I have always thought that the test of a good book is whether you could hear the author in your head. When I am really absorbed in a book, be it fiction or non-fiction, I can hear the different characters voices and I have a clear picture of them speaking in my head. And although it might sound odd to some, I always find it easier to read an academic book if I can picture the author speaking. Typically I imagine a lecture-style situation, perhaps in a beautiful ornate lecture hall in one of the older European universities, where I sit in the audience and listen to the words of…