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For me, the proper Realms vibe in sourcebooks comes in the form of something that I can find every few sentences or paragraphs, that causes me to want to stop reading and start writing, creating and fleshing out for the purpose of a D&D campaign.

When it's really good, I want to take those dangling threads (idea hooks for the DM) and fill it all in simply for the sake of doing it.

In this way a good sourcbook is like a patchwork quilt.

A good example would be Volo's Guide to Cormyr.

Imagine that book in the form of a Purple Dragon (as depicted here), where the dragon is comprised of the content of the Volo's Guide, but the background around it is empty.

If you were to look really close, you'd see minute threads dangling from every edge of the dragon; the border of its eye, around its wings, you name it.

A great sourcebook with the right vibe makes me want to work outward from all of those threads and fill it all in with the color of my imagination until the background is fully realized and the dragon stands out properly against it.

What I'm saying is the right vibe for me happens when a sourcebook constantly excites a DM's imagination.

That and the Realms is never fully realized until a DM fuses his or her ideas and creativity with the Realms as presented in a sourebook, and comes up with something that's both of the Realms and unique to a campaign.

Sourcebooks with too much writing drown that potential out (i.e. the vibe is watered down or missing) and so are not worth nearly as much to me.

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