fiction or non; first or third person; SF or present day; action or slow paced.

 

The key is to have some sympathy and empathy for the characters in the book; for it to have a plot (or plots, or "narrative" in the non-fiction) that keeps me hooked in. But most of all it has to be written well. Not particularly ornate and complex sentences; but the structure has to not annoy me, the sentences have to flow, it shouldn't be unnecessarily pretentious - all flourishes should have a purpose. The writing is the key, in the end.

[~V~]

I'm kind of with you Andy, I like something to flow rather than read the flowery ramblings of a writer who maybe should have been a poet

[Guest]

Which writer was it that said something like, "If it reads like writing, I cut it out and start again"?

[~V~]

Which writer was it that said something like, "If it reads like writing, I cut it out and start again"?

 

I don't know (is it a quiz?) but they deserve a prize. Something understated like the Nobel Prize for Literature. Or something.

[Guest]

Maybe just a bottle of fizz and some Borders book tokens.

[Weave]

A good read for me is something with a good story which draws me in, being able to identify with the characters, there is so many characters from books who I have taken to my heart, that is a good read to me.

[z10]

I also prefer books with a distinct and continuous style

kafka, for example, can only write like kafka and that's part of the appeal of his books

[Echo]

There are so many things that have the potential to make a book great, OK, or bad, I can't name them all! I love books with complex heroes and heroines, those that aren't necessarily purely good. I love plots that reveal secrets about the past. I love a book that grabs me and forces me to stay up all night because I can't put it down. I love a book that leaves me breathless and dazed when I've finished it. I love a book that leaves me serene and happy when I've finished it. I love sympathetic villains.

 

Things I don't like: tragedies where everyone dies...what's the point? Post-modern fiction...I HATE it. Most of you know my deep-seeded hatred for Rick Moody, probably the only author I've ever had a negative, physical reaction to. It's just not my thing. I don't like books with no clear narrator, like in The Jane Austen Book Club.

 

That's all I can think of right now!

[Guest]

I like being left with the feeling the character(s) are/were real. To give an example, GWTW has two sequels; Scarlett and Rhett Butler's People. If you find yourself saying, "Scarlett wouldn't do that!" or "Rhett did that because he really loved her," you know those characters are in your head and dwell with you long after you've read the first book.

 

Of course this can happen with books that don't have a sequel too, or with books which have sequels written by the original author but the contrast would be greater in my above example, I think.

 

If you find yourself talking about characters as if they're real, you've experienced a good read.

 

Or you're mad.

[Echo]

Characters become our friends! My boyfriend has practically given up reading altogether because he can't stand finishing books...it depresses him! He wants to book to go on and on, and he becomes attached to the characters. I'm trying to get him to read again, and to convince him that he can always re-read the book if he misses his friends.

 

Maybe we're all a little mad....

[Pilgrim]

When I search for a book, it should seem like it's going to be a good mystery - I start with the mystery/crime awards and nominees or some series that has come to my attention through word of mouth - if it's a series I try to start at the first and hope for a good run - unless the crime has to do with children or young women - I have a daughter - then I skip those. The ultimate good mystery isn't so riveting that it keeps me awake (until the end). I have to start another about 3/4 of the way through so that I can continue to use The Novel as a sedative - this also keeps me from being too lost and sad (as Echo's boyfriend) at the end of the other book.

[The Library Nook]

I am glad other people are mentioning the sad and lost aspect of finishing a book, I am glad it is not just me.

[supergran71]

I wish Jane Austen had written a sequel to P& P. I would love to know what happened to her and Darcy and also to Lydia and Wickham, and Charlotte and Mr Collins. Oh I could go on and on. Perhaps I should write it?

[Spooncat]

A good book is one which compells you to carry on reading - it lays little titbits along the way that you have no choice but to collect and then you simply must read on to find out what they mean! its a book you cannot put down or give up half way through.

[Kylie]

I wish Jane Austen had written a sequel to P& P. I would love to know what happened to her and Darcy and also to Lydia and Wickham, and Charlotte and Mr Collins. Oh I could go on and on. Perhaps I should write it?

 

I think you've already been beaten to it, Supergran. There are a couple of 'sequels' that I'm aware of: Mr Darcy Takes a Wife by Linda Berdoll and Mr Darcy Presents His Bride by Helen Halstead. There are probably many others.

 

I don't think I could ever read a 'sequel' written by anyone other than Austen herself. I'm sure there would be all manner of things that would irritate me. I can hear myself now: 'But Mr Darcy would never have spoken like that!'

 

But I would love to hear about your take on it!