what makes a book "good"?

I finished The Hunger Games series last week. Excellent series, in my opinion. I love reading a book I just can't put down.

You know some books, they're just, well...books. Nothing too exciting there. But then other books, they are masterpieces. These are the books you just can't put down, the ones you stay up until 3am reading. These are the books you continue to think about long after the story is over. Where you think, "I wonder what happens next?" and then tell yourself you're being ridiculous, because it's just a book, not real life, and it's over and done, and nothing happens next. It's The End. Finished.

There are few books I've ever read that are in this category, but they tend to be the books I read over and over again, and they also tend to be in a series. So, here are some of my favorites:

• The Hunger Games series



• Harry Potter series



• Twilight series (although the movies ruined it for me)



• Pretense (not actually a series, but long enough to conceivably be one)



• The Lauren Holbrook series (which I've read about three times in the past year. Chick lit, yes. Hilarious, YES.)