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What is a Good Book?

An essay, written by Miranda Monahan

By Miranda MonahanPublished 2 years ago 3 min read
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What is a Good Book?
Photo by Kourosh Qaffari on Unsplash

Reading is a popular hobby of many people around the world. Anyone who loves reading will most certainly enjoy a great book. Many people always want to know the answer to the age-old question, “what is a great book?” A great book is a book that draws the reader in from the beginning, a book that is relatable to the reader and a book that doesn’t leave the reader hanging.

A great book draws the reader in from the beginning. Firstly, a great book will draw the reader in from the beginning so, they keep the reader’s attention. For example, no author will intentionally write a book that people will want to abandon after only a few chapters. Authors write books that people will enjoy for the most part. Secondly, if a great book has a good and interesting storyline, a good and interesting storyline will draw people in. For example, no one who reads will enjoy a book with a boring storyline and no one who reads will enjoy a storyline that is written poorly. A bad and boring storyline will never draw the reader in. The reader will most likely abandon the book if the storyline is bad and boring. Thirdly, a great book will never drag the storyline on longer than it can go on. For example, a storyline that drags out too long will never draw the reader in. If anything, a storyline that drags out too long will do the complete opposite. A storyline that drags out longer than it should make the reader lose interest and will make the reader lose all focus on what is going on in the story. Therefore, a great book draws the reader in from the beginning.

A great book is relatable. First of all, people enjoy reading books that they can relate to. For example, women who are pregnant may read books about pregnancy because they can relate to the subject matter because they are going through what the book is talking about. Second of all, people enjoy reading books that they can make connections to. For example, people like to be able to visualize what’s going on in the story or book they’re reading. The visualizations may make them think of an experience or something they read previously or something they saw on television. Third of all, people like books that offer tips and advice that they can use in their everyday life. For example, people like advice books because the advice books contain advice that people can use in their everyday life. Therefore, a great book is relatable to the reader.

A great book does not leave the reading hanging. First off, no reader enjoys being left wondering the answer to the infuriating question, “What will happen next?” For example, some authors leave the end of a book on a cliffhanger, but usually, an author will leave a cliffhanger when there is going to be a sequel. Even with that, readers always want to know, “What will happen next?” Secondly, readers like to know how a story ends. For example, some others leave the end of a book as a cliffhanger. Sometimes, there never ends up being a sequel to the story. So, the story never really ended. Lastly, ending the story on a cliffhanger makes readers mad. For example, readers don’t like to be mad when they’re reading a book. They like to read books that have a clear end. Readers like to know what happens next and not be left waiting for what might or might not happen. Therefore, a great book does not leave the reader hanging.

In conclusion, for the reasons stated above, a great book draws the reader in from the beginning, a book that is relatable to the reader and a book that doesn’t leave the reader hanging. So, the next time someone asks, “What is a great book?” Slip a copy of this essay to the person and say, “Read this essay. This may answer that question.”

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About the Creator

Miranda Monahan

Social Media and Community Manager

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