There are a lot of books out there and one for every person no matter your preference. But there are amazing books and bad books so you have to be careful when choosing what to read. So what makes a book good?
What Makes a Book Good?
The first way to know whether a book is decent is to check out the reviews. And we don’t mean reviews from established organizations. While those may be a good guide, nothing beats user reviews. The reason for that is because users are honest and aren’t being paid to write the review. They chose to write one because the book made them feel like they had to. That can be either because a book was good or bad.
While reviews are a great was to determine whether a book is decent, they aren’t always effective. That is because everyone has different preferences and biases. If a synopsis of a book looks interesting, give the book a short read and see how you feel. The writing style of the author may not be for you.
How a Book Makes You Feel
Some books that we read stay with us long after we have finished reading them because they made us feel a certain way. Feelings play a big part of making a book the right choice for you. We read for pleasure, to escape, and that all comes to how the book made us feel. No matter what The New York Times said about the book, it means nothing if the book doesn’t make you feel anything. Who remembers the books that didn’t make us think about it when you weren’t reading it?
Always read for the fun of it. There are a lot of books that are deemed must reads. If you start to read it and realize you aren’t into it, then just drop it. While it may be a great book for others, it isn’t a great book to you. And that is okay.
Sometimes, it is not the right time for you to read that book. Choose another book to read and make a note to read that book in a few years to see if you like it or not this time around. Treat books like a favorite meal and read books that satisfy your appetite. Life is too short to not enjoy what you are reading.
What the Book Means to You
Lastly, what makes a book or bad is the connection or meaning a book has to you. That could be anything from a book that you read in your childhood and has stayed in your mind since then. Or a book that was given to you as a gift and means more to you then the words on the pages. This makes the book good to you and that is all that matters.
Hopefully that answers your question as to what makes a book great. It all comes down to the person reading it and how they feel about the book. Everyone has their own preference of what makes a book great and a lot of factors go onto it.