What makes a book a worthwhile read for you?

[readingwizard4]

What makes a book a worthwhile read for you? Of all of your books (or fanfics) what are the parts that make it your favorite book?

I like good relatable characters that are memorable, must have an adventure, some romance but not too much, needs comedy.
For example in Harry Potter all of the characters are memorable in one way or another. I like the friendship that Harry and Hagrid have and that Sirius broke out of Azkaban for Harry and lived on rats in GOF for Harry. For adventure I don't think I have to say anything there. For romance that Lily sacrificed her self to save Harry, comedy wise Fred, George, Peeves and Luna. Most importantly if I had a good time reading a book it will be a favorite.

I'll post some more ideas for Harry Potter and other books later after some discussion. So what parts of books do you like?

[kumainpink]

I'll read just about anything to be honest, but I love reading tragic stories. I love a story that can really tug at my heartstrings.

[readingwizard4]

Tragic stories keep making me think of what could possibly go wrong now? Cliffhangers like that are fun and nerve wrecking.

[G. Novella]

I'm like Pinky in that I'll read just about anything. But I adore stories that have a strong, likable main character, who's three-dimensional. I like a bit of romance thrown in, but it has to be believable. The main character shouldn't just end up caring about their love life while a war is going on. I love a story with fantasy or sci-fi elements. Realistic stories are alright, but I prefer them to be tragic over comedic. Something about a funny realistic story puts me off. Maybe because when the main character humiliates herself/himself, I can't laugh, I'm horrified and I just can't believe that they did whatever they did. Like if they confess to their crush in the middle of the cafeteria in a barney costume. I just don't buy it.

[Dimcairien]

There are several things that make a book worthwhile to read. First off, well developed characters are a must have. I can't stand flat characters. I'm okay with one or two, but the main character(s) have to be well-rounded.

Also, morals. I like my stories to have some type of moral meaning.

I do prefer tragedy over comedy because I find that tragic stories tend to be more realistic, as long as it isn't over the top tragedy.

One of my favourite stories, Les Miserables, fits all the things that I like in a book. Hugo develops nearly all of his characters, even the minor ones. There will be sometimes fifty or so pages on the background of one character who is only in the main story for a short time, but having the background gives depth to the character. Les Mis is also moral because it deals with and teaches the readers how to deal with many important questions such as justice, redemption, forgiveness, and many other qualities. It also is a tragic story, but it isn't over-the-top sad because it is told in a realistic manner.

[dracosfairmaiden]

For fanfiction, I love friendship/family stories. I also prefer the darker more tragic stories like angst and hurt/comfort. For Harry Potter, I love post Deathly Hallows fictions, or the next generation stories.

For non-HP stories, I love historical fiction based stories. I'm not a big romance person but I like more subtle romance. I love Christian fiction (don't worry I love Harry Potter too

[G. Novella]

I've never read Les Mis, but it's on my summer reading list. Did you know they're releasing a new movie for Les Mis in December?

That's on my watch list, alongside Life of Pi, any fans btw?

[Dimcairien]

I'm really glad you want to read it, gnovella, but be prepared to get a bit dredged down at moments, especially when Hugo describes the Battle of Waterloo and the Sewers of Paris.

I'm really excited about the new movie as they're finally making a movie adaptation of the musical. I don't know how it will hold up to seeing the musical live, but this new movie will certainly be better than most of the other Les Mis movies.

[G. Novella]

Oh most definitely. They have quite a few talented actors doing the roles, but I hope they don't go over the top and over dramatize things. Tom Hooper did a pretty damn good job with the King's speech.

I persevered through 200 pages of Pride and Prejudice. Is it tragic or boring? Either way, Pride and Prejudice has made me appreciate boring stories on a whole new level, and if it's tragic, well, I'm leaving on a 24 hour plane flight in another five days. Sucks for the guy sitting beside me is all I can say if I end up bawling my eyes out while he's trying to sleep.

[Serena R. Snape]

Hmm, for me - it's the characters and the stories within the story, and a good summary before I start reading the fanfic, and adventure, some romance, some comedy, well-written sad moments that make me cry, sometimes popularity of the book, my interests (for example, I love Greek Mythology, so I read Percy Jackson and fell in love with it), dry humour, the length of a story,...

