Book bias

I was chatting with a goodreads friend about my tendecy to ditch a book if I'm not interested in the characters, and it got me thinking about what exactly is motivating me.  I suppose I'm pretty impatient with books - I want them to grab me in the very first sentence, though I'll allow them the first chapter, but that's about it. 

And I want to like someone, and identify with someone.  I don't want to just get plopped down in the middle of the action without having that connection to a player or a couple of the players.  When I have a problem with a book it's usually an interesting scene, but I really didn't connect with the characters, and I didn't feel like that was going to happen.  A good example is the Incarceron sequel.  Even though I'd spent a whole previous book with these characters, after a couple of chapters of Sapphique, I just couldn't relate to anyone and didn't see that happening.

The books I've enjoyed the most are always the ones where I get to identify with the main character immediately and intensely, like Poison Study, and The Hunger Games, and Twilight.  I suppose that makes me quite unsophisticated in some very basic way.  Plus, I probably miss out on all sorts of great books because of this bias.  But, on the other hand, I've read so many books that I've adored because of it.