My reading priorities have changed. I used to value plot above all, now I mainly want is immerse myself in an author’s prose and their world. Reading an author whose style you connect with feels like embracing a warm hug.

I still love a compelling story but I have recently found myself seeking out and enjoying books that have amazing narrative prose. I want to immerse myself in their world.

It's just so comforting to sit down and submerge yourself in a book. Reading an author whose style you connect with feels like embracing a warm hug. And then there are those wondrous moments where you really connect with an author…

Alan Bennett described the feeling best:

The best moments in reading are when you come across something – a thought, a feeling, a way of looking at things – which you had thought special and particular to you. Now here it is, set down by someone else, a person you have never met, someone even who is long dead. And it is as if a hand has come out and taken yours.

Recently, I've found that I am not too concerned with the plot – which is a huge change for me. I just want to relax and enjoy that author, and how they portray characters and create an atmosphere while story telling.

I used to love listening to audiobook a lot more as well. But that really doesn't hit the same as connecting one on one with the text. You lose that intimacy with the authorial voice.

So, to illustrate my point. If you asked me a year ago what my favourite books were, I'd have likely said Joe Abercrombie's First Law series and GRRM's A Song of Ice and Fire. Both fantasy series with some of the greatest plots. I had wonderful sense of urgency reading those. They were real page turners. I still love those and the prose are fantastic in them as well, so don' t take this as a criticism of those works. (The wild ride of Abercrombie's Glokta inner monologues are some of the best experiences I've ever had reading.)

These days, I mostly connect with dry humour.

I'm currently reading A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole. I have to say, it's my favourite book. Funniest thing I have ever read. (Seriously, go read it. Order it now!) It's very rambly and the story progresses slowly – but that doesn't matter as the journey of reading the prose has been such an enriching experience. The main character Ignatius is just incredible.

Prior to this, I read John Steinbeck's Cannery Row and Sweet Thursday. A whimsical and languid series about people in 1930s Monterey. My first ever Steinbecks, can't wait to check out East of Eden next.

Then, there was The Invisible Man by HG Wells, which I finally got around to. It was so darkly humorous. Again, I felt like the plot took a backseat to this amazing characterisation and atmosphere built by Wells. And again, it was very very funny.