This was an incredible book to listen to, though my heart has been ripped out of my chest

"Huck was just a boy."

Makes me think of Black and brown youth who didn't (don't) have the privilege to "just be kids." Emmett Till was 14. Trayvon Martin was 17.

6:30 melts my heart 🥹

« Hello 9:28 , I’m 6:30 » 🥹🥹

I don’t know what to think about this book. There’s no plot. Which usually I’d hate. But I think I maybe kinda like the flowery prose. I’m undecided atm.

I’ve never read any Percival Everette before but I am so pleased I bumped up this book on my TBR list! Best storytelling and the most brilliant characters. My jaw dropped and I audibly gasped at that moment (no spoilers!) and the last line was perfect. I will be recommending this to everyone I know.

I was thinking about this earlier in terms of my own reading and realised my favourite fiction and non-fiction this year were both genres I don’t usually gravitate towards. My favourite fiction - Lonesome Dove - is the first western I’ve ever read, and I distinctly remember hating the westerns my dad would watch when I was a kid. My favourite fiction - Free by Lea Ypi - is a memoir and I almost never like memoirs!

So what’s your favourite read or reads of the year, and were they books you expected to love?