What Type of Reader are You?

(above: Bookworm by weebobeebo)

What are my qualifications of a good book? (And remember, this is my personal criteria.)

I do judge a book by it's cover. I'm an aesthetic individual and lover of art. The cover is the first thing that draws me to a book. And all of the images I conjure up in my mind as I read the book are inspired by the image on the cover. I really like covers that depict a famous painting, like The Birth of Venus and The Royal Physician's Visit. If a book has a lovely cover, it will at least end up in my hands.

I read almost only historical fiction. That may sound narrow-minded, but it's just what I enjoy most. I love the past. I wish I could time travel. I wouldn't go back in time to any moment in my life... but would visit different eras of history in different areas of the world. But since time travel technology is not yet at my disposal, I read historical fiction to go to another place and time. It's an escape from the present. I also like the historical fiction I read to be historically accurate. I'm a history buff myself and writer of my own historical fiction. So I love researching a time period and making the story as realistic as possible for that era. And I appreciate it when authors do the same thing.

The book should possess me within the first ten pages, preferably the first sentence. I don't like to read books that get off to a slow start where things don't start happening until the middle of the novel. And I don't like books that make it all to easy to close the book, set it aside, and turn on the television. I like books that grab your heart, mind, and soul from the very first words. Gripping words that suck you into the story and make you forget about everything else in your own life. Words that make you feel like you're an invisible character in the novel, watching everything play out... like a fly on the wall, or like the walls themselves.

The best kind of book is the kind where you start reading and can't stop. A pageturner. You just have to turn to the next page. It draws you in more and more. One more sentence. Then one more page. Then one more chapter. You keep turning the pages and turning the pages because you simply can't resist. You just can't wait to find out what happens and how it all ends up. But then... when it all does come to an end, you're almost heartbroken. You're sad and lonely because such a beautiful, gripping story came to an end and you still yearn to know what happens next. And yet there's no next page to turn to. I love a book that leaves me wanting more long after the last page.

I read for my own personal pleasure, I'm following my heart and if a book doesn't grip me... I'll move on to another.

What kind of reader are you? Are you picky like me? Do you need a gripping story in order to stay faithful to a book? Or are you fiercely loyal and finish every novel you stick your nose in? Do you enjoy the slower readers more than the fast-paced?

Amore.