It’s Awards Time!
In a month or so there will be numerous articles in which publications and other media sources share their picks for Best Book, Best Fiction, Best Non-Fiction, etc. The Booker Prize and Nation Book Award have already been announced. In case you missed it, read the following:
Let’s hear it for James by Percival Everett. Most people are not surprised by the choice for the 2024 National Book Awards. I mentioned James in an earlier entry, and by now most people know that it is the story of Huck Finn’s trip down the Mississippi from Jim’s point of view. I just borrowed a copy and plan to start reading it tonight. What was your main take away from the book? Please share if you have read it. I would really like to know what to look for.
The National Book Award for Non-Fiction was awarded to Soldiers and Kings, by Jason De Leon.
The cover of the book says it all, and most of us may not want to read about Human Smuggling, BUT we should. It is a current issue about which we need to know more. Our eyes will be opened to the real situation.
The Booker Prize 2024 was awarded to Orbital by Samantha Harvey. The entire book takes place inside the International Space Station. Can you imagine? While some people were surprised that James didn’t win again, others were very pleased about Orbital because they like it so much. The writing is beautiful and the themes makes us ponder our very existence.
I read James and, while not my favorite of the year, it did push me to rethink some of my feelings about the original book.
Thanks for commenting, Linda. I really think that instead of asking folks if they liked the book, we should ask what new perspective did you gain from it.
I thought it was both a good read and a good listen. There were several tongue-in-cheek moments that I loved, especially regarding how James navigates life with some “code-switching”.
I have heard that that part of the book is very interesting. Would like to know if the ‘code-switching’ actually happened.