[readingwizard4]

I'm a sci-fi/ fantasy type of guy. Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, the Shannara series, The Inheritance Cycle, A Song of Ice and Fire, Ender's Game, The Foundation Series and Dune just to name a few. Star Wars is my most favorite series. I always find a way to like those books even though a lot of them are sub-par. The plots are all good though in the Foundation Novels by Isaac Asimov the novels are too short. I love most of the characters and the relationships they have with other characters in Terry Brooks' Shannara series. Another good point for the Harry Potter series is that each book has a good mystery with a lot of plot twists. I am a bit of an excitement junkie.

[rikustark]

Stories with great characters. I'm a sucker for YA Fiction. Fantasy is always great, I'm a huge fan of A Song of Ice and Fire series. Any book with a dash of Romance is great.

[physicssquid]

I love well-written characters, good plots that just drag you along, like Clive Cussler's books do, especially the series featuring Dirk Pitt, and one of his other series, featuring the Oregon.
I don't particularly care how realistic the plot is, as long as the storyline works with whatever world the author has created, so my favourite stories are fantasy, like Chris Bunch's Dragonmaster trilogy and the Banned and Banished series by James Clemens.
Romance is good, as long as it isn't too sappy, I cannot stand sappy stories, and I don't really like tragedies, or hurt/comfort, they just irritate me, so my favourites are adventure/drama/mystery stories, with puzzles that I can try and solve.

[melodypottersnape]

I love mainly medieval book with magic. My favorite author is Tamora Pierce. Though I love her Tortall world more than her circle of magic. So really I love adventure fantasy with a splash of romance.

Which is probably why I love the books Hawksong, Gracling, and the Shifter. I can pretty much get into anything fantasy fictional really.

[Trilonias]

*looks at the books I've read and own...*

I... I can't find a unifying trend. Er... at least SccFi/Fantasy DOES seem to dominate... But I go from the Vorkosigan series to Harry Turtledove's to Pern to Wheel of Time to The Accidental Sorcerer and A Fate Worse Than Dragons. Oh, and Neverwhere. So... romance, comedy, plot, adventure and well, I'm not sure what else.

John Moore, anyone?

[jessieanneh2]

This is as loaded a question as any hmm. Its not any one thing with me. It also depends on my mood. I used to love reading romance books when I was a kid, I think it just depends on an authors aproach to writing more than anything else. Rick Riordan and JKR put alot of effort and thought into there books.

I think People also have certain genres they are good at and ones where they aren't. to me JKR largely ruined my interest in the last three books by adding Pairings. She is good at Action Adventure and not so good at romance.

As Fanfiction goes im out of the shipping business and would just as soon NOT have Harry paired with anyone seriously until he is older. JMHO

[readingwizard4]

Harry Turtledove is good. I like his Timeline 191 series. The one where the South wins the Civil War.
Jessieanneh2-I couldn't think of a different way to say it

[jessieanneh2]

I am not really particular for the most part. I will even give Twilight another try (RTB style of course)

[G. Novella]

Jun 26, 2012 20:58:18 GMT -5 melodypottersnape said:

I love mainly medieval book with magic. My favorite author is Tamora Pierce. Though I love her Tortall world more than her circle of magic. So really I love adventure fantasy with a splash of romance.

Which is probably why I love the books Hawksong, Gracling, and the Shifter. I can pretty much get into anything fantasy fictional really.

You're a Pierce fan! Yay! Me too! ;D

I loved her Tortall world, and I own all her books of that world, never got really into Circle of Magic much either. She's the first author who's books drove me insane to collect them all.

While I likes the Lioness series, I preferred all three after that so much more. Maybe because of all the mythical creatures. I think she does a great job of keeping her characters in character, maintaining a sense of realism, and not over doing the romance too much.

[ShotgunWilly]

Jun 26, 2012 21:34:12 GMT -5 readingwizard4 said:

Harry Turtledove is good. I like his Timeline 191 series. The one where the South wins the Civil War.

I like TL-191 as well.

