NOW CLOSED Tell us what makes a book 'un-put-downable' and be in with a chance of winning a £100 Figleaves voucher

[TheOtherHelenMumsnet]

The folks at Random House, the publisher, have got a new book coming out
that they think is going to take the country by storm and get everyone
talking about it. It's called Fifty Shades of Grey by E L James. You may
have heard about it or read it (it's been a massive hit in the US already),
or this may be the first you've heard of it. Either way, Random House would
like to find out what makes a book a riveting read - there's a few
questions below to get you started but please add any other comments you
have as well.

Everyone who adds their comments to this thread will be entered into a
prize draw where one winner will get a £100 voucher for
Figleaves.

Here are the questions:

Every now and then, a book comes along that gets everybody talking (think
Harry Potter, Twilight, The Da Vinci Code or One Day). Fifty Shades
of Grey by E L James is doing just that in the US. What do you think it is
about a book that makes it such a huge success? What are the key elements
you think a book like that has to have to give it the mass appeal to get
everyone reading?

One of the reasons Fifty Shades of Grey has captured so much attention,
is its open portrayal of the erotic experiences of its main characters. What
was the last book that you read that completely gripped you so you couldn't
put it down? Have you read any books recently that have changed the way you
think about something? Or changed the way you actually feel or act in RL?
Please do share!

Fifty Shades of Grey is already a bestseller in the ebook charts. If you
have an ereader (e.g. Kindle), do you think it has influenced what books
you choose to read? Is there anything you've read on your ereader that you
don't think you would have done if it was in hard copy? If so, what was it
and why? Have you ever been put off reading a book because people around
you will be able to see what you're reading? If so, what was it? (we won't
judge you, promise! :))

Just one last quick Q for anyone who has read Fifty Shades of Grey - the
screen rights have been acquired and it is going to be made into a film -
who would you choose be the the main parts (Christian Grey and Ana Steele)?

Thanks and good luck with the prize draw
MNHQ

I'll come back and answer the questions in a minute but based on what I know about the book (it's going to be a film, really? Well done to E L James!) which I'll admit I haven't read although I've read an awful lot about it, surely the logical actors would be Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart?

And there should be a at the end of that, because it really wasn't a dig - I'm very happy for her

What makes a page turner for me is a fast paced novel with believable characters, I've always loved reading and love that feeling of excitement when you are reading a book and you can't wait to see how it ends. The best book I've read recently is Sanctus by Simon Toyne.

For me, credible characters are a must. Not writing in dialect (cockernee for example) is essential.
I can't remember the last really good book I read. I read a lot. Probably the kite runner or Time Travellers wife TBH.

Key elements of mass appeal? If I could answer that then I'd be rolling in a bed of cash like JK, but from a personal POV, empathic characters and an engrossing plot take precedence. I can forgive writing to a certain extent as long as it's not so bad that it jars you out of the story.

Books that have engrossed me recently. Well I have a Kindle and I've been catching up with series where I bought the first couple of books and then lost track because I've missed when the next ones have been released. It's far easier to buy things on the Kindle unfortunately for my bank balance So the last two series I've been reading and immediately buying the next because I have to know what's happening are Kim Harrison's Hollows Series and Patricia Briggs Mercy Thompson books. I'll admit I'm very lazy - I read books for entertainment and fun, I have no real interest in anything that stretches me.

Do I read things on my Kindle I wouldn't read in paperback? No. I read a lot of fantasy/urban fantasy/paranormal romance (worst description ever) but I used to buy them as paperbacks anyway. As I said above it's easier to buy them on the Kindle and I do buy more because of that and yes it is slightly less embarrassing to read it on the Kindle. I used to buy bags of Mills and Boon's from charity shops, I have very little shame left I'm afraid.

I have to be able to believe in the characters. I often prefer it if I feel some sympathy for or can relate to the main characters on some level, but it's not vital. The speech needs to be natural.
The plot needs to be fairly fast moving. I hate too much desciption, especially over long sentences describing the scenery.
The most memorable books that I'd describe as unputdownable would be the Time Travellers Wife, the Book Thief. There are others, but I'd need to think for a while.

For my I need a nice strong female lead who doesn't rely on men to fix things for her. I like romance, but I don't like it to be typical and I certainly don't want it to be easy.

I'm getting bored of love triangles for teenagers, ooooh Jacob... oooooh Edward... it makes me feel sick, especially when they are fighting for a drip who has no personality. It cheapens other great books, like Hunger Games, because instead of recognising the lead female you're getting tiny little minds being distracted and wanting to be on "Team Peta" or "Team Gale". That book is so much bigger than a romance, I was discussing it yesterday making comparisons to Nazi Germany and Roman Colosseum. So yeah, depth is kind of important, yeah there's a love triangle, but that's just a little thread because there is so much more in it.

