What Do Readers Want - Part 2

A few weeks ago the topic of my blog was "What do readers want?"

Several people were kind enough to comment and I'm using this blog post as an opportunity to share those comments.

I bought books as a Christmas present this year, and I reached out to the person I was buying for to see what they liked to read. Much better to get them what they wanted than have a book languish on their coffee table.

A reminder that I now have TWO holiday themed stories:

The Spirit of Christmas

A Visit from Saint Dominick

If you missed my earlier post on what readers want, please feel free to add YOUR comments below:

Here's what others have said:

What I look for as a reader is an escape from reality. Sometimes this means another time period, as in historical romance and historical mystery. Or it might mean an escape to other worlds with scifi/fantasy. For mysteries, I prefer light, funny cozies because I know the crook isn't always caught in real life and bad things happen. Cozies provide justice in a manner where the crime scene is offstage and the focus is on interpersonal relationships. So I look for an escape into a book with a happy ending.

I'm another cozy fan and look to media, in general, for relaxation and escape. I want to like the characters I'm reading about. Okay, you have to have some characters be pains in the tush, be mean and/or evil. But I hate it when a main character is whiny and constantly complaining.

Someone else (I forget who) said it well: We want a book to take us to places we want to go with people we want to be with. Those places and people will be different for everyone but with enough overlap to make some books very popular. As a cozy writer, I populate a small town with pretty likeable people (I hope.) But as a reader I'll spread my wings a little and choose cozies, thrillers and plenty in between. Cerebral detectives work very well for me :-)

I like a fast moving book with good dialogue and minimal prose and description. If I'm reading a mystery I want a good puzzler. In historical fiction I like to learn a lot about the era.

I like stories with a dark atmosphere, quirky humor and some supernatural/sci-fi elements. I like stories with fast-paced dialogue that moves the story along and are also satirical.

I love a "feel-good" story.When I am smiling and happy at the end of a book, my whole day or evening just feels better. Those are the books that I remember, and those are the types of books I gift to others. With all the hate, violence, and corruption in our real life world today, just reading something that is warm and sweet makes my heart smile.