What Makes a Great Book Great

Read any great books lately? I have. Great books can be found in any genre and from any time period, but they all have a few things in common, at least in my opinion.

Great book have great characters. Characters we can love. Characters we can hate. Characters we can root for. Characters we want to hang out with. Characters we want to be. I believe great characters are the most important part of a great book.

Great books also have great plots. Plots that matter. Plots that make our hearts pound and linger with us long after we put the book down. Great plots stem from great characters.

Great books also have a strong sense of setting. We feel like we are there, whether it's New York City, a small country farm, or a faraway fantasy kingdom. We can see it, smell it, feel it, live in it. It's so much more than just the geography. It's the culture, the history and everything else culminating in a place so real we can visit it again and again in our mind.

Great books have real emotion. They make us feel something. Joy, pain, love, hate, envy, peace. Great books bring out the strongest emotions inside us. They show us what it is to be human.

Character, plot, setting, emotion. Those are what makes a great book great. At least in my opinion. Are there any other elements you would add?

Read any great books lately?