As for me, I like to stick to Fantasy and Sci-Fi, but I'll read most anything if the title and summary can catch my eye. Especially in fanfiction. Except slash, that is. I can and do on very rare occasions read slash (story has to be really good), but my tolerance to it is pretty limited, and I can't fricking stand it when all of a sudden every. single. character is suddenly gay as some slash stories seem to have happen. That goes double if the character pairings seem unlikely. Snarry pairings, for example. Drarry too, unless you're talking Sacrifices Arc.

Also, the word count should also generally be at least twice as high as the chapter count times 1000, but not obscenely high. "Prince of the Dark Kingdom" which has more than 1,000,000 words definitely falls under that category; I just can't find the motivation to read it at that point even if it is pretty well-written. A few hundred thousand words is generally my limit before I have to read something else for a while before coming back to it. *shrug*

[jessieanneh2]

Jun 26, 2012 23:03:56 GMT -5 ShotgunWilly said:

Jun 26, 2012 21:34:12 GMT -5 readingwizard4 said:

Harry Turtledove is good. I like his Timeline 191 series. The one where the South wins the Civil War.

I like TL-191 as well.

As for me, I like to stick to Fantasy and Sci-Fi, but I'll read most anything if the title and summary can catch my eye. Especially in fanfiction. Except slash, that is. I can and do on very rare occasions read slash (story has to be really good), but my tolerance to it is pretty limited, and I can't fricking stand it when all of a sudden every. single. character is suddenly gay as some slash stories seem to have happen. That goes double if the character pairings seem unlikely. Snarry pairings, for example. Drarry too, unless you're talking Sacrifices Arc.

Also, the word count should also generally be at least twice as high as the chapter count times 1000, but not obscenely high. "Prince of the Dark Kingdom" which has more than 1,000,000 words definitely falls under that category; I just can't find the motivation to read it at that point even if it is pretty well-written. A few hundred thousand words is generally my limit before I have to read something else for a while before coming back to it. *shrug*

Me I fluctuate on the length of stories. i love Slash but if I want Raunch I'll go to AFF.

[Silvertongue]

I read anything that someone has bought for me which is usually some "true story" thing or an old fantasy (my Nan doesn't really know what I like). Anything that someone recommends and is willing to lend me, I'll read that too. That's what happened with the Noughts and Crosses series and Chinese Cinderella. I've read a couple about living through the World Wars and One about a little girl who was sexually abused by her Step-Dad. But things I usually pic for myself are Fantasies that focus more on the magical and fighting than they do on the romance, though I still like to see some in there.

[blackroses77]

For me the book definitely has to have well rounded characters, if the characters are only two dementional it won't be a good book. I also like crime solving books like Tami Hoag's books. I love the suspence and trying to figure out who did it. I used to be an avid Star Wars fan and read every book that came out...then they killed of Chewbacca and after my initial anger I thought 'well they had to kill of a main character eventually since I guess it's unrealistic that they all survived everything for 30yrs'. Then they killed Anakin Solo. I was so disgusted I stopped reading the SW books for a good yr or 2 went back and read the backs of the covers and was once more disgusted and furious to see what they had done to a once great genre. It was not the SW I had grown up with, it was completely dark and unrecognizable. >:(So now I only check once in a while to find the rare book that takes place before the timeline went to the dark side

Sorry, off topic rant over now.

[readingwizard4]

I'm still a Star Wars fan even though everything you have listed happened. The books aren't all Class A+ literature and include a lot of duds. The Death of Chewie hurt badly but I got over it somehow. My reading of the NJO was butchered so while Anakin Solo's death hurt it didn't hurt as badly. I knew about it before I read it unlike Chewie's which I read before I found out about it. The problem is that they have killed off more of the next generation than the movie characters and haven't really brought in new characters. I'm grateful that there are Anakin lives fanfiction on FFN. Those give me hope, corny I know. I'm debating on making my own Anakin lives stories The post NJO series' have left a lot to be desired yet every time I pick them up I still love them for some reason or another. Jacen's character was butchered so bad its not even funny. So if you liked that character its probably a good thing you gave it up. I have a love/hate relationship with that character. I think Troy Denning is at fault for the dark tone of the books and the path the books have taken.

