Qualities of a Good Book
When reading a new book, it has to have three qualities for me to truly enjoy the read.1. The story must allow me to experience a time, place, and/or situation different from my own.2. If I know the ending when I'm only halfway through the book, I will be very disappointed!3. The characters have to be believable and they have to change throughout the book.Now, it is easiest to accomplish that first criterion when the book is actually set in a different place and time period than what I live in (like most classics). However, books written in modern-day America can also fulfill this if they help me to understand a life situation different than mine. Good books envelope you, take you on a journey, and allow you to experience a life that contrasts your own.**Side Note: I think this is why I never know what I want to do with my life. Each book I read drags my heart in a different direction in regard to where I want to be and what I want to do.**Since I am a female in my mid-twenties, I have read my fair share of what is considered chick-lit, and this specific genre fails to fulfill my second criterion more often than any other. Primarily because chick-lit is focused on a girl-meets-boy storyline and rarely deviates. Then there are some books that continuously throw bizarre situations at the reader just to keep them confused. I'm not a fan of that kind of writing either. I want it to be a believable story in which the characters maybe make decisions or react to situations in their own unique manner because each character should be unique!**The exception to this is getting to an expected ending via unexpected events because then the individual events are the surprise.**I read a book recently, a classic, that made me want to beat my head against a wall because the character, while unique, didn't seem to change. The circumstances of his life changed and altered the way his temperament was expressed, but he never seemed to grow as a person at any point. I just find that to be an unbelievable story because people are constantly learning, growing, and changing in life, so why should characters not do the same?! This is why I believe great writers are the ones who understand people. You have to know how real human beings react to life to be able to write believable characters.I have been doing a lot of reading lately and want to share my thoughts and opinions on the books I've read, and I think that will be easier to do if you understand the criteria I'm using to judge the books I read.