What Makes You Keep Reading?

I've been reading "The Bourne Ultimatum" by Robert Ludlum. The idea was that I'd get it finished before the movie came out. Didn't happen. Problem was I got totally bogged down in figuring out who was who and how they all connected. I seriously kept getting lost. It wasn't making me want to continue reading.

My husband and I went to see the movie on opening day. Although we both enjoyed the movie, he says the books were better. I say the movies are better.

Last month, I wrote a post about a book I was reading called "Atlantis" by David Gibbins. I noted that, although I enjoyed the book, I skipped some of the more technical jargon and intricate details. Despite all the details and explanation in the book, it made me want to keep reading.

After that column, I heard from author Lila Guzman. Lila writes both nonfiction and young adult as well as short stories.

In our back and forth emails, she was telling me about her experience with a couple of books, including The DaVinci Code:

I was soon pulled into the story, even though I had seen the movie and knew what was going to happen. Maybe that was part of the intrigue--seeing how he built suspense and dropped in clues.

I was amazed by how closely the movie had followed the book.

Even more intriguing was how minimal the writing was. It was sparse on words, almost downplaying everything, which made the horror more horrifying.

There was a single place where I wanted to skip over something. I can't say the same for JURASSIC PARK where I said, "Ok ok. Enough with the DNA. I'll trust you that this is correct."

I was pleasantly surprised by ROSEMARY'S BABY. It was a good read and I would recommend it for anyone who has been criticized for "over-writing."

What induces you to buy a book? What makes you keep reading? What makes you set the book aside and give up on it?