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 think a book with interesting characters, a bit of intrigue/mystery and a well written fast-paced plot draw me in. I can't put it down if I'm desperate to know what happens next. So thrillers, crime books, etc are good.

I have got a kindle and I've read a lot recently that I wouldn't have read without it. No specific books but its the ability to download a sample for free that has been good for me. I wouldn't have taken a risk on buying a book out my comfort zone before but now can get a sample for free to see if I like it. I've gone on to buy a lot of books after getting hte sample.

Writing style...flows well.Characters one can get behind.
Always reread Rebecca,My Cousin Rachel,All Harry Potter,We need to talk about Kevin All Kate Atkinson books,Clouds Among the Stars by Lucy Cavendish,Jane Eyre,...and many others.

Short chapters... Makes you think you can read just one more before doing something else

A book that is 'un-put-downable' for me weaves it's way on several levels, the richness of the writing, whether in frugal use of words or liberally and lavishly over using them; The developing and rounding of characters so that you develop a relationship with them in your head; and the story line or plot, which is probably the least of my priorities.

A well written character can just walk from one end of a park to another and have me enthralled, where as the best plot in the world with bad writing and weak characters will not retain my interest.

With some books, I will read them 3 times on the trot to absorb each of these aspects fully.
The Millenium Trilogy had this effect, as did The Unbearable Lightness of Being...
Just something totally engaging.

Books that are hard to put down generally need to have a good pace and interesting plot and characters - to make you want to know what happens next and care about the people. Gianrico Carofiglio's books, which I've been reading recently are like that. On the other hand, the last time I stayed up past midnight to get to the end of a book, it was much more literary - Conditions of Faith by Alex Walker. I struggled to get into it at first, but by the end I'd really got to like the characters and wanted to know what happened to them.

I have an e-reader but I've only once bought a book for it - normally I use it for free classics and work-related stuff.

It's a combination of things for me. Quality of writing is one major factor - compare Harry Potter to the Twilight series for example. Harry Potter has a genuine lively wit, which makes the writing part of the unputdownable nature of the books. Twilight, the writing is stodgy and any unputdownable qualities it has are about plot.

For it to be unputdownable

Gripping plot
Believable dialogue
Credible and at least some sympathetic characters
Preferably some moving bits or funny bits
Either a moving or a happy ending
Approachable writing style, neither pretentious nor slangy and good correct english
Not too dateable
No badly written sex scenes just dumped in to widen the audience
Well balanced and well edited

The most unputdownable recently:
When penguins stopped play
Three cups of tea
The girl with the dragon tattoo
The sjowall/wahloo novels

Yes we have a kindle: used for free classics mainly but if i could read novels like fifty shades on it i might well do so, if the price were right.

For me a good story has to take me on a journey. I am reading Swan song at the moment and although the characters are a bit wooden (and seemingly impervious to physical pain) the book is hard to put down because it goes somewhere.

faultless storyline, no in-acurracies (drives me mad when there is an inconsistent element to it, I am like then I can't concentrate on the rest of it.
Magic, mystery, dragons, otherworldliness, pirates, ships, a dashing hero, and nasty villian, a surprising and not necessarily nice secondary hero.
In two or three books so I can have a short break but really want to keep reading, rather than wading through epic amount of pages (i take ages to read a book).
several sub-plots going on, that all link in together eventually. But it really really has to be tight. I don't like lose ends. Where a sub plot is left, where it seems the end has been rushed.
not to much description, not twenty lines of describing a tree. But also not twenty lines of conversation.

I like there to be an original, gripping plot but also it has to have beautiful writing style too - you don't always get the two together. I recently enjoyed Mr Vertigo by Paul Auster which has both those things plus memorable characters.
I read the 'Call the Midwife' books recently which made me really think about and appreciate the role of midwives and the NHS on a wider scale and see how lucky we are now to have them.
I have a kindle but have not converted to it very well - I like books and book covers too much, though it recently dawned on me that I could read things secretly on it so might get me reading Jilly Cooper or something!

It's about the chatacters and the plot for me. I need to be interested in the characters and be desperate to know what happens to them. an element of mystery or intrigue helps.

I'm reading George RR Martin's game of thrones series at the moment. The characters are just fabulous, some are utterly detestable and you love to hate them and hope they get what they deserve. Some are very noble heroes. Others are not so black and white and you can't help but like them. The storyline is completely unpredictable, and quite shocking. There are no cliched happy endings for the heroes. Gripping stuff.

Oh and I have kindle apos on my phone and iPad. I resent paying the same price for an e book as you would for a real book, so have ended up reading some utter tosh on my kindle as I refuse to pay more than a couple of pounds unless it's something I really want to read. It seems ridiculous for the publishers to charge the same given how cheap it must be to create and distribute the e books, and given that you can't pass them on.

Lots of dialogue - I love to read speech and run it in my mind

Lovely descriptions of places - so you can really imagine them

History - I am a history bore but don't like historical novels on real events, which are usually incorrect anyway... ("Sacre Bleu!", thought Mary, queen of Scots as she picked up her red petticoat "what eez zag Eleezabet playing at? I 'ate zees draughty caselllls". Elizabeth gazed out of her chamber window, at the swans swimming down the Thames. "Now to get rid of that pesky Mary." Just then, the Titanic floated by..."

