Joy's Book Blog
We were in Jamaica for vacation, and I came across the story of the White Witch of Rose Hall. Apparently, this story was based on a book, so of course, I looked into it right away. Turns out, the book was written in 1929 so is available for free! Here’s the link. Ironically, I read …
I have two favorite genres: books that have been turned into movies, and haunted house stories. “Kill Creek” is a haunted house story. It begins with four horror writers who decide to boost their careers by participating in a live-stream interview held at an abandoned house in the middle of Kansas. Six people enter the …
“The Last Mrs. Parrish” was a great psychological thriller! I loved how the book is set up; the first half tells the story from Amber Patterson’s point of view, then the second half tells the exact same story from Daphne Parrish’s. Usually, authors will go back and forth chapter by chapter, but Liv Constantine does …
“The Women” was a great book with a perspective I had never read before, which is sometimes rare since I read so much! The story begins in 1965 with 20-year-old Frances “Frankie” McGrath, a California socialite whose father has always emphasized the value of military service, at least to Frankie’s brother. In their world, men …
“The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store” is one of last year’s must-read books (at least according to Goodreads). And I have to say, I did enjoy this book. It gave me an interesting look into the racial tension existing in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, in the 1920s between three groups: the middle-class white community, the immigrant Jewish …
“The Fourth Wing” by Rebecca Yarros is a fantasy/romance novel series that I’ve heard a lot about from my students, similar to “The Court of Thorns and Roses.” However, unlike that series, I actually liked “The Fourth Wing.” Pop culture today seems bent on remaking movies, TV series, music, etc… from the past, and now …
I watched Netflix’s documentary “Lover, Stalker, Killer” and was captivated by the story. At the end, a placard said this story was based on the book “A Tangled Web” by Leslie Rule, so of course, I put myself on the waiting list at my local library immediately! Six weeks later (a long wait for me), …
“The Court of Thorns and Roses” was recommended by several of my college students as the new great fantasy trilogy. A must-read if you will. Goodreads has almost 2.5 MILLION ratings with a 4.2 start average out of five, so it’s obviously a good book to most people. But I just didn’t like it! *gasp* …
I wanted to read a good biography so turned to one of my favorite authors, Alison Weir. Her trilogy of biographies on the Tudor period are some of my favorites: “The Wives of Henry VIII,” “The Children of Henry VIII,” and “The Life of Elizabeth I.” I decided to re-read “The Children of Henry VIII” …
I tried reading Britney Spears’s autobiography, “The Woman in Me,” but I couldn’t get past the first few chapters. Yes, I probably should have given it more time, but I just didn’t like the “voice” of the book. It seemed to me like it was written by an adult trying to describe a child’s perception …