October 2018: Stephen King

Why not pick the month with Halloween in it to read some books by Stephen King? (Yes, I know not all his books are horror, but that's what he is best known for writing.)

Join the discussion here to talk about your favorites, least favorites, and TBR works by King.

Note for those attempting 1001 Books to Read Before You Die, The Shining is on that list.

I just finished The Eyes of the Dragon. It's not a horror but instead King's take on a Medieval thriller.
It's rather unbelievable at times but interesting nonetheless.

I have Misery on the pile so will try to get to that in October.

he's one of my favorites! if i don't read him next month surely i can contribute. =)

>3 Yells: Ooo, Misery is one of the few King books I've actually read. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on it.

>4 overlycriticalelisa: That would be awesome! Past reading is just fine in my opinion :)

As always, I'm either behind or ahead with the author we're reading. This time ahead as I already picked up The Outsider, which I *believe* is King's most recent title (although I could be wrong). I'm about a third of the way in and am enjoying it so far, although it is just now beginning to turn a little more from a crime procedural to something supernatural. Hints were there earlier, but now it seems to be going more in that direction.

Stephen King, crime writer? This article makes the case that many of King's novels are steeped in the crime genre, even though he's best known as a horror writer. https://crimereads.com/stephen-king-crime-writer/

Personally, I would disagree a bit with some of these. For instance, I read Joyland and while yes there is certainly a crime aspect, there's also a horror aspect. Mostly, I would put it under "coming of age" in difficult/unusual situations.

edited for typo

I needed a break from textbooks so I read and finished Misery earlier than anticipated. I loved the movie and was sort of expecting the book to be the same but it was so much more. King's description of both characters descending into madness was amazingly written. I would love to chat with others about this one.

>7 sweetiegherkin: Interesting article. He does write a lot of stuff that border on crime writing but I just don't see him as a crime writer per se. But I suppose even if a romance writer slips in a scene describing someone's home being burgled, that could be seen as crime writing.

>8 Yells: I also watched Misery before reading it, although this was about a decade ago, so I may be fuzzy on the particulars. I kind of recall the movie as striking me as almost darkly humorous, whereas the book was more serious and more sinister. There's a scene that involves an amputated foot, and I swear I had phantom pain as a result; King is that good of a writer. That book had been my first foray into reading King. Since then, I also read The Colorado Kid, Joyland, and now of course I'm working on The Outsider. Although I guess technically my first taste of King's writing was the Marvel comics based on his Gunslinger series. There's a character in The Outsider who I really like and it turns out she's from his series of books that began with Mr. Mercedes, so I might read those next.

>9 Yells: Agreed. I feel like King is a crime writer in the way that the X-Files is a cop show.

Also, apparently today is Stephen King’s birthday. Lovely pictorial homage someone made here: https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DnoiF1BXcAAm7Ir?format=jpg&name=medium

It's officially October! Anybody start on their King reads yet?

I enjoyed The Outsider enough that I also checked out Mr. Mercedes (same audiobook narrator, which is nice). Just need to finish up my current audiobook before I start in on that -- hopefully sometime this week.

I just started The Tommyknockers but since it's a bazillion pages long (as are most of his books), it might take a bit.

I've read quite a few of his books this year: The Gunslinger, Misery, It, Eyes of the Dragon, Cycle of the Werewolf, The Talisman, Different Seasons, Christine and Cujo. I started the Dark Tower series but I think I will hold off and read them in order later on.

>13 Yells: Yes, his books do tend to be long. Good, but lengthy.

I'm also interested in the Dark Tower series but not sure that I want to commit just now. Several years back I read the prequels that Marvel comics put out. I'm sure I missed some things not having read the original series, but they were good in and of themselves.

>7 sweetiegherkin: my personal opinion is that generally he isn't a horror writer. he was boxed into that category for a long time, but it's not his main thing. he can be scary, sure, but he's more about relationships, in my opinion.

>10 sweetiegherkin:
misery was my first stephen king, too. (in 7th grade, which was too young. but it totally hooked me.)

a reread of insomnia might fall during this month for me.

The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon is not long ... nor is Dolores Claiborne

>15 overlycriticalelisa: Yeah, that's fair. He seems to be about character development.

>16 BookConcierge: The Colorado Kid is short, and Joyland was average length, but a lot of his books do tend to be rather lengthy.

Finished The Tommyknockers and it's just bizarre. The story was good but there is way too much detail in there. Cut out 300 pages or so and it would have been a nice, tight story. I liked the killer Coke machine :)

>18 Yells:
the tommyknockers is long, it's true, but i wouldn't want him to cut much of it. i actually really don't generally want to read books about aliens and vampires and werewolves and zombies (especially zombies), but still really liked the tommyknockers (and stephen king in general). sure, it's about an alien invasion. but *really* it's about this beautiful friendship between bobbi and gardener and secondarily about the people in the town and how they handle a crisis. (and nuclear facilities.) the rest is just backdrop.

