James: A Novel | 
I 💚 Percival Everett. #readingispolitical #readingisresistance #antifabookclub
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I 💚 Percival Everett. #readingispolitical #readingisresistance #antifabookclub
Are we still having fun on Litsy? What did I miss? Life got busy and I lost track of everything. Hope everyone‘s doing good and reading good.
Current audiobook: James by Percival Everett
August ended up being a slower reading month than anticipated, but I‘m pleased to have crossed of three #TOB2025 books. Waiting on The Wedding People and Martyr from the Library.
pickTotally lives up to the hype. I would definitely reread The adventures of huckleberry fin again before you read this. It made it so much better. The overlapping characters and story were fresh
pickIt isn't just simply “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn as told by Jim.“ The messages aren't subtle, but it is an invitation to think about an old character (or actually old characters--Huck, too), in a new way. There are parts that drag a bit, but overall the novel illuminates the privilege of “adventures“ and how characters can reclaim and change the archetypes to which they've been relegated. #TOB2025
“I considered the northern white stance against slavery. How much of the desire to end the institution was fueled by a need to quell and subdue white guilt and pain? Was it just too much to watch? [. . .] I knew that whatever the cause of their war, freeing slaves was an incidental premise and would be an incidental result.” (286) #truth
pickI‘ve been waiting for this book from the library forever! I now know why. What a great read. I read Huck Finn when I was young and barely remember it (other than remembering I didn‘t care for it) so it was nice to approach this book with only loosely knowing the story. Percival Everett is an incredible storyteller. I love the ending.
Tonight I went to a wonderful “Reading Dinner” where we sit around and read (I brought James) for awhile and then have dinner. Such a pleasure to discuss #TOB2025 books with smart people.
Okay, so this is weird right? I decided to start up my booktok again with a slideshow of books that I read over summer. Two of my slides have blurred text: one where I say "enslaved people", and the other "Toni Morrison". The rest show up crystal clear. TikTok censorship is so racist, which like duh, but damn.
bailed125 pages in I remember that I didn‘t really like Huck Finn. So I probably wasn‘t going to start enjoying a retelling of it either.
Also had to get a tire changed which was a real bummer on a Sunday.
Sunday‘s are better with bookclub meetings (and delicious seltzers)!! 🤓🤩
pickThemes: Literary Fiction, Retelling, A book that sucks you in
What else is there to say about this book that hasn‘t been said already? It‘s riveting, it‘s compelling, and it sucks you in and you don‘t realize you‘ve been reading it for hours and you haven‘t moved an inch 🙃 I can‘t wait to discuss this at my IRL bookclub in a few weeks 👍
pickI've been meaning to read James for a while now (esp. since it was my #bookspin for May), but I thought I should reread Huck Finn first. Turns out, it wasn't a reread since my bookmark from high school was still in it. Much like my experience reading Jane Eyre a couple years ago, high school me was right! Meanwhile, James was fantastic. I loved the characters so much and Everett left out most of the parts from the original that I didn't like.
pickJames is Huckleberry Finn told from the perspective of Jim, a runaway slave. This book is a wonderful, adventurous and sometimes humorous story. It is fast-paced and hard to put down. It illustrates the god-awful suffering of slavery, the abuses of an alcoholic parent and deep prejudices that still reside in this country. It is also a plucky story of courage and friendship. 5 stars
pickA reimagining of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn told from Jim‘s point of view, it brings to the forefront how enslaved people were treated in the pre-Civil War era south.
When Jim finds out he‘s to be sold, he runs away. After a series of encounters with strangers (some good, most bad), he returns home just to find out his family had been sold. This changes his mission from escape to rescue.
Everybody should read it at least once.
pickI read this in two days. It‘s that good. I‘m a huge Twain fan, and I loved this imaginative retelling. It deserves all the hype. Letter J for #LitsyAtoZ @Texreader (It didn‘t get picked @Graywacke but I read it anyway. 😂 )
pickThis was a GOOD book. I'm not going to lie, I was supposed to read The Adventures of Huck Finn when I was a junior in HS, but I hated my English teacher so much that I just...didn't ever do it. Percival Everett's writing and acknowledgment to Twain makes me want to go back and read it now.
This may easily be a read-in-one-sitting kind of book
Library haul! I wasn't planning on leaving the house today, but THREE of my holds came available all at once. I brought back Water Moon, picked up the three books on the right, and then Lucas said we should check the book nook. I ended up buying everything you see in the pile on the left for less than $20. 😅 I f*cking love libraries so much it's not even funny. Go visit your library this weekend. 🤍
May is pretty much wrapped - this year is flying!
The tagged was my fave read of the month. Home Is Where The Bodies Are was my least liked. 🤷🏻♀️ Overall a pretty solid month.