I love a bit of rumpy pumpy, but please please avoid cliches. Throbbing members make me laugh and skip pages. Remember that it's the dance before the act that is the most erotic.

Write more dystopian and post-apocalyptic novels people, it's so fascinating looking at what happens to human beings when social order is taken away or warped into something completely unusual.

Build believable worlds. But don't over-complicate them unless you are a master at interesting description without sacrificing pace of the plot.

Write more for older women, there's loads of teenager stuff in my favourite genres, but less for the older women. I do enjoy pretending to be young again and exploring first love, and college etc, but I find it very difficult to fancy the men, since they are starting to get a bit too young for me these days.

Read my books when they get published.

I enjoy believable characters, ones who I would be friends with, or listen to in a pub chat. I love a fast pace, intreguing plot and a twist at the end. I really dislike being able to guess the ending part way through, holding out the hope that I am wrong! Books that have kept me gripped me recently have been Book Thief, One Day, The house on the Strand, and I am enjoying the (teenage) Hunger Games- its something a bit quirky and different. Am loving this phase of books which are encouraging teens to keep reading, can only be a good thing. Not got a kindle or similar yet, but not generally embarrassed by what i read -though I don't leave the more 'adult' matter lying around for my bookworm 11 yr old to investigate! May look into this Fifty Shades if Grey, as it my choice next in my book group!

What are the key elements you think a book has to have to give it the mass appeal to get everyone reading? I think the sheer volume of books published now can be overwhelming and books are also expensive - so things like the Times book choices or Richard and Judy etc take some of the thought out of choosing books. These books are then hugely publicised and so people are more likely to buy/read them because 'everybody else' is doing so. Huge displays in the bookshops of these 'bestsellers' then make them even more prominent and people pick them because they are 'in their face' so to speak - it's a shame that many of these books then turn out to be utter rubbish in reality!

What was the last book that you read that completely gripped you so you couldn't put it down? Have you read any books recently that have changed the way you think about something? Or changed the way you actually feel or act in RL? I read the first of the 'Hunger Games' trilogy recently and really enjoyed it
(except for the ending which I thought was just page-filling). What made it good? A couple of characters who you cared enough about to read on to see what happened to them / plenty of tension (are the characters going to die on this page?) / potential love interest (does he really love her or is it another game? How far will she go to stay in the game? etc) / and just believable enough to be really scary (ie you can sort of imagine that Cameron might try and generate money by killing off a few poor kids for ratings!!!). In contrast to this, I also read 'A Fine Balance' by Rohinton Mistry, which I thought was a textbook case of how to get it wrong. It had characters that he made me care about but he then proceeded to let every disaster that could happen, indeed happen to these characters - it got to the point where it was ridiculous and boring, rather than moving - so a great book has to allow at least a chance of hope for some of the characters we've been made to care about. That's why 'Of Mice And Men' works so well - it's devestating but at least we feel that perhaps George will find some sort of new life without Lennie - none of the characters in, 'A Fine Balance' (or indeed in 'The Grapes Of Wrath') end with any hope at all - and that spoils a book for me.

The perfect book for me would be the fictional love child of Jane Austen and Stephen King - I'd like the will they won't they love tangle of Pride And Prejudice and the verbal duelling of Elizabeth and Darcy combined with post apocalyptic settings and the battle between good and evil. If 'Fifty Shades oF Grey' can offer that, then I'll certainly be buying it! :)

Q1: I like a book to build up the story so that all the threads come together at the end. I need believable, true, empathetic characters with no cliches or writing about what the author thinks I am like. I like humour and a slight cliffhanger at the end of chapters (which, incidentally aren't too long or too short, enought to read 2 or 3 before I fall asleep). I also like pathos and emotion in a book, sometimes sadness and grief even, but joy and fun too.

Q2: In terms of fiction, I thought 'We need to talk about Kevin' was a groundbreaking book that really made me think differently.
On an entirely different note, 'This Charming Man' by good old Marian really had it all, I was utterly gripped.
I hate reading books where you just know it's going to be made into a film and be shit.

Q3: I don't have an e-reader yet but I'm getting one soon. I'll prob fill it up with chick lit and autobiographies for some holiday reading this summer, then turn to series of books by more serious authors as the winter approaches and I can snuggle up with a book. I read Colleen Rooney and Kerry Katona's books last year in the back garden as I was too embarrassed to read them on in public!

I look forward to reading Fifty Shades of Grey.

Oh yes, and I like them to be available on Kindle for a good price too.

I'm personally influeneced by other peoples reviews, but a book needs to have believable characters, and a fast pace for it to capture me. I do enjoy a bit of romance/ relationship in my books, but also love a thriller. I do really enjoy books that start as what appears to be independant stories and then all come together towards the end.

I recently got a kindle, so I'm still struggling to adjust to it (I'm a bit old school and like the smell and feel of a well read or brand new book) that said would have definitely prefered to read the Nancy Friday books on the Kindle

Oooh - and missed the question about a book you can't put down.

