What do I look for?

Sometimes I read a book and I can't point my finger on why I liked it. I know I loved it, but I can't think why. It has that je ne sais quoi which is past words. These are the moments that I treasure, because sometimes what a book offers you is more then can be put into words. However, in general I have found that I love a book when three elements come into perfect harmony and it is these three elements that I search for when I am trying to decide on my next book to read. 

1. Escapism. I want a story that will take me somewhere different, whether that be to a different time period, a fantastical place or simply make me forget that I am sitting in my bedroom or on a train. For me this is the beauty of reading. The fact I can be taken to so many place and can see so many different things and I don't have to carry a passport or go through hellish security.

2. Real Characters. Characters who become people they are so well written. For me, this is epitomised in the Harry Potter series where so ingrained did this character become in the psyche of so many of my generation that those iconic figures seem almost like friends I used to know. Picking up one of those books and re-reading them is like visiting an old memory. Even in that fantastical world, the characters became real because of the human elements that JK rowling provided. Ultimately, I want the author to make me care and only character development can do that. 

3. Purposeful plot. I don't want to know what is going to happen. I want to be suprised, shocked and scared. I want to feel as if it is leading somewhere that there is a purpose to this novel rather then just a description of a day's events. That plot can be simple or it can be complex. It just has to be going somewhere. It has to have an aim, whether that be to make me laugh, make me cry or make me think. If it manages to do one of those things I feel that the book has been worth my time. If it does all of them, it goes down in my mind as one of the best books ever written. 

I hope this offers more insight into what I look for, I was wondering what you look for in a book?