Sometimes, the reason I like a book is less about what's there than what's not. No too-dumb-to-live characters. No dragging out easily resolved situations. No instant love.

That's just the short list -- there are more, oh yes -- and sometimes I flat-out stop reading a book when one of the no's pops up. It's a brick wall, and I'm not climbing over. (When I really Hate a book with a capital H, there's a brick wall -- or three or four -- at work.)

I'm sure plenty of other readers have brick-wall moments. But here's the thing: So many brick walls are individual, personal, idiosyncratic. There must be an appetite for instant love, right? Otherwise there wouldn't be so many books with it. And the character I think is awesome and assertive might come off as a brick-wall jerk to you.

One of the fascinating (and sometimes dismaying) aspects of writing a book and letting it out into the world is discovering readers' brick walls. Sometimes they're pretty universal, and you make a mental note to never do that particular thing again. But sometimes it's just personal taste, and good luck avoiding everyone's walls.

One thing I can do when I write is avoid my own. Or subvert them to my liking. It's fun to whack an unexpected hole in the wall -- and I like that as a reader, because I get to speed on through with a big sigh of relief.