Reading All the Bookers!

  Booker Prize :  Shortlisted 2023 Plot Time and Place : Present-day UK Opening sentence : "I don't know if you have ever stood in the middle of a squash court - on the T - and listened to what is going on next door." Plot summary :  A young girl tries to navigate her grief, and the family's, after her mother's death. Review : I wasn't familiar with the squash stuff, nor with the Indian foods, and other Indian terminology, so that was a bit of a hindrance to my enjoyment of the book. However, I found it touching and I liked the fact that it was a first-person child narrator.  Rating :   3/5

  Booker Prize :   Shortlisted 2024 Plot Time and Place : 19th century Missouri, USA Opening sentence :  "Those little bastards were hiding out there in the tall grass." Plot summary :  This book is a reimagining of "The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn", by Mark Twain (published in 1884), but this time the story is told from the point of view of the enslaved Jim (the titular character). Review :  This book should be read after reading "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" and "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" by Mark Twain. I found it very easy to read, and very interesting to see things from Jim's perspective. However, I found some elements of the story, like the way that Jim talks, and the fact that he can read and write, totally unrealistic.  Rating :   4/5