Skip to main content

11/22/63 (2011)



Before reading: Eeeek, I'm so excited. This is one of the big guns that I've been wanting to read for a long time. There are supposedly some Dark Tower ties and this is also supposed to be King's greatest romance novel. I watched a few episodes of the show but other than that, I'm going in fairly blind. Let's gooooo!

After reading: Wow wow wow. While this wasn't my favorite book from King, I can easily admit that it is truly one of his best. It is beautifully written, action-packed, sci-fi, romantic, scary, funny...it is literally all the things. I don't know how he did it but he did. 

I've said this before and I'm sure I'll say this a million more times...but King's books are all about the characters. Yes, the overall plot of this book is going back in time to stop the Kennedy assassination...but is it really? Jake is the real story here and oftentimes, the plot isn't even on his mind. In my opinion the book was a little long and there were things that could have been cut out, but I was along for the ride and I had a good time. Was it his best romance? I don't know. I keep going back and forth on that one. This was definitely a love story. I'm just not sure that I'm a big fan of how it ended. C'est la vie. 

This book was also extremely stressful. If you're not a fan of time loops, this is not the book for you. I don't mind them but I was still smacking the book and saying "I swear to God" toward the end. It got a bit much but, like I said, along for the ride. 

We are in Derry for a good bit of this book so we get some really fun and in-depth cameos. As far as the Tower goes, I counted eleven references. That's a whole lot if you ask me for it to not be more direct. This book flirts with the idea of being connected to the Dark Tower. It teeters on that line (beam? string?). I wish it would've just went there and had a solid connection. Oh well.

Overall, just a really great and super solid book. I highly recommend it. I think it has a little bit of everything where many people would enjoy it. It isn't your "typical" King read so I think non-King fans and King fans alike would enjoy this one. I'm definitely going to go back and re-watch the full show. #DancingIsLife

Speaking of the Tower, we get to take a little trip there next with The Wind Through the Keyhole and I'm so excited I'm gonna go start that immediately. Meet you on my next blog post, bye!

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

RanKING

I have randomly decided that in addition to reading these books, I'm also going to rank them from my most favorite to least favorite. I will do this as I read and I will add in the books I've already read after I re-read them. I also apologize for the horrible pun in the title but I couldn't pass it up :) All right! Here's my ever-changing list: The Long Walk It The Shining Pet Sematary The Institute Misery The Dark Tower: Wizard and Glass 11/22/63 The Dark Tower Black House Under the Dome Needful Things Dolores Claiborne The Green Mile Duma Key The Regulators The Dark Tower: The Waste Lands Insomnia Firestarter The Talisman The Dark Tower: Wolves of the Calla Christine The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger The Dark Tower: Song of Susannah The Outsider The Dark Tower: The Drawing of the Three Desperation Rose Madder Lisey's Story Bag of Bones Cujo The Dark Half Full Dark, No Stars Different Seasons Salem's Lot The Stand Hearts in Atlantis The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon ...

The Long Walk (1979)

Before Reading:  I could go on and on and on about The Long Walk and I will (after I re-read it). For now I’m just going to keep it short and sweet. Remember when I said that I love Rage and have it on my bookshelf? Well I really love The Long Walk and have TWO copies of it on my bookshelf. The Long Walk is my absolute number one favorite book...ever. I even rank it above Harry Potter (which, if you know me, is saying a lot). When I was younger I was drawn to The Long Walk because it mentioned my hometown. But oh my God, this story is so great. You cringe, cry, laugh, and everything in between when you read it—or at least I do. It takes a lot for me to get emotionally invested in a book (or anything, really) but I feel so attached to this story. All of the characters and their lives are so real to me when I read this one. Also, Hunger Games-esque dystopia is my absolute favorite genre and The Long Walk is one of the best. I’m very much looking forward to re-reading this one, as I a...

What am I doing?

Being a true Mainer, while my mother was pregnant with me, she was reading a book by Stephen King. Specifically she was reading The Dark Half by Stephen King. In that book there is a character named Shayla and that is where my name came from. Growing up in Maine already gives you a sense of closeness with Mr. King but having him be the reason for my namesake always drew me even closer to him. In fact, for my 23rd birthday I was gifted with Stephen King’s personal copy of The Dark Half that he signed for me.  I grew up watching many Stephen King shows and movies and read a few books. My favorite book of all time being The Long Walk by Stephen King, himself. All in all, however, I’ve only read about 5 of Mr. King’s books in total. I feel like this weird connection and fascination I have with him has ultimately only led me to one place. And that place is right here, preparing to read all his books. With all honesty, I get crazy ideas like this all the time but only seldom do I see ...