it’s not a secret that i’m passionate about books. i read constantly. books have been my one constant companion since childhood where i grew too fast and too much to ever really fit in. books were an escape from the reality i didn’t enjoy so much. even now, when i’ve read so many books, begun to study the art of writing, and become quite critical of what i read, i still find great pleasure in the act of reading.

but my favorite thing about reading books is finding a character who just makes you smile. even if it’s just a bit part in the novel, finding that one character makes the entire book worthy of your attention.

tonight i’m reading bailey white’s Quite a Year for Plums. i’ve been quite nervous about reading this book, not only because it was a gift from the delectable mkh (and i still haven’t gotten over the guilt of abhoring the nanny diaries which the lovely heather gave me as a gift — something i wanted), but also because the TTHM suggested i read the book and he’s absolutely sure that i’ll hate it (which has more to do with our not having the same taste in anything and less to do with me being a total book snob).

so far, i’ve been a little unsure about the book. it has the down-home charm that can be found in a lot of southern fiction type stuff like this. but i was a little disappointed that the introduction of so many characters so quickly and without real fleshing out of their personality was so confusing. i didn’t like that i couldn’t tell people apart. it felt a little like going to a big party and the author introduced me to the whole room at once merely by giving their name (“jodi, meet eula, lousie, hilma, meade, ethel, roger, della, tom, and andy. ok now you go have fun with them.”) and then left me to fend for myself.

but i perservered and the names started to mean something and the characters are slowly differentiating themselves from the others. and now 100 pages in, she brings in the impassioned typographer, and she’s won me over. he’s a city folk who worked for hallmark and several small publications. the impassioned typographer has nightmares about Mistral and is disgruntled over the demise of Bodoni.

now this, this is a character i can love. i’ve been a font-junkie since i was about 21. it started when i worked in newspapers, before everyone with a computer could make their own fonts. i was good too, still am to a certain degree. plus a lot of my friends and co-workers are font junkies, so i can relate.

and i just love it that the character is so obsessed with something like fonts and typography.