Probably the last one was Neverwhere by Neil Gaimen, which was actually the book that started me reading Terry Pratchet (I'd never read fantasy before) and for that I'm extremely grateful

What makes a book 'un-put-downable' for me is when I can relate to the characters in it and when it stirs up feels and emotions in me.
I also agree that a book needs to be face paced. If things are dragged out I get bored and lose interest.
And lastly it needs to be unpredictable. When a book really surprises you every so often it keeps you interested.

The last book I couldn't put down was 'Rachel's holiday'

for me a book that works is one that transports me into a different time and place - for example, Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall cannot be beaten in terms of a fictionalised historical (convincing!) account.

i'm not sure about the "mass-appeal" factor - probably a not-too-hard to believe main character mixed with a little popular mythology and of course lots of media-generated hype!

the last book that had me completely gripped (read in a day but it was quite short and i was keeping a sick/napping child company so was "captive") was Alys Always by Harriet Lane - fantastic, sparky and hugely dislikable(yet enjoyable) protagonist.

My kindle is a lifeline as i live in a non-English speaking country with v little opportunity to physically browse books but if anything it's made me re-read and in some case for the first time read Classics - i'd normally dismiss them in favour of more modern prose but as many are free they're too good to resist.

i haven't read anything about 50 Shades but yes, the kindle list does catch my attention so i'm sure i'll read it at some point - especially if it makes Kindle Daily Deal (as an aside, is it just me or are more of these books written by men than women? it feels like a very male list IFYSWIM).

I think it's very hard to calculate in advance what makes a book un-put-downable, or a huge commercial hit, or a "word of mouth" hit. What I look for in a book is likely to be different from the next poster along, and vice versa. My preferences are for a good strong plot with sympathetic characters, who aren't unbelievably beautiful or infallible.

Re:kindle. Yes, price has led me to buy books I wouldn't have bought in print.

sory. you lost me at 'open portrayal of erotic experiences'.

Now I like a good shag as much as the next person, and don't mind reading about a good shag if it adds to a book, but if that is it's main reason for its 'unputdownableness' then i'll probably give it a miss.

a real unputdownable book has a bit of everything. not just shagging.

and reading the blurb doesn't make me want to read it either.

another controlling, abusive man turned around by a weak simpering female type?

I hate reading about sex - I have read many, many books and don't think I have ever read a good sex scene.

I'm not sure the characters have to be that believable for me - I think a really unputdownable book is either about plot and suspense, or it's funny and involving. Not all books have to be like that, of course; I often read highly putdownable books that are nonetheless enjoyable. Something I loved recently was William Boyd's Ordinary Thunderstorms - now THAT was unputdownable because of the plot and the incredible vividness of the writing. I lived inside that book, or it lived inside me.

Blind (as in, none of the thread so far read), I would say that unputdownable books for me have one or both of the following characteristics:

1. Their plots are strong, complex and fast paced enough to give the reader many ideas about potential plot outcomes, making them want to find out as soon as possible if they are right.

1. There is a strong element of good and evil in the book, which generates a desire to find out if, and how, good prevails.

1. The main characters are engaging and you want to find out what happens to them.

Books that I have struggled to put down include 'The Pillars of the Earth', 'DaVinci Code' et al, Harry Potter 4-7 and 'The Crimson Petal and the White'.

I have no idea what key ingredient makes a book a huge success - in this case I'd never heard of Fifty Shades and see it is linked to the Twillight saga and seems to be rather 9 and a half weeks so i don't think i'd be drawn to it.

Sometimes i read a particular book on reccommendation e.g. Sarah Waters 'The Little Stranger'. Or as i work with books i will become aware of something becoming very popular and may try it out. I like books set in the past, particularly modern history. I like them to have believable characters and they can't be all horrible or i have no desire to find out what happens to them.
People like contraversial topics and i suppose they can be singled out for Book clubs. ('We need to talk about Kevin' 'Lovely Bones' springs to mind.)
Or a good, humourous love story that strikes a chord with anyone who was ever a student? ('One Day.')

The last book i read that truly gripped me? Gawd. Hard to square it down. My most recent one was My Vintage Summer by Jane Elmor and that is an example of a book i wouldn't normally choose. The cover is misleading - it looks Chick Lit. But something about the first couple of pages made me want to continue and i was drawn in. It's an easy read,not my usual taste, but it came to life in my head and i really enjoyed it. I'm trying to think of books you stay up until the early hours reading and then when you've finished you think - i wish i'd written that! Revolutionary Road was one of those incredible books that made me think of life and the 'quiet desperation' of suburbia. A very brave book for it's time.

I've been put off reading the Meyer series because it just seems very young adult and i probably wouldn't show it off much if i was reading it on holiday or something! I also can't stand Chick Lit.