What Do You Want From a Book?
While we may not ask the question in so many words, it’s calculated in the background of our mind every time we choose a book to read. We have expectations about the storyline and how it will make us feel. If it’s a non-fiction book we want to come away having learned something. If it’s fiction we want to escape reality for a bit and take up with imaginary characters. We want to get lost in a world that’s not ours. Really, then, we are not buying books, we are buying outcomes . Focusing on the fictional aspect, we likely decide on a police procedural novel to enter the world of crime scene investigation. We want to be a part of the investigation, solving the case alongside the characters. We want to be thrown off by red herrings, be side-swiped by the twists and turns, and by the end we expect that the murderer face justice. We don’t just want the novel coming at us. We want to think as we read and anticipate what might be coming next. We want to solve the case before our be...