Criteria

Have been thinking a lot lately of the criteria that I subconsciously use to determine if I like a book or not.  When you are an omnivorous (bless spellchecker!) reader, are there certain characteristics in all types of books make it a good read? 
1.  Before you even start reading, does the review of the book sound like a thinly veiled copy of another best seller?  It may be a good book, but sorry - I am tired of teenage girl who's boyfriend is a vampire, werewolf, etc.  Also tired of Harry Potter clones where the boy is pitifully downtrodden and finds he has magic powers. Even the Hunger Games theme is starting to wear thin. I will use the book I just finished for my model, since it is the one that coalesced my criteria train of thought.  The book "Past Perfect" by Susan Isaacs was one I traded for at the campground laundry room so did not get on Amazon.  Love it that at most campgrounds they have books you can trade.  Okay, the cover review stated that the heroine had been fired from the CIA but was never told why.  It is now 15 years later and she is writing scripts for a tv spy show.  A semi-fresh plot, okay!
2.  As I read, do I want to know what the ending is?  Do I even care?  If I am well into the book and still don't care how it ends, I usually stop reading it.  This one I wanted to know why she got fired.  It was something you could really relate to.
3.  Can I relate to the hero?  Sometimes they are so obnoxious you don't care what happens to them.  You don't want someone perfect.  That gets boring fast. So, yes, the woman in this book was believable and likable, even with her flaws.  I loved that in her thoughts she would think worst case scenarios and best case scenarios.  Too human.  There was humor, but not overdone.
4.  Did I think about the book when I was not reading it?  Did I ponder what might happen and what the end might be?  Yes.
5.  Was I really into the story and did not put the book down?  Translation:  Did I snarl at anyone who bothered me while I was reading?  Did I put off doing other things so I could read one more chapter?  Yep!
 6.  Was there enough typos and grammatical errors that it really detracted from the flow of the book?  That can become quite annoying.  Too many errors pull you back to the surface of the book.  If this book had them, I did not notice.  
7.  Did I like the ending? Was it satisfying?  Some books really let you down at the end.  I don't care how realistic it may be, I want a decent ending.  In "The Hunger Games" third and final book, it was the best ending that could come out of the situation.  Through the book, I kept thinking this just can't have a good ending.  It was definitely an anticlimax. Jules Verne was known to have written very depressing endings to his stories, and his publisher would make him rewrite them on a more upbeat note.  As to "Past Perfect", the ending was quite satisfying.
I was going to add an 8th item, but changed my mind.  It would have been, "Was I helped by others' reviews?  Sometimes.  Ironically, since I did not get this on line, I had not read the reviews.  I was dismayed when I later did, and they were pretty negative.   Would I have read this book if I had read the reviews first? I don't know.
Is there anything else that might determine the worth of a book? 

A Place of Rest

Just finished a Kindle/Amazon book called "A Place of Rest" by Luke Spychalla.  It was a good book that held my interest but seemed to jump from one genera to another.  It started out very futuristic sci-fi then evolved into spiritual/mythical.  The author fluctuated between the future date and past dates.  That was done smoothly, I thought, even though it did not say when it was each time.  The descriptive pictures painted by the author were lovely and you felt a part of them, although sometimes it was over-done and carried on too long.  Those seemed to slow down the narrative and bring you back from being engrossed by the story.  I thought the science descriptions were done well without going into too much detail.  All in all, would I recommend it?  Yes.  I had to read it all to find out the ending.  Was I satisfied with the ending?  Not quite but it did not leave you hanging.   

Cowardly Reader

Do you find that sometimes you are afraid to continue reading because you know something bad is going to happen?  I call it my cowardly streak.  I just want to yell, "Don't go in there!" or "Don't do that!"  Now it seems that I am really into the story but could it be that not enough of my conscious is caught in the story that I can still think rationally?  Ah, yes, blame it on the author.  I did finish one book like that called "Kinesis" by Ethan Spier.  It has a very interesting premise that people who discover they have telekinetic abilities, deteriorate into madness, so anyone with that ability is put into a special prison.  Of course, there is always the fear of people that are not just different but have extra abilities.  It was a good story and I do recommend it but Oh, My!  I knew what was coming.  Okay, so now should I go finish the third book in the Hunger Games, "Mockingjay"?  I can't see any good way out of this.  And too many characters that I had grown to like have died.  However, a charming young man has told me it comes out well at the end.  We will see.