Line Upon Line

My reading life has taken a different direction in the last while. For years, I listened to audiobooks while doing mundane activities such as housework or walking. My usual audiobook speed is anywhere from 1.5 to 2x, so I manage to read a lot of books this way. The trouble with this is that it’s all about consumption, which is fine if you’re only interested in the story. Somewhere along the way, I became more invested in the writing of a story, and plot took second place.

In a plot-driven story, the focus is on action. There’s a clear conflict, climax, and resolution. In a character-driven narrative, the thoughts and feelings of the characters are in focus. Nothing much may happen outwardly, but you will be participating in the character’s journey. You don’t go anywhere fast.

Below, an excerpt from the character-driven novel This is Happiness by Niall Williams.

She had a fierce attachment to fresh air. Fresh air was the cure for most things. She walked. Her shoes were shoes out of old times, square-heeled hooked-and-eyed with black laces running neatly crossways. The shoes of all grandparents are inestimable mysteries, hold them in your hand and they are strange and tender somehow, and hers were particularly so, polished and worn, mucked and puddled and polished again with that kind of human resolve that to me is inexplicably moving. She’d walk those shoes until the roads came through them and two dark welts would appear on her soles, then the shoes would go to Jack the cobbler below the village and for three days she’d wear a pair of Ganga’s stompy boots and head out evenings to walk by the river all the same.

The way this author describes everyday things makes me smile (and wish for his talent). It sometimes feels like poetry, the way he puts words together. A book like this is meant to be savored, read on the page, and underlined.

There will always be a place for light reading. Sometimes life is heavy, brains are tired, or a dreaded job must be done. I still listen to easy books that fit those times. But I'm finding that reading intentionally (not while multitasking) is still the best, and I crave unscheduled evenings to sit with book and highlighter in hand.

Now for some brief reviews on titles I've enjoyed in the last while.

Between Two Kingdoms: A Memoir of a Life Interrupted by Suleika Jaouad

Suleika was about to start life as an adult when she found out she had leukemia. What followed was a years-long fight against her thirty-five percent chance of survival. This memoir sometimes felt like The Fault in Our Stars come to life.

The Other Bennet Sister by Janice Hadlow

This was a recent book club pick. Mary Bennet, the overlooked middle sister in Pride and Prejudice, gets her own story. “A daffodil seems quite ordinary when planted between lilies. But looked at without them, it has its own kind of beauty.” I identify most with Mary out of all the Bennet sisters, and it was satisfying to get to know her better. Although it’s not a Jane Austen novel, it felt in sync with her language and characters.

This is Happiness by Niall Williams

This story is about electricity coming to the Irish village of Faha, seen through the eyes of Noel Crowe, a seventeen-year-old who is “distant from grace, if grace is the condition of living your time at ease on the earth.” It's one of those books you read for the words, and plot takes a back seat. Reading it feels like savoring the last piece of fine chocolate.

The Thursday Murder Club series by Richard Osman

I started listening to the Thursday Murder Club last winter, and finished the five-book series with an appreciation for the humor and friendship these retired “detectives” share. If you enjoy cozy murder mysteries, British wit, and need something light, these books may tickle you.

I have to thank friends for introducing me to half these titles. What character-driven novels have you enjoyed? I’m always interested in recommendations!