Owen鈥檚 Year in Books

What did you read this year?

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2024

23,504

pages read

books read

Owen

Shortest Book

pages

Longest Book

864

pages

Average book length in 2024

301

pages

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

Most Shelved

3,312,241

people also shelved

Least Shelved

530

people also shelved

Owen鈥檚 average rating for 2024

3.7

Highest Rated on 欧宝娱乐

4.69 average

Owen鈥檚 first review of the year

really liked it

Percival Everett鈥檚鈥楯ames鈥� is a retelling of Huckleberry Finn that requires little prior knowledge of the original text. Huck鈥檚 friendship with Tom Sawyer is given a couple of passing references, Tom barely even a character in this novel - Everett is not aiming to appeal to nostalgic fans of the original texts. Instead, by centring Jim, the slave who unwittingly ends up on an adventure with Huck, Everett finds a new lens to tell a moving and huge Percival Everett鈥檚鈥楯ames鈥� is a retelling of Huckleberry Finn that requires little prior knowledge of the original text. Huck鈥檚 friendship with Tom Sawyer is given a couple of passing references, Tom barely even a character in this novel - Everett is not aiming to appeal to nostalgic fans of the original texts. Instead, by centring Jim, the slave who unwittingly ends up on an adventure with Huck, Everett finds a new lens to tell a moving and hugely enjoyable story about race, violence, freedom and language.

I鈥檝e only read one other Everett novel, 鈥楾he Trees鈥�, and upon starting James was immediately reminded of how readable and engaging his prose is. James is less rooted in humour than The Trees, but the dialogue is every bit as clever. Everett does really interesting things with the code switching of the slaves, who have to put on a performance in front of any white people they come across in order to avoid being confronted with violence. They talk in a language that is learned so as to not appear above their station and risk offending their temperamental, savage owners; only when alone are they safe to break character. It鈥檚 a very effective literary device, and Everett uses it throughout to add depth to his characters, to show how calculated their every move has to be, and also to build some incredibly tense scenes.

Here, as with The Trees, Everett showcases his gift for crafting characters. Jim himself is thoughtful, intelligent and restrained, while Huck is a ball of constant energy, always looking out for his pal. Their relationship is perfectly balanced, and you feel every bit of Jim鈥檚 affection for the hapless kid he鈥檚 forced to look out for - and forced to hide his true self from to avoid revealing too much. Other characters from the original novel are brilliantly reimagined, with The King and The Duke as utterly detestable and terrifying villains that Jim and Huck encounter on their way.

This is an incredibly clever and moving reimagining of the classic novel. A true page-turner, with its fair share of both humour and genuinely devastating gut punches. ...more

翱奥贰狈鈥橲 2024 BOOKS

it was amazing

Public Library and Other Stories by Ali Smith

it was amazing

The Dark Side of Skin by Jeferson Ten贸rio

My Heavenly Favourite by Lucas Rijneveld

The Road to the Country by Chigozie Obioma

Why Did You Come Back Every Summer by Bel茅n L贸pez Peir贸

it was amazing

Our Wives Under the Sea by Julia Armfield

it was amazing

If Beale Street Could Talk by James Baldwin

There Are More Things by Yara Rodrigues Fowler

it was amazing

Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan

it was amazing

it was amazing

We Pretty Pieces of Flesh by Colwill Brown

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin

it was amazing

For Thy Great Pain Have Mercy on My Little Pain by Victoria Mackenzie

it was amazing

Owen鈥檚 last review of the year

it was amazing

A future coming of age classic? I think so, yeah.

鈥榃e Pretty Pieces of Flesh鈥� follows three friends, Shaz, Rach and Kel, at different points throughout their lives from their pre-teen years to their early thirties. We see them form their trio for the first time, and follow through the eyes of each in turn as they grapple with adolescent jealousies, queerness, eating disorders, sexual assault and drifting apart. The novel explores class and living ...more

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