Huck Finn

+ a Chappell Roan cover

One rule of thumb I try and live my life by is reading at least twelve books a year - one a month, on average.

I felt my attention span really slipping earlier this year and knew it had to be directly related to doom scrolling online. I was also in the process of getting ready to go into the studio for the first time in years and didn’t want any outside distractions.

So, I handed the keys to my social media over to my management, and anytime I felt my phantom limb reaching to open the apps, I would open a book instead. The result was that I read seven books almost immediately, which worked great, especially with going back into the studio.

I’m currently doing a one-two punch of reading Mark Twain’s the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn followed by James by Percival Everett. Living in Missouri, and growing up on the Kansas/Missouri state line, it’s crazy that I somehow never read Huck Finn as a child.

But living in Missouri now, and having such an affinity for the Mississippi River, I figured it was about time and so I bought a copy of the book while on vacation in Bentonville, Arkansas with Katie at a wonderful bookstore called Two Friends.

The next week I was off to Newport Folk Festival and then another fest in Chicago where afterwards, instead of flying home, I decided to get a sleeper car on the Southwest Chief that goes from Union Station in downtown Chicago to Union Station in downtown Kansas City. This specific Amtrak ride is incredibly serene and nostalgic for me, and one of my favorite things in the world.

Anyways, I decided there was no better place to crack open Huck Finn for the first time than while on a train through rural Illinois and Missouri, passing over rivers and through corn fields, surrounded by amish passengers.

I of course loved and related to the book. Mark Twain has a way, even in the late 1800s, of dropping timeless bombs like this one, my favorite paragraph from the book:

“I went right along, not fixing up any particular plan, but just trusting to Providence to put the right words in my mouth when the time come; for I’d noticed that Providence always did put the right words in my mouth, if I left it alone”.

and that paragraph right there, basically sums up the entirety of being alive, in my opinion, especially being a writer flying by the seat of your pants.

But now I’m halfway through James, a retelling of the story of Huck Finn through the perspective of Jim, the runaway slave who travels alongside Huckleberry, becoming best friends along the way. I’ve never read anything by Percival before, but this book is completely blowing me away. I was worried that it wouldn’t hold up against the original but I - and this may be sacrilegious - find myself enjoying this one even more.

I love reading. It’s one of life’s greatest pleasures and anytime im doing it I find myself cursing all the times that I chose not to do it. May I never look at social media ever again.

I included a list of the books i’ve read so far in 2025. I loved and would recommend them all, for the most part. I put an asterisk next to my favorites. What should I read next? What are you reading?

Also, in the spirit of adventurous and beautiful spirits from Missouri I have tried my absolute damndest to cover Pink Pony Club by Missouri royalty Chappell Roan. What an unbelievable singer with an unbelievable song. I like to think that if Huck Finn were alive and real that he and Chappell would be friends. Two Missourians bound for the wild unknown.

EDIT: I wrote this post in the summer, as is probably obvious. I have sense seen Chappell Roan live and it was incredible. I also finished James, which was also incredible :)

LORD OF THE FLIES - WILLIAM GOLDING

MEMORY - DONALD E. WESTLAKE*

CATCHING THE BIG FISH - DAVID LYNCH*

PICK UP - CHARLES WILLEFORD

STONER - JOHN WILLIAMS*

I WHO HAVE NEVER KNOWN MEN - JACQUELINE HARPMAN

EMPEROR OF GLADNESS - OCEAN VUONG*

THE ADVENTURES OF HUCKLEBERRY FINN - MARK TWAIN*

JAMES - PERCIVAL EVERETT*

MOONLIGHT - BARRY JENKINS*

ECSTACY - ALEX DIMITROV*