--- description: Find out why "James" is on TIME's list of the must-read books of the year. title: 'James' Is One of the 100 Must-Read Books of 2024 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltaaace4b5cd23f58f/698a9c279862f5a1ae89cb50/James-Percival-Everett.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Nov 13, 2024 # James by [Shannon Carlin](/author/shannon-carlin/) ## Shannon Carlin Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Carlin is a contributor for TIME.  With his best-selling 24th novel, [Percival Everett](https://time.com/collection/100-must-read-books-2021/6120510/the-trees/ "undefined") offers an audacious reimagining of [Mark Twain](https://time.com/5313628/mark-twain-real-name/ "undefined")’s _Adventures of Huckleberry Finn_ from the point of view of Huck’s enslaved friend Jim—who, as the book’s title suggests, prefers to be called James. Everett doesn’t stray far from the major events of Twain’s novel. Instead, he creates apoignant parallel story that recontextualizes the complicated modern classic. In Everett’s novel, James is literate but for his own safety uses a vernacular around white people that he calls a “slave filter.” As the duo makes their way down the Mississippi River, James finds himself in the driver’s seat, having to grapple with decisions that have life-or-death consequences.By giving Twain’s secondary character much-deserved agency, Everett allows him to be something he couldn’t be before: the hero. **Buy Now:** _James_ on [Bookshop](https://bookshop.org/a/4973/9780385550369 "undefined") | [Amazon](https://amzn.to/4faJt6P "undefined") | [Barnes & Noble](https://fave.co/4f4TvG3 "undefined") These are independent reviews of the products mentioned, but TIME receives a commission when purchases are made through affiliate links at no additional cost to the purchaser. James: 100 Must-Read Books of 2024 ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/must-read-books-2024/7172771/james/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/must-read-books-2024/7172771/james/"},"headline":"James","datePublished":"2024-11-13T13:10:13.000Z","dateModified":"2026-03-03T00:42:38.452Z","description":"","url":"https://time.com/collections/must-read-books-2024/7172771/james/","keywords":["Books","E-Commerce","list","franchise"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltaaace4b5cd23f58f/698a9c279862f5a1ae89cb50/James-Percival-Everett.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Shannon Carlin","jobTitle":"Carlin is a contributor for TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/shannon-carlin/"}],"creator":"Shannon Carlin","articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltaaace4b5cd23f58f/698a9c279862f5a1ae89cb50/James-Percival-Everett.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/books/","name":"Books"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/must-read-books-2024/7172771/james/","name":"James"}}]}] ```