The Voyage of the Basset is a picture-heavy book with wonderful sketches in the margins and gorgeous illustrations everywhere. It means a lot to me as a place to start in fantasy, being about fantasy is a bonus, and as a book that was ready to me (especially as I struggled to ready and got to it late, then became voracious).

When I found out my niece was getting into reading, I almost broke 5+ years of no contact with a family member to see if I could get my copy for her. I didn't do that, but I did get her the book. I haven't heard much about it, but the point was to satisfy that little girl I used to be in getting that out there.

I know it's a sort of small reference pool to recommend something I learned about on Reddit to someone on reddit, but the Murderbot Diaries are very character-focused, very much about one character dealing with the world around it. Things happen, but nothing world-altering or ending... just governments being shady and people being kind.