>19 overlycriticalelisa: I saw their friendship as highly toxic! Odd how that happens with readers. I saw them as 'that' couple who are always splitting and reconciling but no one else can figure out why they don't just split for good. I think I have known way too many of those couples so that part of the book irritated me.

>20 Yells:
oh no way! how interesting. i think i've read that book 3 times and have always loved their friendship. (i've kind of ignored the sexual part of the relationship.) hmmm. i'm not sure how i'd feel about the book if i didn't like their relationship. i can see why you might not have enjoyed it, then!

>15 overlycriticalelisa: Did you end up re-reading Insomnia?

I'm almost done listening to the audiobook version of Mr. Mercedes and already have the next book in the trilogy Finders Keepers checked out of the library.

>22 sweetiegherkin:
not yet. still working on a reread of the haunting of hill house, then have to read the gilda stories (both for book groups), then insomnia. so i might not squeeze it in this month after all, but soon...

>24 overlycriticalelisa: I hear ya. Never enough time!

>35 sweetiegherkin:
i'm *finally* starting insomnia after a few other books had to be read first. too many book groups, not enough time...

>26 overlycriticalelisa: Let us know how it goes!

>27 sweetiegherkin:
i just finished it this morning! it was pretty "meh" for me. it's similar to other books that are better (strong parallels to it which is leaps and bounds better). i can't quite figure out yet what didn't work for me, but this one isn't one of his better ones. it's not bad or anything, it just didn't feel as purposeful as his stuff usually does to me.

that said, it was a reread for me and i had literally no recollection that most of the surrounding atmosphere of the book is about abortion and domestic violence. i can't believe that i didn't remember that.

>28 overlycriticalelisa:, 29 Hm, okay. I guess they can't all be winners.

>30 sweetiegherkin:
i was thinking about it more because there are a few of his books that are actively bad, and this isn't one of them, but i still didn't really like it. i think, though, that if you're not too familiar with his stuff, that that's the time to read this one. he likes to revisit ideas and themes, usually improving on what was done before. but this time i feel like he's returned to some things that he's covered in the past, but not as well as he's done in previous books. it also just felt a little jumbled in what his point was. anyway, it's not one that i particularly liked, but i also wouldn't assume no one else would like it. there aren't overt problems with it, i don't think.

i feel weird about this one, apparently...

>31 overlycriticalelisa: Even with the limited number of books I've read by him, I can definitely see how he revisits topics. For instance, Misery is about an author-obsessed fan who turns criminal; Finders Keepers in the Bill Hodges trilogy also has a criminal who blurs the lines between reality and his favorite work of literature.

Some books are just like that -- you don't exactly dislike it but you don't exactly like it either, and you can't exactly put your figure on why. I feel a little bit that way with Portrait in Sepia, but we can discuss that more on the November thread!

>32 sweetiegherkin:

he actually writes about authors and writing a lot, and often asks the question of what is reality and what is imagination, and where does it end? are the characters the writer creates real? it gets more fuzzy in a lot of his books because he throws in a little bit of supernatural stuff, so it's not quite as cut and dry. the dark half is also largely about this, at least in plot if not in theme. it's a really common one with him, along with things like "can a place/thing/object be evil and what would that look like." i generally don't mind his revisiting, because they're things i tend to be interested in, but yeah, this one just didn't sit quite right with me.

i've been thinking of chiming in on the allende thread even though i haven't read her in a while but maybe this was the bump i needed. =)

Mr Mercedes – Stephen King
Book on CD performed by Will Patton
4****

Book Number 1 in the Bill Hodges Trilogy, featuring retired Detective Bill Hodges in an unnamed Midwestern city. The action begins when the down-on-their-luck job seekers waiting for a job fair to open are mercilessly mown down by a guy in a stolen Mercedes. He is never caught. Six months later, Hodges, now retired, receives a letter in the mail and he recognizes the ring of truth in what the supposed killer says. He’s determined to find the psychopath on his own. But he gets some much needed help from two unlikely sources: a Black teenager in his neighborhood, and a middle-aged, mentally ill (and mentally fragile), cousin of one of the original victims.

King is a masterful writer and he doesn’t disappoint in this thriller / police procedural. The reader always knows who the perpetrator is, but that doesn’t lessen the suspense as Hodges and his assistants race the clock to solve the puzzle.

I’ve been a fan of King’s writing for ages … I read Carrie when it was a new book. While I’ve put aside his horror and fantasy works, I still appreciate his writing and I’m really glad I read this one.

