A Book Worth Reading

Is there anything that can be said about the value of a novel, story or film other than that one likes it? If such factors were made known, writers could use them to write books that readers would not only like better but would feel are worth reading. Do the techniques in books on writing produce such novels?
Are some books good even though we do not like them? Should we force ourselves to like a book because an English professor or a critic insinuates that only people with good taste like that particular book? Do the "arbiters of good taste" have grounds supporting their claims that the books they like are good?
What is the body of knowledge on which such expertise would have to depend? Do they have a right to impose their tastes on students and on the public?
(148 words. limit - 150 words/200 words)