Still on course for 100 books by years end! 🤞🏻
pickWow. I read this in two sittings.Percival kept true to Twain‘s masterpiece and really showed the perspective of James throughout. I loved the ending.This book deserves every award it has received. There is a masterful approach not just to the story but to the morality and ethics of the time. It‘s not glossed over and although certain things are stretched, the story flows nicely. Love this book.
pickMy goodness! Fantastic! I completely understand accolades, awards, and astonishment that this book has received. I agree with others who have suggested this be taught alongside Huck Finn. Everett deftly managed to honor Twain‘s work while pointing out its flaws and shortcomings with care and love. #AAM #authoramonth @Soubhiville
pickThis book was fantastic - moving, funny, emotional, and heartbreaking. I‘d argue it should be taught alongside Huckleberry Finn - if not in high school than in college.
Photo is of this past Friday‘s Girls Night outing - my first whiskey sour and it was delicious. #JumpstartSummer, am I right?
#AuthorAMonth
…but I knew I could run. I could always run. But running and escaping were not the same thing. I had to ask myself and answer honestly, How much do I want to be free? And I couldn‘t lose sight of my goal of freeing my family. What would freedom be without them? 🛶
pick#Bibliophile Day 14: #PulitzerWinner this year - with all the accompanying drama. My thoughts on the book framed alongside our #CampLitsy24 questions. Maybe one of our selected books for #CampLitsy25 will again make it to the Pulitzer! Who knows?
pickGreat timing for me to be reading the audiobook of James just as it won the Pullitzer!
I wanted to give a shout out to the narrator Dominic Hoffman. He really is fantastic. I listened to him narrate Homegoing years ago and that book is now burned in my brain. (Please listen to it if you havent read it yet!) He has a gorgeous voice and made the differences in James‘s use of two languages have such an impact on me. This book is thought provoking ⬇️
I think a lot of people will be interested in how James was picked this year.
Clip from NY Times IG full context here:
https://www.instagram.com/p/DJWvbzqRQEn/?igsh=c2o2aGdhcGxveWFs
Percival Everett won the Pulitzer for fiction. 🧡🧡🧡
In perhaps the least surprising book news of all time: James by Percival Everett has received the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction! https://bookriot.com/here-are-the-winners-of-the-2025-pulitzer-prize/?fbclid=IwY...
Totally deserved! But so unsurprising that when I saw the article, I honestly thought, "Didn't it already win?"
May #Bookspin looking good! Left pretty broad but I‘ve got picks for #Roll100 , #AAM , and #netgalleygrou‘s go!!!!
pickOkay this book is officially everywhere this year because my husband heard about it somewhere and downloaded it for our drive home today. I liked it the first time I read it for #CampLitsy last year and liked it more this time. I think knowing what it was going to be about helped.
pickOne of my favorite books this year! I couldn‘t put this book down and had to force myself to stop so I could stretch it out. It‘s an important story and I‘m glad Everett was the one to tell it.
pickReally enjoyed this retelling of Tom Sawyer, through the eyes of Jim.
pickLate to the party, but glad I finally made it.
I liked it, but I didn't love it. Jim's surprise revelation diminished it somewhat for me 🤷🏻♀️
25/80
Late to the party, but glad to finally be reading this
March reading! My top pick was James, but I have to give serious honorable mentions to both nonfiction books I read this month, The Barn and I'm Glad My Mom Died, both outstanding. Project Hail Mary would come in last if I was mean like that, but honestly it reminded me why science fiction just generally isn't for me.
pickI listened to Huck Finn before reading this, just to be able to enjoy the context and draw contrasts and such. But honest to god y'all I almost wish I hadn't. I mean, it's fine read Twain or don't read Twain, this book stands alone. Absolutely engrossing and the story so compelling that I almost immediately forgot that this book had anything to do with Twain. Inspired by Twain, not Twain retelling, I loved it. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
#ToB25 and #LitsyToB25 have taken very different roads this year (which makes it so fun!) but in the end we all agree (at least a majority does 😉) on James as the winner of both tournaments. Percival Everett finally takes away the 🐓!
Thank you all for participating in this year‘s LitsyToB and I hope to see you next year. But before that, it won‘t be long until we‘ll be back with #CampLitsy25! Meg, Helen and I hope you‘ll join us there!
We have our first #LitsyToB25 finalist. The History of Sound didn‘t really stand a chance against James.
I personally am disappointed, I rooted so hard for THoS 🤷🏻♀️
In the #ToB25 we‘ll see tomorrow if James there too advances to the finals. Today Martyr! beat Margo in the first ToB Zombie round.
Tomorrow we‘ll have the second Zombie match: The Book Censor‘s Library vs The Wedding People.
👏🏼🥲✊🏼📚💝💝💝. 1d