[blackroses77]

Troy Denning might have started it but George Lucas approved it. And yeah I found out about Jacen's character when I tried to go back to SW and that stopped me cold, then I went back a while later and read the book jackets and found out they'd killed Mara and that the Solo's and Skywalker's were feuding! WTF happened to my beloved Star Wars!!! I don't even attempt the later timeline any more, like I said I search for the rare book that takes place between ANH and Chewie dying. I loved Allegience and want to read the sequel as well as the new X-Wing book that I heard was being written.

[readingwizard4]

True about Lucas. I was okay with Jacen's path Traitor onwards through the start of Inferno book 6 of LOTF. I hated him Vector Prime through Star By Star. He was too wishy-washy, pacifististic and philosophical for my liking. The Legacy of the Force series is a rip off of the Prequel trilogy. The post NJO timeline had so much potential. They just kept doing way too many big wars. They should have kept to the Bantam format. The movie characters should retire as well. The Legacy comic series is good though. It was wrapped up quickly but you should give it a try. It takes place 90 years after the books. Choices of One (the sequel to Allegiance) was good. Thrawn had a role in it just so you know. Not everyone likes Thrawn but I do. It stretches continuity a bit imo. It doesn't bother me now but I still shake my head at it sometimes. You'll understand when you read the last couple of chapters. 2 characters meet before they should have. It's not as bad as the ending of The Force Unleashed 2 ending. You should try Fatal Alliance by Sean Williams (I think it is) and Scourge by Jeff Grubb. Mercy Kill should be good. I've seen some snippets online of that book and it looks good. Allston is back to what he does best. His books in FOTJ were lackluster.

[blackroses77]

I'll have to take a look at the books you mentioned, thanks And I liked the Thrawn trilogy. Timothy Zahn's trilogy were the first SW books that I read and moved me from just SW movie obsessed to SW book obsessed ;D so it will be interesting to read about him again.

[readingwizard4]

You're welcome. Scourge takes place after Vision of the Future but doesn't have any of the movie characters. It follows Mander Zuma around who arrives in Hutt space to find out why his apprentice died. He goes to Nal Hutta and ends up in the Corporate Sector and back again. It was better than I thought it would be. It is what Star Wars needs. Fatal Alliance takes place 300 years after KOTOR 2 so it's 3600 years before the movies just so you know. It follows several different people around trying to get an artifact that if activated could change the course of the war at the time.

Kevin J. Anderson's Jedi Academy trilogy was my first foray into the EU. I liked it a lot. The Thrawn trilogy is my favorite trilogy. I wish it was in movie format. Only the Han Solo trilogy by A.C. Crispin comes close

[blackroses77]

I always wished they had made the Thrawn trilogy into movies too! I think it would have been the perfect sequel and was so disappointed when I found out they were making prequels instead
Especially after I actually saw the prequels which is why I have never been able to get into any of the books based off the prequels, in fact I kind of actually resented all the books being written about the clone wars and early Jedi because that meant the timeline I liked wasn't being written in anymore. It's just been recently it seems that authors are again taking an interest in the original SW's trilogy.
I enjoyed the Academy trilogy and even though I was to old for the young adult books (just like the Harry Potter books I really loved the Young Jedi Knights series.

And yes the Han Solo trilogy was phenomenal I loved it!

[readingwizard4]

The prequels were such a disappointment. I like ROTS 2nd best of the all of the movies but 1 and 2 were terrible. I liked them as movies but they are the worst SW movies. Have you seen the trailers for for the game The Old Republic? Deceived, Hope and whatever the last one was. If they made movies like that or a tv series with those graphics that would be amazing. Much better than the current Clone Wars Series. I liked the original Clone Wars novels from 2002-2005. I've read most of the books from the new Clone Wars series and they just aren't as good. The best book from the prequel era during the early 2000's was Darth Maul Shadow Hunter. The ending was obvious yet I got into it. It split the focus alright. There was a dry spell for the OT characters from November 2003 through July 2005. I think only two books were released with the OT characters. I know why they changed the NJO so much from the Bantam Era days, the fans were sick of the villain of the week problem and that no one got hurt. The NJO changed that. They just went too far in that direction since. The YJK series was really good. I liked the Junior Jedi Knight series as well.Unfortunately I can't get any of the young adult books anymore since they are out of print except for Amazon.