Joy's Book Blog
“The Palace Papers” was recommended to me by a friend who knows I like reading non-fiction books on British royalty, past or present. And I liked this book! It’s got an interesting premise: the book covers the four most recent women who have married into the line of succession for the British throne (Diana, Camilla, …
“Empty Mansions: The Mysterious Life of Huguette Clark and the Spending of a Great American Fortune” was a book recommended to me by my book club. Apparently, they read it in the past and really liked it. I could see why…on the surface, this is a fascinating concept for a book. Unfortunately, it didn’t hold …
“The Boys: A Memoir of Hollywood and Family” was not a book I would have picked up on my own, which is why I’m in a book club; the chance to read good books I normally would have overlooked. And this is one! I really enjoyed this book. Told from both Ron and Clint Howard’s …
Every once in awhile, I get in the mood to read nonfiction biographies, and I have to admit, my go-to author is Alison Weir. For some reason, I am drawn to the characters of Tudor England, larger-than-life people who lived and died in this era of political intrigue, scandal, and beheadings! And she writes in …
Finally, an Erik Larson book I can recommend! They say third times a charm, and for me, that’s how many Erik Larson books I had to read to find one I liked. And the winner is….The Splendid and the Vile! To be very honest, I was NOT looking forward to this book when I saw …
I’ve been hearing about The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson for awhile. A family member asked me if I had read it yet, my book club ladies all loved it, and now he has another bestseller out there (The Splendid and the Vile). So I thought I’d try this one. To be …
After reading both of Krakauer’s non-fiction bestsellers, Into Thin Air and Into the Wild, I’ve decided it’s too hard to review just one without mentioning the other. So I’m doing them both at the same time. To begin, both books were well-written and impeccably researched. I really like Krakauer’s writing style; otherwise I would never have read two …
Ironically, I liked this book better than White Fragility, but it was much harder to get through. After researching author Ibram X. Kendi, I figured out why…he is a historian and college professor, and this book does read like an academic paper at times. Kendi tries to intersperse personal stories to liven it up, but …
The New York Times best-selling book exploring the counterproductive reactions white people have when their assumptions about race are challenged, and how these reactions maintain racial inequality.
True story about the Osage murders and the birth of the FBI