I finished the latest book by my favorite author, and then the next day I picked it up and read it again.  In the process of reading it the second time, I revised my "The Perfect Book" criteria.

My "The Perfect Book" criteria used to be:

When I pick up The Perfect Book a second time, I read every word again.

Because when a book is good enough that I want to read it again, the biggest issue I run into is that most of the time the authors dump big chunks of too much information and backstory into the story.  So when I go back to read the book again, I already know all that information and end up skipping big chunks of the book the second time around.

It's a joy when I run into a book that's so skillfully written that the backstory is seamlessly interwoven into the story and it's no hardship to read every word the second time.  I really, really enjoy those stories, and applaud those authors.  I want to write like that!  :-)

After I read this book, I was able to verbalize this situation and thereby modified my criteria:

When I read The Perfect Book a second (or more) time, not only do I read every word, but each time I reread it, I pick up new information and nuances, thereby learning more about the plot and characters, and deepening my experience with every reading.

Wow!  :-)  Not only was the book a great read the first time, but I got so sucked into the action of the story and I was so focused on the action, that I missed nuances.  Then I read it a second time, and because I knew what was up, I was able to enjoy it even more, because I was able to pick up the little bits I missed the first time.  And I suspect that if I read it again, I will pick up even more. (Read more)