What Makes a Good Novel?

I love this (from a blog post by Kirby Larson):

What Makes a Good Novel?
by Kirby Larson

• A “real” character – someone with flaws
• A reluctant or longing hero (think of India Opal Buloni; Jack in Sea of Trolls)
• Quirky characters (think Broken for You; Alfred Kropp)
• A strong voice – sassy, to steal a word from Patty Gauch
• A sense of optimism and hope
• Room for me to figure things out for myself
• A sense of humor
• Interesting, concrete details – like the knot untying thing in Maniac Magee, or the writing in the wet concrete in Mick Harte Was Here.
• Snappy, lively dialogue that sounds like real people are talking
• Books in which people are trying to figure out what it means to be a human being
• Fresh metaphors and similes that don’t stop my reading but boost it along
• A sense of adventure, at some level (I’m thinking of Charlotte Doyle, the girl pirate books, etc.)
• A sense of mystery – either that there’s one to be solved or a story that celebrates the mystery of life
• Writing that makes me think
• Writing that explores what’s wrong and what’s right in the world on the page
• A sense of sacrifice – the m.c. must give something up in order to gain his/her goal.
• Conversational tone
• While setting isn’t overly important, I do enjoy knowing the story is set in a specific time and place (Feed; Ida B; Each Little Bird)
• It doesn’t have to be fast-paced or glitzy but it should show me something new – like Criss-Cross