WHAT MAKES A GOOD BOOK GOOD? by Gill Stewart

For the last year or so I’ve been keeping a record of all the books I’ve read, and even of those I’ve started and not finished. I’ve been trying to understand what it is that makes a book a GOOD book – to me – so I’ve chosen the last three books to which I gave the full five stars, and I've tried to discover what qualities they have that set them above the hundred or so others with three or four stars (less than three stars and I don’t carry on).

These books are quite diverse. They are:

·         ‘Falling’ by Julie Cohen, a recently published women’s contemporary fiction novel;

·         ‘The Year Of Living Danishly’ by Helen Russell, an autobiography/political commentary; and

·         ‘Faking It’ by Jennifer Crusie, a classic romantic comedy.

I’ve tried to identify the things that make them such all-round successes for me, and have come up with the following. These qualities are in addition to having attractive characters that the reader is rooting for – I take that as a given!

 Immersive - as a reader you are completely in these books. It's not just the story that carries you forward but the setting and the little details about the main and secondary characters. This is a world you can believe in.

Off-beat – to a greater or lesser extent all the characters are out of the ordinary, which makes them particularly interesting, but the key thing is that they are not caricatured. It’s very easy to caricature eccentricity, but for me that doesn’t make a good read.

Accessible style – the style of writing is not literary, not trying for long words and (even worse) long sentences/paragraphs. It is easy reading. In both the Jennifer Crusie and Helen Russell books, humour is also very much to the fore, which helps.

Page-turners – all are books that make you want to read on, that you regret every time you have to put them down. They are not the heart-in-your-mouth or blood-and-guts type of page-turners, however, as those don’t appeal to me. I don’t like too much tension and I definitely don’t want tragedy. These three were the perfect balance of interest, action and resolution. And there was the added bonus, with the Russell book, that I felt I was learning something new, too!

What qualities do other people feel are essential to a ‘good’ book?

Romantic Reads 2017

❤️❤️With Valentine's Day fast approaching, romance is in the air as we share our beloved romantic reads, with Linda and Neil also revealing some perfect dreamy locations to snuggle up. We'd love ❤️ to hear what you'll be reading (or re-reading) this Valentine's Day too...

Rae – As soon as it was decided we would share our favourite romantic reads, I knew I would chose Jojo Moyes runaway bestseller, Me Before You. In many ways Me Before You tears up the romantic fiction rulebook. For starters Will Traynor makes an unconventional hero, being a cynical quadriplegic, paralysed from the chest down, struggling to come to terms with his new life following a horrific motorcycling accident. Whilst bright, witty, Lou Clark, coasting directionless through life, is nothing like the driven, polished, stick thin women Will’s known in the past. Without creating a spoiler, the very plotline doesn’t follow a traditional romantic read. And yet… it’s a gloriously uplifting, punch-in-the-gut kind of novel, reminding us that love really knows no barriers.

Victoria - A romance novel that stayed with me for a long time is Redeeming

Love by Francine Rivers. Set during the Californian gold rush of 1850, it tells the story of Angel who was sold into prostitution as a child and survives by growing to hate men. She meets the religious Michael Hosea, who falls instantly in love with her. He believes it is a sign from God that his destiny is to marry and rescue her from her tragic existence. Slowly and steadily, through love, kindness and his dogged determination, he does. Redeeming Love is categorized as a Christian book, however, don't let this put you off if you are a non-believer or of a different faith. This is a powerful story, where the heroine struggles to feel worthy of being rescued, yet the hero refuses to give up. I loved the writing style of the author and the love, patience and loyalty Michael shows her. Some have found the circumstances of their marriage unpalatable, but I had no concerns and nor have the thousands of other readers who have devoured this award winning book in the past. I love it because I fell a little in love with Michael too, as when life gets tough we all need a hero who will catch us when we fall.

Linda - my fave romantic read is The Bridges of Madison County by Robert James Waller.

Ignore the snipey reviews if you look this book up on Google/Amazon/wherever. It's like with many great romantic books (I'm thinking Gone with the Wind here) and there are those who read it who consider themselves too literary or something for such a novel, or that, perhaps, pure romance is too lightweight. But if you want to be transported to a different place, a different time, a set of emotions you thought you'd long buried then this is the book for you. It tells the story of Francesca Johnson, a married but lonely housewife, and Robert Kinkaid, a National Geographic photographer who comes to the area to

create a photographic essay on the iconic covered bridges of Madison County. They fall in love, helped along by the fact that Robert Kincaid has a romantic soul and a way with words to tell Francesca so. It's a very short book - more a novella at just over 170 pages - and is a mix of forbidden romance, mysterious beauty, and poignant sadness. The film is good but the book is better, and I'm left wondering how many little girls were named Madison because their mother had read this book??

And my most romantic location?

A beach in the moonlight. Preferably, this will be a soft sandy beach which still holds its warmth from the day, and the air will be balmy. What I love is the beam of light that powers towards you when you stand on a beach (the love of your life holding your hand, of course) as the moon rises - it has a unique sort of energy that stirs the soul. But if I can't have a warm underfoot, sandy, beach then I'll settle for any beach at midnight... winter beaches with a rough sea are good if the romantic couple are wrapped up warm.

