What kind of ending should a book have?

[Moore]

Some people like to read books only this happy end and they find it offensive when the writer doesn't give any happy end. Some writers can leave the book unfinished or they give several endings of the book for the reader to choose.
What book endings do you prefer?

[Pinkpaper]

its funny I was talking with my husband the other day about this, Im quite happy with open endings but my husband HATES this, hes not happy unless everything is resolved and everything is tied up. Mind you hes like that with films also

[hania5]

I don't mind if it is a happy or sad ending, but I do like the author to tie up all loose ends. I like when all things introduced during the story are tied up.

[The Mythwriter]

I can't stand ANY expectations of an ending. I feel like if the author tailors any part of the book, ending or otherwise, to please a crowd rather than fit the story, he/she warps the book. (Like Harry Potter, I'm sorry, the ending drove me kind of nuts, I felt like it was trying to please everyone, BUT that's just my weird taste)

So, I prefer the ending fit the story, whether that be tragic, happy, so twisted you can't decide what the heck happened, etc. And then, the variety that gives to all the books that do it means I get the best of all worlds anyway. Woot!

I think I ranted here.

[Oneday]

Anything but the mushy, warm & fuzzy, after school special ending most books try and have....like the Lost Symbol...just awful.

[best4buys]

I like happy ending in the novel and look forward for a resolved ending with every thing settled.

[andr70]

Well, as a reader I can say for myself that I still prefer books with happy ending, though I understand that in real life it doesn't happen so all the time, I'm a positive person after all

[Zgârba]

One that fits. I like happy endings, but quite often the end of the story seems very...ridiculous, just for the sake of a happy ending.
Sad endings sometimes fit a book much more than a happy one, it's a shame so many authors avoid them.

Open endings are generally despicable, but sometimes i can't fathom a book ending any other way.

Each book with their own, i guess

[xaraan]

I'm with the "I like an ending that fits" best.

I do not think an ending is good just because it is tragic or sad; often to me it comes across as lazy writing. It's often much harder to come up with a happy ending that makes sense. Often though, it will be somewhere in between.

I do like things resolved unless I know the story continues. If it's a contained story that doesn't resolve most of the plot, then that sounds pretty lazy as well.

[Eric McClean]

i love books which have unanticipated end , because it always keeps u intrested in the story

[J.Seishu]

I don't care if the ending is happy or sad. I think that a book should have a fitting ending.the best endings are probably those unexpected endings. Those are the best

[ebethina]

I honestly don't know. Sometimes it's nice to not have a happy ending all the time because you know with some of those it is not realistic. So sometimes it's nice to have something different. However, I don't like it when it ends so badly you got upset that you didn't like the way it ended after taking so much time to read it.

[CommMayo]

A somewhat slightly open ending is okay for books in a series, since it encourages you to pick up the next volume. For stand alone books, I really like to have a firm ending...hopefully a happy or at least satisfying one. I get really attached to the characters and I hate to see them left hanging in the end. HEA all the way for me!

[Rebeccaej]

I like complex, multi-layered endings that lean toward happy-ish, in the sense that the characters get what they were pursuing. I want it to come in unexpected ways, though, and with unexpected costs.

[MLove83]

I don't mind if it's a sad ending as long as it feels like that's how the story is supposed to end. I do prefer that major plot points be resolved. I generally hate cliffhangers. I think a book should turn into a series because the characters are so good, the author or readers couldn't let them go and NEED to know what happens next. For a writer to purposely end a book in the middle of a story feels like a cheap trick to me.