What makes a book worth reading? The butts and guts, of course. When I say butts and guts, I mean innards. The title is a throwback to my days in college. Anatomy and physiology was commonly and lovingly referred to as butts and guts – hence innards. Sorry all you health conscious folks. These are the top three things I like to see in a good book.
The book should ideally be otherworldly. I like my life. It’s fine the way it is. I can complain, but I won’t, because I’d like to think I’m made of sterner stuff. I’m from the generation where when we scratched our knee, we’d pat dirt into it and keep playing. Rawr. Otherworldly in that I am pretty familiar with Earth and all its debauchery. I want to read about some other Earth, or other planet or dimension. What their culture is like and how they live. What currency they use and what does it mean to own a sword. Urban fantasy is a thing, but not my thing, because it hits too close to home. Dystopia is better since it has moved away from what we know. I also think when we move into the unfamiliar, there is so much unknown that an author must fill those voids with creativity. Give me your best demiurgian (demiurgic?) creativity and I will be entertained. Lots of universes fit this bill, and we are surrounded by them.
The book should ideally have a puzzle to solve. Writers hear, see, and read one snippet of advice a lot: Show. Don’t tell. It’s a sound piece of advice that keeps writing from being blocky, wooden, and unnatural. What it also does is infuse a bit of mystery into the setting, situations, words, and especially intentions. Stuff that does this well: The Fringe, Lost, The Matrix, Fight Club, Twelve Monkeys… The list goes on. This type of delivery is always good for scratching the brain a bit, and having you to think about it when you’re not engaged in watching or reading it. I love this aspect of creativity because it is also fun to discover. Let’s also remember that readers aren’t dumb. In fact, they’re hella smart and can figure out or think around things the writer didn’t even intend. If you think your storyline or whatever you’re writing is too complicated, think again. Have a look at Jordan Peele’s responses to fan theories for the movie Get Out.
The book should have a really, really good bad guy. Ramsay Bolton. Kahn. Dolores Umbridge. Fuhrer King Bradley. Friggin’ Ursula (what can I say? the voice acting was top notch). I want a story that has a baddie that is so on his or her game that I find myself admiring bits and pieces of them. Only some or less than some of the time the good guys win (GoT anyone?) but heroes are relative. It also feels very satisfying when that bad guy gets eaten by his own dogs or blown up in a nursing home by a ghetto bomb crafted by one of his craftier adversaries.
I know. I know. Books are like unsearched mines. You don’t know if it has diamonds unless you go in and start digging. So what kinds of things make for a good book for you? Make your list of things you’d ideally like to see in a book and share in the comments. Then get a book (preferably indie or self published) and read it because Stephen King doesn’t need any more money.