Pleasures are simply the reasons why we fall in love with the stories. Sometimes it's the setting. For me, anything set in the Outer Banks, NC will cause me to at least check out the back cover blurb. Or maybe it's the events taking place -- a wedding, a dance, a favorite holiday like Christmas. For me, it's usually the characters. I fall in love with these people, and root for them, and want them to live Happily Ever After.
Peeves are the reasons we throw the book across the room. Well, maybe not. But it's the reason we put the book down and have trouble picking it up again. Or find other things to do. I don't like unhappy endings. Really. Don't kill off the main characters I've grown to love, no matter whether there was a good reason for it or not. (Yes, I'm talking to you, Veronica Roth). I also won't read books with a lot of swearing in it. Carl Hiaasen has a few juvenile books (Hoot, Scat, Flush, Chomp) that were phenomenal, but his adult stories can be rough. If you don't like swearing, don't pick them up.
So now that you know my pleasures and peeves, what are yours? What makes you pick a book up? What makes you conveniently "lose" it among the dust bunnies under the couch?
Once I start a book, I almost always finish it, no matter how poorly written I think it might be. But, the one thing that will compel me to put a book down is poor dialogue. Dialogue often carries a story, so when it's unreal, it completely pulls me out of the story.
ReplyDeleteTotally agree with you, Brenda. And when I find a book/author that does it well, it's such a joy to read!
DeleteGreat question, Jill! I'm with you - characters that I love will keep me reading, but if I don't care about any of the characters it's much harder to get me invested. I'll also keep reading if there's an interesting mystery or unanswered question that I can't wait to find out more about. Something that makes me slow to get through a book is if there's too much unnecessary detail that prevents the action from moving forward.
ReplyDeleteDid you feel that way with some of the Harry Potter books? (And did you also notice how each successive book was bigger?) My husband complained about it, but I didn't mind so much, I think because I was so in love with the characters.
DeleteHmm, it really didn't bother me in the Harry Potter books, though I definitely noticed the length increases! I agree that loving the characters was a big part of it, I also think Rowling always kept some kind of action going, even if it was smaller-scale like disputes among friends or a new activity they got to try in a class. Plus she's fabulous at keeping readers interested in ongoing mysteries! What bothers me more is lengthy descriptions of places, or complex nuances in governments or politics that add a lot of characters and details but don't turn out to be particularly relevant to the central storyline. I have certain examples in mind, but I won't mention them in public :)
DeleteI totally agree about unhappy endings!!!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Erin. Do you ever check the end of the book before reading it? (I'll confess -- I do!) :-)
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