March 2021: When characters are more important than plot.
Hello everyone,
This past month, I read (or listened) to a LOT of books, but most of this was books I either have or will talk about elsewhere on the blog (including one which I am VERY excited to share with you all), so I don’t have a ton to share with you all for the month. A lot of these were Tamora Pierce books, who wrote my favorite childhood stories which still hold up, and should be at the top of the list for every parent/adult who ever buys books for kids!
I do have a few books to discuss, all of which have a fun connection – these are books where the actual events of the book are secondary to the characters and their internal development. I am a reader who likes exploring HOW a story is told, and cares a lot less about having a strong plot than I do about there being strong characters, realistic story development and good writing.
I genuinely don’t know when or how this book was recommended to me, but it is a book I am so glad I read. I read a lot of plot heavy books, but sometimes books that are just about people are really refreshing, and this is one of those.
This is a book about a young Irish family in Brooklyn, and everything that happens in this book is simply normal life. Told in a back and forth way across the life of the daughter of the family, we get to see births, deaths, marriages and general day to day life. Nothing in here is all that shocking, and yet this is still a really wonderful story!
The writing is beautiful and quiet, and McDermott tells a story about normal life in a way that is honestly stunning.
Parable of The Sower by Octavia Butler
This book is set starting in 2024, and especially after the past year, this felt VERY real in a way that was sometimes difficult, but always mind blowing. I really really loved this, which is no surprise because Octavia Butler is a true master of her craft.
This is a great book for anyone who wants to try science fiction but hasn’t loved it in the past, as long as you are fine with a little edge of horror in your reading, as it feels very literary (and realistic)! I don’t really want to say too much, because it is a book that develops slowly as the narrator grows up, and knowing too much might spoil that really wonderful storytelling.
This does have a plot and a direction, but what I loved about it was that it felt organic in the sense that it was driven by the main character to a large extent, and it was not clear to the reader what direction that would take.
The Galaxy, and the Ground Within by Becky Chambers
The Wayfarers series has been perhaps one of my favorite discoveries of the past few years – Becky Chambers writes science fiction like no one else, and her books are simply perfection. They have a crazy diverse cast of species, wonderful world building and some of the best characters I have ever read. The conversations she slips into these books about what it means to love, to be home and to be a person are big, real and strike home in a way that science fiction rarely does for me.
These are books where the characters and their personal journeys often take precedence over a plot as such, so these are great if you like exploring how people work and what makes people tick more than you care about things happening.
The fourth book in this series, The Galaxy and The Ground Within by Becky Chambers, comes out in May, but I would recommend starting with either A Long Way to A Small Angry Planet or A Closed and Common Orbit.
I’ll be back next week with a super fun and classic Miss Marple (known as the 4.50 From Paddington or What Mrs. McGillicuddy Saw), and I will see you this weekend with some great fun weekend tidbits.
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