A year of plentiful prose: The best books of 2024

FictionJames, by Percival Everett“With my pencil, I wrote myself into being,” asserts James in Percival Everett’s National Book Award-winning novel. This is Jim of “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” fame, now at the helm of the story. A self-educated man, James confronts a vivid cast of ne’er-do-wells, enslavers, and fellow escapees as he wends his way…