F = Favorite

 “It’s a gift if it makes us better. It’s a curse if we let it destroy us.” - N.K. Jemisin, The Fifth Season

Let's talk about favorites today.

via GIPHY

I'm sorry if the giant Mamoa-making-heart-sign-gif is too much, I got excited thinking about my favorites. (To be fair, I did try to shrink it, but resizing wouldn't stick.)

If you asked fifty people off the street what their favorite book is, they'll more likely than not, give you different answers. That doesn't make a single one of them wrong, not even if your answer to the same question is different from theirs. And the question, what makes a favorite a favorite, is equally subjective both to the individual being asked and the circumstances around the book.

The first thing that stands out to me in any book, are the characters. They're the ones telling the story, regardless of setting or plot, so they better be good. The second thing that stands out to me is the setting... If I'm going to go on a proper adventure, I need to be able to see where I am. Then it all comes down to plot: is the plot solid? Does it have a clear inciting incident, a mid-point, a climax, a resolution?

A few of the books I feel have met my standards over the years include Let the Right One In by John Ajvide Lindqvist, Wicked by Gregory Maguire, Call of the Wild by Jack London, Harry Potter by JK Rowling, and I'm not leaving out the Shades of Magic trilogy by VE Schwab or Novels of Redwall by Brian Jacques. Let's be honest about the last one: if someone can write well enough about talking squirrels and rats and dormice to make you feel at home, then they're a good writer.

But there are other things to consider. Quality of the prose, was the dialogue realistic, did the author include a theme or underlying message, was there a clear target audience and did the author meet the requirements for that audience? Some prime examples are Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi, The Broken Earth trilogy by N.K. Jemisin, and the Cursebreaker series by Brigid Kemmerer (the prose was okay in this one, the themes were better).

So now I ask you: What is your favorite book? What did you like about it?