Will Patton does a superb job reading the audiobook. My stars but he’s a marvel interpreting the many characters. I particularly liked how he voiced Holly and Jerome.

>34 BookConcierge: Will Patton was an amazing audiobook reader for this one! He does the rest of the series plus The Outsider, which isn't technically part of this series but includes one of the characters from it. (I accidentally read that one without realizing that it gave away spoilers for the Mr. Mercedes trilogy, but liked it enough to go backwards and read that whole series anyway.)

Patton also reads Doctor Sleep, the follow-up to the The Shining but I didn't like that one as much; not because of the audio narration but because I think it would have been better as a separate story than a sequel to The Shining, but that's just me.

Finders Keepers – Stephen King
Digital audiobook performed by Will Patton
3***

Book two in the Bill Hodges trilogy, featuring the former detective, now a PI, and his team of misfits and amateurs.

This time the murder is an old, cold case – John Rothstein, a reclusive J.D. Salinger-type author, who was murdered in his home – and King begins with the event in 1978 that resulted in his death. Then we fast-forward to 2009 and join a young boy whose family is struggling with the aftermath of the mass killing that took place in Mr Mercedes (book one of this series). When Pete Saubers stumbles upon the chest containing Rothstein’s notebooks, along with a significant amount of cash, he decides to use the money to help his family. He doesn’t know that Rothstein’s killer has been in prison, dreaming of his stash. Morris Bellamy didn’t go to prison for Rothstein’s murder, however, and when he’s released on parole, he’s livid to discover his treasure missing. It’s bad enough that the money is gone, but the loss of those notebooks has Bellamy blind with rage … and intent on finding out who took the notebooks.

King is a master crafter of the suspense genre. He keeps the reader turning pages while offering complex characters and motivations. I love Holly – a woman with some significant issues, but who has found a “home” employed as Hodges’ assistant. Hodges is not without his own demons and difficulties, but seems to be recovering from his alcohol-fueled depression, and thriving in this new endeavor. The supporting cast is equally strong, including the young people.

I’ve read reviews that criticized King for using elements of Misery - chiefly a crazed fan of a writer. But despite that very basic tie, I found this book quite different.

Also .. while it doesn't impact the content of the book ... can I just say that I hate the cover art of this series. I don't need all that dripping blood to get the idea this is a mystery/ suspense / thriller / murder plot.

Will Patton is a great narrator and does a fine job with the many characters in this book. I really like the way he voices Holly and Hodges. He even does a passable job of voicing the young girls.

>36 BookConcierge: I also loved Holly and thought Will Patton was an awesome narrator. Comparing this book to Misery is kind of a stretch; I didn't really get the vibe that they were the same at all.

However, I wasn't the hugest fan of this book. I liked the first and the last in the series; this one just felt like an unnecessarily long bridge to get from one to the other. (Also, this is perhaps minor but I found it unbelievable that Morris would have been in prison on rape charges for as long as he was, given that the majority of rapists serve no jail time at all or only a few months. I can't recall the exact statistic but I *think* the overall average is about 9 days or something else absurdly short.)

King's The Outsider isn't part of the Mr. Mercedes trilogy but Holly shows up in there also and some references to the events of the trilogy are made.

>37 sweetiegherkin:

(to be fair, most of his books have crossover characters from earlier books, or reference others of his books in some way.)

>38 overlycriticalelisa: That's true but I haven't read enough of his titles to usually catch them! :)

Elevation – Stephen King
Digital audiobook read by the author
4****

Scott Carey is losing weight, and he confides in his old friend, a retired physician about his unusual symptoms. Divorced, he’s living with just his cat. He’s started a bit of a feud with two new neighbors – Deirdre McComb and her wife Missy Donaldson – because their dogs “leave presents” on his lawn. But it seems that other people in their small town of Castle Rock, Maine, have a problem with the women because they are lesbians. When Scott overhears some derogatory remarks about the women’s new restaurant, he comes to their defense.

This was a delightful novella with an unusual plot device, but that focuses on human kindness and respect. King gives us a lesson on what it means to be a good neighbor, and how to support one another despite our differences. I like the way that they slowly come to know one another and resolve their conflicts. The ending of Scott’s tale is poignant and heartfelt.

The edition I had also included a bonus short story – "Laurie” – about a widower whose sister gives him a puppy and how he begins to slowly make his way back to the living as a result. Unlike most of King’s work, rather than set this one in Maine, it takes place in the Florida. It has nothing to do with horror or science fiction, though grief and natural predators can be horrific. It reminds me how well King writes his characters; how he reveals their strengths and flaws through their actions.

King reads the audio version himself. He’s not a trained voice artist, but he certainly knows what he wants to say, and he does a respectable job of the narration.

>40 BookConcierge: Hmm, I had never heard of this title. Sounds very interesting.