Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill

Hello, hope you are well....blah, blah, blah, niceties over, time to move on! Forget chicken cooking, housework, etc. We must talk! I purchased a book called Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill. Do you know who Joe Hill is? Huh? Do you? Go on, guess, I'll wait. NO don't google! Unfair! Yes, ladies and gentlemen, boy and girls...Joe Hill is Stephen King's son. You've heard of legacy acceptance into ivy league schools, multi-generational presidents, now we have father and son writers. No, no, not just any writers, horror writers!  Would he write like his dad? Was his dad actually writing for him and slapping sonny's name on it, kinda like a nice inheritance? Would the writing be juvenile? Would it be big words sending me repeatedly to the dictionary like he had something to prove? You know I have a love/hate relationship with Stephen King. Okay, mostly love, I highly doubt you can have had the longevity he has as an author without a whole lotta love. But, his wordiness and tangents totally get on my every last nerve. What about the offspring?!?! Sit down, yes, I know you have far more interesting things to investigate in your life, congratulations Nancy Drew. I had to know if the son was like the father. Had to!

Do you want me to tell you? Draw it out longer? Build the suspense? I'll spill. Joe Hill is amazing! Yes, amazing! No tangents at all (picture me looking up to the heavens mouthing "thank you"). No wordiness. What is left? I'll tell you, a super strong plot. A great ghost story where you see the ghost several times but it is the tension...ah the tension of what is about to happen that spurs you faster and faster through the book. The plot unfolds in such a way that takes some kind of unlikable characters and slowly evokes your compassion and eventually you're rooting for them. The story twists and turns, when you think it might slow down it doesn't and the whole time it is scary. At some points, I couldn't read this book at night. Honestly. Then, I couldn't help but read it anytime I could fit in a page or two. It was so good. It reminds me of everything I love about Stephen King and eliminates the things I don't like. Reading this took me back to reading The Shining, and that is a huge compliment as it started my interest in pleasure reading.

Yep, Joe Hill has talent, bred or learned I don't care, long as it keeps coming. Long live the King and Crown Prince. I'll start practicing my curtsy.

Book Talk

Hello everyone or no one as is more likely since this is brand new.

I wanted to quickly address how I want to write in this blog. I don't want to give you a plot rundown of every book, let's face it, you're likely already aware. If you haven't seen the cover or dust jacket, then you've read the general plot on line. What I'd rather do is pretend that we're friends and chat in a more natural way.

So for my very first discussion let us start at the very beginning. Queue clouds opening, sunbeams shining down and angels harmonizing in unison. The very first book I can remember reading for pleasure as a teen was.....ready for it.....ready? I don't hear group cheering, I do hear my husband groaning to get on with it already especially since nobody is reading this and I'm basically putting off making dinner to type to myself!  The very first I bought, with my allowance, and read was The Shining. Yes, when it was originally released. Hey, don't judge about my age, you'll be this age someday (frickin' whippersnappers). We were actually going to Myrtle Beach for Easter vacation, my whole family that is. As a teen I wanted to look oh so cool on the beach, The Shining had a very cool metallic silver cover, certain to get any boy's attention and then probably blind him for life with the South Carolina sun bouncing off that cover. But I didn't care about ruining eyesight! Of course, hubby just said my boobs got the attention, not Stephen King. He's probably right, don't tell him I said that he's right about anything. I'll never hear the end of it.

Back to The Shining by Stephen King, it was fantastic. I loved the whole thing! If you have only watched the movie, I implore you to get the book. It takes you to places that the movie never thought of going, literally, like the basement for example. The book tells you or shows you why The Overlook is the way it is and how it got to be that way. It also explains why Jack can't just up and leave when the going gets tough, or knife-welding crazy. Please, if you like to read, throw a couple bucks Stephen King's way and get it. Memorial Day weekend is coming up. Read it at the cookout when you're trying to avoid all the old people medical talk, or new parents' poopy diaper diatribes. I promise you, The Shining, will deliver like a holiday cheeseburger never could!