Who knew I would like adventure books?

So, as a quick review of my many blog posts would easily show, I have always tended to avoid books centered around stories that follows characters as a witness to their lives. For some reason these books (see Middlesex) often seem superfluous and excessive, as if the author is just writing without clear purpose or direction. I mean really, why did the kid in Middlesex start doing a tranny show in San Francisco? It just began to seem like too much.
I have often preferred books where the story is secondary to the thought process of the author (or narrator). As in the American Dream or the Corrections, the events of the characters lives existed merely to uncover the truth of their personalities and character traits. We weren't waiting to see what event would happen next, but rather how that event would affect the inner dialogue and future actions of the author.
This being said, the last two books have been stories that are truly adventures novels, taking readers from one interesting encounter to the next. I have not been able to put them down, not because of the level of thought, but because the sheer excitement of the account of what is going on. Not that the thought isn't also there. In fact, in Dorian Gray and Kavalier and Clay the balance of introspection and narrative has been so perfect that it is often difficult to tell the two apart. The stories are the thought process and vice versa.
In Dorian, the little action that occurred between the fascinating conversations, reinforced whatever had been being debated. These illustrations seemed to further emphasize the various points Wilde was trying to make. It is only as Dorian begins to care about the way people interpret his actions, unlike Lord Henry, that his actions begin to affect his appearance. The action is a perfect supplement to their lengthy discussions.
Kavalier and Clay is much less a discussion than just an adventure, pure and simple (hence the title). As the two traverse 1930's New York in search of the American dream, they are blind-sided by the simple task of becoming adults. Not only do we see them working to build a comic book empire, but they are working to figure out how to make the leap from boys to men. Chabon is careful to include all of the questions that we ask as we make this transition, without forcing them on the reader. Joe's first flirtation is offset with the near drowning of Salvador Dali. The combination of contemplation and story-telling is of course bettered by humor.
In short, I feel like I have newly discovered a whole genre of books I had previously assumed I wouldn't enjoy and can't wait to read more of books of this style.
Now let's see how I do with science fiction as we take on Philip K. Dick.....