What do you think it is about a book that makes it such a huge success?
Mass appeal seems to be based on actually knowing about the book and getting it into the charts on amazon or highlighted in book shops. I have read some dreadful books that have been hyped around because the publicity has been good. I think the Richard & judy Book club has been great for getting books out there, and have highlighted some great books that might otherwise have passed by I am not sure this is a good or bad thing really!

What are the key elements you think a book like that has to have to give it the mass appeal to get everyone reading?
A good plot - preferably one that appeals to both men and women
Characters you care about
I like a bit of action and a bit of human nature
A story that draws you in

If you have an ereader (e.g. Kindle), do you think it has influenced what books
you choose to read?
Yes I go to the what's on offer section and try things that are cheap

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? possibly some errotic literature and some very fluffy chicklit!

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! )
I haven't read the twiglight books because I thought they were kids books and I am sure some of the very fluffy chick lit books I have downloaded I wouldn't have bought as I just wouldn't have looked at them

'What do you think it is about a book that makes it such a huge success?' - as my father used to say 'aim for the lowest common denominator' (he was a maths teacher).

For me unputdownable books are plot driven, so pages of description leave me a bit bored.

I'm a sucker for an epic as well - so a hero with a bit of a clash between good and evil can help. The characters need to be strong and I need to be able to picture them.

Twists and not being able to predict the ending keep me reading as well.

trixy mentions Game of Thrones above. I read the first book and quite liked it but got very lost amongst all the characters and it seemed a bit slow moving in places. I wasn't sure whether to read on in the series so instead switched to Bernard Cornwell's Uhtred series and have read all the paperbacks in quick succession. Love the mix of history (and the note at the back saying which bits are known to be accurate) with some really strong characters and a lot of action.

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?

A brilliant setting- such as Hogwarts, or Iceland, or Sweden, or a Dorset heath, the setting is key
A strong main character who is a bit of an underdog, a bit eccentric, a surprise, at the same time believable and out of the ordinary.
A story which involves good and evil and struggles against the odds with a significant period at which it is not at all clear that good is going to win.
A funny counterpoint- could be another character.
Good food or memorable meals in the story.
A romantic interest.
Possibly an element of doom or tragedy.
Ultimately a triumph of humanity/bravery/initiative/deduction/love etc.

Sex and violence leave me skipping pages. Romance is always nice though.

A great read is one which makes you stay awake a few pages longer at night because you want to get to the next twist. It should include some humour and the 'right' moral outcome (ie the goodies win in the end). And not too much violence for me.

I have actually stopped reading a book (a sister's gift by giselle green) today. I hardly ever do that - normally I just drift away from it and stop picking it up.

It was partly in thanks to this thread. I was very aware of the unnatural dialogue and language (it's a first person narrative), and unlikely plot points that made me do this face

I was tempted to carry on just to find out but I wasn't invested enough in the characters, due to the above flaws. I was 15% through and was ever so aware that I was reading a book IYSWIM. By that point in a good book I would be totally immersed in the story and not even be aware when I was turning a page.

Oh well, only 99p wasted.

I have never read a 'book club'/R&J-style book that I really enjoyed. Tbh I find mass-market fiction very formulaic and boring.

I did enjoy Game of Thrones books 1-3, the prose was full of cliches and pretty trashy but the plotting was fantastic.

Currently reading Hilary Mantel's A Place Of Greater Safety (about the French Revolution) which is v good though not quite as good as Wolf Hall, which is the best contemporary book I've read in years.

Superglue

Well I though One Day was one of the worst books I have ever read, it was so dull and as for the film, I fell asleep after 10 minutes.

I didn't care much for the Da Vinci code and haven't tried any of the Twilight series, they just don't appeal to me.

I have about 150 books on my iPad, the problem is I forget and the buy them in Sainsbury 2 for £7 and end up giving them away. I have vowed to only buy for my iPad now, but occasionally get lured in at the airpot for their so called exclusives, but some of them are just too darn heavy in the large format, if it appeals I zap the back with my iPhone and download it to my wish list for future purchase.

What have I just read and couldn't put down, fluffy book for bedtime - Fly away home, Jennifer Weiner, just had to finish it, though it wasn't that exciting, and it was 1.45 am!

Also reading Nurture Shock - Why everything we think about raising out children is wrong and also Shattered - Modern Motherhood and the illusion of equality.

I often read 2 or 3 books at once and can get through 5 or 6 a week when I have time.

I sit with my iPad at the weekend with the culture sections of the Times and Telegraph, reading reviews of books and ether buy or wish list them.

I tend to read more non fiction than fiction.

Well rounded and/or distinctive characters and clearly detailed and descriptive writing for setting, be it fantasy, historical....
Found the passion and grittiness between the two main characters in 'The Time Travellers Wife' realistic and absorbing, couldn't put it down. Loved 'The Secret Life of Bees', Northern Lights Trilogy' , Patrick Ness 'Monsters of Men' trilogy , Meera Syal's 'Anita and Me', most Milan kundera and Jane Austen. I suppose I like to be transported to a different time or place and see it through the eyes of someone I would like to meet, no horrors for me :)
Don't know much about 'Fifty Shades of Grey' yet but think if great new books are made into films, it would be a perfect opportunity to have some of the many talented struggling actors playing the leads :)

Forgot to add Andrew Kaufman's 'The Tiny Wife' amazing illustrated book for adults... Not to be confused with an 'Adult book' :) Every couple should read this it's a possible life changer! And a really beautiful book:)