Allison Symes's Blog - Posts Tagged "a-good-read"
What Is It About Books You Love The Most?
Difficult question to answer isn’t it? So much depends on the genre chosen too.
Overall, it has to be the characters who grip me. I’ve got to want to find out what happens to them. I’ve got to care about the outcome. It does have to matter to the character and therefore to me as the reader.
For historical fiction, I’m always keen to find out how a writer shares the information we need to know about the period without giving us “information overload”.
That is they don’t give a whole wealth of information so you end up forgetting what the story actually is. I like to see information drip fed to me in an entertaining way.
One of my favourite books ever is The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey and that is a great example of how information is shared while keeping the story going and the pace up.
For crime fiction, I want to see how the author gives clues without giving the whole game away and that is not an easy balancing act.
For fantasy, I want to see characters I can identify with in terms of their needs and longings even if their species is totally alien in every sense of that phrase!
For me, a good read of whatever kind is getting the readers hooked to the characters.
For non-fiction, that character is the voice of the narrator.
Happy reading!
Overall, it has to be the characters who grip me. I’ve got to want to find out what happens to them. I’ve got to care about the outcome. It does have to matter to the character and therefore to me as the reader.
For historical fiction, I’m always keen to find out how a writer shares the information we need to know about the period without giving us “information overload”.
That is they don’t give a whole wealth of information so you end up forgetting what the story actually is. I like to see information drip fed to me in an entertaining way.
One of my favourite books ever is The Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey and that is a great example of how information is shared while keeping the story going and the pace up.
For crime fiction, I want to see how the author gives clues without giving the whole game away and that is not an easy balancing act.
For fantasy, I want to see characters I can identify with in terms of their needs and longings even if their species is totally alien in every sense of that phrase!
For me, a good read of whatever kind is getting the readers hooked to the characters.
For non-fiction, that character is the voice of the narrator.
Happy reading!
What Defines a Good Read for You?
Now this is a leading question, is it not?
What defines a good read for me is whether or not the book or story grips me enough to make me keep on reading to the end of it.
I have abandoned a few stories and books which failed that basic test but am glad to say I can count the number of those on the fingers of one hand.
Life is too short (and there are so many excellent things to read) I’m not going to waste time on what I consider to be “duds”.
Of course tastes are different but a good rule of thumb for me is if I don’t care about the character, the reading stops. I have got to be able to see where the character is coming from, whether I agree with them or not. There has to be sufficiently high stakes for the character to make me want to find out the outcome.
And all of this is a challenge to me to make sure I produce those kinds of stakes, those kinds of characters, my readers will want to find out more about.
Mind you, even “dud” books have had their uses. They have shown me what I don’t like. Therefore, I make sure I don’t produce those kinds of things myself.
But on to good books. Nothing beats a good read, curled up, with a nice drink besides you, does it?
What defines a good read for me is whether or not the book or story grips me enough to make me keep on reading to the end of it.
I have abandoned a few stories and books which failed that basic test but am glad to say I can count the number of those on the fingers of one hand.
Life is too short (and there are so many excellent things to read) I’m not going to waste time on what I consider to be “duds”.
Of course tastes are different but a good rule of thumb for me is if I don’t care about the character, the reading stops. I have got to be able to see where the character is coming from, whether I agree with them or not. There has to be sufficiently high stakes for the character to make me want to find out the outcome.
And all of this is a challenge to me to make sure I produce those kinds of stakes, those kinds of characters, my readers will want to find out more about.
Mind you, even “dud” books have had their uses. They have shown me what I don’t like. Therefore, I make sure I don’t produce those kinds of things myself.
But on to good books. Nothing beats a good read, curled up, with a nice drink besides you, does it?
