Writing from the Heart

How do you judge a book?

I love books where I really connect with the MC, and really empathize with the situation. I love it when I'm hanging on with every breath for the character, and can't stop turning the pages.

A good example of this is Starcrossed. I really loved this book. There was a little bit of inuendo that I didn't like, but it was minimal, and the main character, Digger, was so alive that I could "censor" the bits I didn't like and devour the rest. I started the book, and though I thought it started off a teensy bit slow, there was a point where it knocked a stone loose, and the rest of the story went hurtling down the mountainside at a niftly clip. I am looking forward to Elizabeth C. Bunce's other books in her Thief Errant series, the second of which is called Liar's Moon.

On the flip side, I just finished the book The Last Hunt, the last book in the Unicorn Chronicles. I've read the other books in the series, and of course I had to read this one. Bruce Coville is a really great author. I couldn't stop reading, for all his chapters ended on a cliffhanger, and you just couldn't stop there, you know? However, I just didn't connect with his characters, ANY of his characters, the main character, the protagonist, the secondary character, any of them. So I finished that book with a feeling of dissatisfaction.

What is your opinion on books? Will you keep reading, even if you don't connect with the character?