Jennie - I don’t read many historical novels these

days but one I’ve read and re-read is KATHERINE by Anya Seton so many times I’ve lost count. Published over 60 years ago it has never lost its appeal and these days is regarded as an all-time classic.

Katherine Swynford, the naive orphan of a poor knight, arrives at the court of Edward III when she is just fifteen and it’s not long before she comes to the notice of the married John of Gaunt who is the love of her life.

Anya Seton was renowned for the amount of research she did for her books and what I love about Katherine is the fact that it is based on historical fact and the love between these two people was real. As the mistress and eventual wife of John of Gaunt her children were the direct ancestors of the Tudors and theStuarts. If you like historical fiction I urge you to read it and lose yourself for several hours in the medieval world of power, pleasure and passion Katherine found herself living in.

Gill - When choosing my favourite romantic read, I was going to go with one of my two all-time favourites: Jane Austin or Georgette Heyer. But then I realised that my go-to romance writer at the moment is Jennifer Crusie, someone a lot more recent and a little less known. Author of American romantic comedies, her plots, dialogues, characters and humour are all spot on. It’s hard to pick which is my favourite but I’ll go for Fast Women, possibly because it was the first Crusie book I read and I was so delighted to discover this new writer. My only complaint is that she hasn’t had any new books published since 2010. Come on Jennifer!

Jennifer (not Jennifer Crusie) - When Rae asked me for a few sentences on my favourite romantic reads, my mind went blank. With a question like that it always does: I can’t think of the last book I read, or indeed any of the books I’ve read in the past year. I vaguely remember taking a Jeffrey Archer book on my honeymoon in case there was a dull moment, but I don’t think that’s the kind of answer she was looking for. 

I’m going to go back to an old favourite — or rather, a series of old favourites, a very, very slow-burn romance. When, in Dorothy L Sayers’ detective novel, Strong Poison, Lord Peter Wimsey sees

Harriet Vane standing in the dock on trial for her life, it’s love at first sight for him. But the relationship is deliciously complicated by Harriet’s independence, her unconventional lifestyle and her natural dislike of being obliged to him for saving her life. 

She loves him. (Of course she does.) But it isn’t as easy as that — and so the author doesn’t need to tie up the romance alongside the end of the case. And yes — Peter and Harriet finally achieve their happy ever after, several books down the line.

Neil - Romantic reads are slightly out of my league, however I do find some of the locations that I visit have an air of romance surrounding them. Eilean Donan Castle is your iconic poster castle for romantic Scotland, it ticks all the boxes - loch, hills, the illusion of being remote.  But its not just the image when visiting this castle, there is an atmosphere around the castle and it was at night that it truly showed it self. When I returned to take some night shots of the castle all lit up, I did not expect to hear the sound of bagpipes floating over the still night air as a wedding took place. It was then I understood why so many people found this place romantic.

I am lucky to live in a country that is romanticised, with stunning castles and beautiful vistas round most corners.

Eilean Donan Castle, Scotland

Hope everyone enjoys a little romance this Valentine's Day ❤️❤️❤️

QUALITY – DOES IT MATTER? by Gill Stewart

How do you judge a ‘good’ book? Or a ‘really good’ piece of music? Is there some objective quality these can be measured against? Or is it purely subjective? 

Can we use something as a proxy for quality – being assessed by experts, or appealing to a great deal of people, or having a lasting appeal over time? I’ll consider each of these in turn.

The problem with arbiters of quality being The Experts, is that we first need to decide who the experts are. There are many people willing to put themselves up for this role – university lecturers, book reviewers, other writers to name but a few. The problem is, their views are subjective, and they often don’t agree with each other. And even more often, I don’t agree with them. If I did, I would have to consider the books that, say, make it onto the shortlist for the Booker Prize as ‘good’. And, mmm, I really can’t say I do.

Volume of sales doesn't really imply quality for me, either. I understand that very many (young) people enjoy the music of One Direction, but does that mean it’s ‘good’. Likewise the books of E L James. On the other hand, I do think high sales can be an indicator of something – J K Rowling and Nora Roberts didn’t achieve the massive following they have without producing a really good product. But then, not everyone likes either of these, so we’re back to subjective judgements again – just the subjective views of a whole lot of people rather than the individual ones of the experts.

Having a lasting appeal over time actually makes more sense to me as an indicator of quality. I’m not a fan of classical music but I can wonder at and appreciate Mozart, as I can many ‘classical’ books such as Austen or George Elliot or Shakespeare. Being popular over a long period of time does show that the work isn't just suiting a current fashion. The problem with this measure is we have to wait a very long time before we can decide if something is good!

Although I can find reasons not to agree with many judgements on what is good and what isn’t, I do at heart believe there is something to the idea of ‘quality’. I might not be able to define it, but I can recognise it when I see it. Bob Dylan has it, as does Beethoven. Jennifer Crusie has it, as does Margaret Elphinstone, and Graeme Swinson (I strongly recommend his The Rosie Project if you haven’t come across him).

You might say it doesn’t matter, and we should leave everyone to like or dislike what they wish. Which of course is their prerogative. But there’s still this little bit of me that wants to be able to define and classify this…