What is your criteria for a good book? Apart from wanting it to be well written and presented, what is it that you look for? Entertainment value? Information? Emotion, relaxation or a momentary escape from the humdrum round of daily life? Probably a bit of all of those, and few other, more personal preferences too.
I read a lot. These days, not quite so avidly and with more discrimination than in the past when I would devour anything that came with words between covers. The libraries I first began frequenting as a small child were places where a thousand suns lay hidden between dusty pages, waiting for the hand and eye that would release them to blaze through the imagination.
It taught me a lot; reading across multiple genres, many eras and styles, I learned about people and the way they thought, acted and reacted. I learned about places and times I would never otherwise have known. I learned about language and its beauty and subtlety as well as its potential to be both abusive and controlling, influencing individuals and societies for good or ill. They were, in their own way, all good books… they kept my attention from beginning to end… not a difficult task with a voracious reader… and from each I garnered another seed of knowledge.
These days I read less…not only because the hours in a day are finite, but because the books I read engage me in a different way. Many are for research for my own writing, though I reserve the right to read for pure indulgence just before bed. But whether fact or fiction, the books I read have one thing in common that, for me, defines a good book… they make me think. And a really good book will make me think so much I’ll pick it up and read it again… and again.
If, as Stephen King says, ‘good books do not give up all their secrets at once,’ then the best books, little by little as you unravel the layers of meaning within them, lead the mind down pathways of imagination to a budding realisation of concepts which, though perhaps not new in human terms, are new to you… a journey from mere knowledge to understanding.
There have been a number of scientific studies in the news over the past few years, showing the links between reading, social aptitude and the ability to empathise with others. The value of reading as a life skill, particularly for children, has been much underestimated during the past few decades as technological advances have filled our lives with easier entertainment that place fewer demands on mind and attention.
A page penned in minutes may have taken years to write, begun long before the thought of writing ever entered the author’s head. Who knows how long such seeds have lain hidden, quietly germinating in the shadows before their first shoots made themselves known to the conscious mind?
Within the pages of a book may be found an endless draught to at least slake, if it cannot quench, the thirst for ideas, dreams and wonder. I agree with Thomas Carlyle, that ‘a good book is the purest essence of a human soul’, where the writer pours onto the page the thoughts and passion that he may never be able to voice. It is easy to see how, within the foxed and tattered pages of even the humblest volume, we may stumble across those seeds of knowledge and wisdom that we can nurture within our own minds and hearts and which, in their turn, bring us to a greater understanding of our fellow man, our world, and ultimately of ourselves.
Sue Vincent's Daily Echo 
I agree Sue. The best books are ones I want to read again.
LikeLiked by 2 people
I have a lot of those, Audrey 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
These days I listen to a lot of books when walking with or without Dog or when in the garden. This question you pose Sue makes me wonder if my ‘reading’ preferences are different when it’s audible. I think it’s true that I consume non fiction more readily when I listen. I think that’s because I can overconcentrate when I read and often doze whereas i consume the ideas evenly when listening. Which makes me realise it’s about the pace. Stories that are too slow lose me. I need my fiction, whatever the genre and period to have the right emotional pace for both the story and me. Often it will take a while to establish that link and I’m less tolerant to find it than i was once, but Ill always give someone time. If it clicks then me and the book are at one and I’m off
LikeLiked by 2 people
I have never really got on with audio books… which is weird as I love being read to, even now. I think a good deal of that has to do with the relationship between book, reader and listener.
LikeLiked by 2 people
I love to read but I vfund it harder to concentrate these days. I miss the days when a book could carry me away and I could hide within the pages and covers. My father loved books and treated them with reverence he always told us never destroy a book pass it on 💜
LikeLiked by 3 people
There is always something of value in ay book… even if all we learn is how the writer thinks and feels.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes you are so right
LikeLiked by 1 person
My life changed instantly when I was introduced to fantasy books as a kid… things like Lord of the Rings, CS Lewis and Ursula Le Guin. I will never forget my English teacher who got me started. There is nothing like a good book..
LikeLiked by 3 people
C. S. Lewis was always a part of my life, from very early days. For the rest, I blame my granddad 🙂
LikeLike
I read books to either be wowed by the author’s use of language, uniqueness of their worlds, or just one that effortlessly gets me turning the page.
I don’t really have a set guideline for that though. I just don’t force myself to keep reading books that I’m not feeling. Thanks for this post!
LikeLike
Life is too short to read books that don’t ‘speak ‘ to us… but then, we do need to give them a fair chance.
LikeLike
Reblogged this on Anita Dawes & Jaye Marie ~ Authors.
LikeLike
Thank you for reblogging, Jaye x
LikeLike
My mother said it was no use talking to me when I’d got my head in a book (which I seemed to have most of my free time). I still read anything from books to the internet to signs and park benches.
A good book is one I don’t want to put down, and can’t wait to return to. Or one where I’m learning something in an interesting way.
LikeLike
Same here, though reading is taking a bit of a back seat at the moment…except when I’m in the chemo suite, then I get to read all day long 🙂
LikeLike
I don’t read as much as I used to, and all my favourites were given away when we bought the boat as we had nowhere to store them. One day I might get new copies of some. Sadly there is nothing on the shelves these days that appeals anyway.
LikeLike
I had to dispose of hundreds of old favouriites when we came back from France… they seem to have crept back onto the shelves fairly fast though 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes, a good book is one that makes you think! I so agree about the value of reading for children and it needs to be encouraged. I consider the good books I’ve read to be my friends.xo
LikeLike
When I realised I was not going to survive the cancer, it was saying goodbye to much loved characters in books that really got to me first 😀
LikeLike
I love this post, Sue. It’s timely as I’m working on a piece of writing – a guiding light. I aspire to write like this. Thank you!
LikeLike
Thank you, Colleen!
LikeLike
I rarely read a book twice, Sue, though there are exceptions, and those are the ones that are so full of heart that I can’t absorb it all in the first or second or tenth read. John O’Donohue’s books are like that for me. They dig deep into the soul. Enjoy your reads and I hope they fill you with peace and wonder.
LikeLike
Many of the books I read need to be read and meditated upon several times before they reveal their full meaning. And with fiction, a second read is ameeting with old friends 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
I find it difficult to relate to the idea that people don’t enjoy reading – and one of my children falls into that category. Perhaps unsurprisingly, he’s not noted for using his brain. He has one, he just doesn’t think very often. And I agree that reading and other life skills go hand in hand.
LikeLike
Both my lads read when they were younger. Nick voraciously, Alex not quite so avidly. Now Nick struggles physically and that has always been a grief to him, while Alex reads mainly to his daughters 🙂
LikeLike
I cannot imagine life without books, how impoverished we’d all be! I love seeing a wall of books, at home, a library or bookstore. Wealth beyond measure!
LikeLike
I agree, Eliza, and my walls are covered in books 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Security! 😉
LikeLike
I also love books, Sue, in all shapes and forms and most genres. This is a lovely and though filled post.
LikeLike
Brilliant. Spot on. Well said. Shall I keep going… Thank you, Sue!
LikeLike
Thanks, Jennie. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
You’re welcome!
LikeLiked by 1 person