It can be satisfying to see a character overcome a struggle. It is also fun to use books as testing ground to see how things work. It can be applied it to your own life if you think it would be beneficial to your life (like learning from character's successes and mistakes).
i think people like stories about characters who take enormous risks for the chance of a large reward because they wish they could take that chance but instead they read about that chance because the storyteller tells the story perfectly like real life and makes you feel like your the one winning but your not.
