Defining a Good Book

:book: Last week I picked up and read (again), Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. As I was reading it I decided on a new way to define a good book.

For me a good book is one that really makes you think. It teaches you something new or makes you look at something in a new light or from a different perspective.

It can also be a book that pulls you in and doesn’t let you go till long after you finished. Those books that you just can’t put down. Or that 6 hours can pass and you feel like you just sat down.

And I’ve decided that another possible definition of a good book is one that you can enjoy just as much the second (third, fourth, …) time around as you did the first because while you already know the end from the beginning, you can now enjoy watching the intricate set-up being done to get you there. All the things you didn’t notice the first time around start to really stand out with subsequent readings.

And that’s definitely something you can say about the Harry Potter books. Rereading them is just as much a treat as reading them the first time. (I still got teary eyed about Dobby. Must remember a handkerchief for the movie.)

But it’s not something I could say about all the books I’ve read. Some I’ve read once, and while I enjoyed it that time, that was plenty.

How do you define a good book? What good books have you read lately?