Actually Reading the Book I’m Named After (And All of Stephen King’s Other Work)

Before reading: And here we are again, knowing of a King book but knowing next to nothing about it. I'm aware of the movie, but have yet to see it (I will watch it when I finish reading). I know that this is a collection of novellas but they are all related. This will be our third novella collection but our first of connected stories. I also know that this book has Dark Tower  connections. These all seem like good things to me so let's find out! After reading: I have thoughts that I am trying to gather. As far as King's novella collections go I have to say I really enjoyed these ones all intertwining with each other here. I think it really worked to its advantage and each story seemed unique while never really leaving the overarching story. It did feel separate as each novella was formatted and structured different, but it also felt whole. I really liked the character who, surprisingly, was the one who wove all the stories together. I also, for the most part, liked all the ...

Before reading: I don't know much about this one but I do know a few things. I know that I have never heard anyone say anything bad about this one. I know that many people recommend this one when people ask which SK book you would let a child read. I know it has something to do with baseball. And I know that there is a pop-up version of it I hope to get my hands on. That...is all I know. Only one way to learn more. After reading: I really loved this story. In addition to it being really good, it was also really short. In fact, I feel like it was probably the shortest King book I've read? I'm not sure why it is a novel rather than being a novella in a collection, but I'm not complaining. Because of the length, I don't have too awful much to say about it. Also, because of the length, while I did really enjoy it, it can't really make its way into my top favorites. One of my favorite things about King novels is how he builds characters and worlds, with under 200 pag...

Before reading: Before I started getting really into Stephen King I knew absolutely nothing about Bag of Bones  except that it was a King novel and there have been some movie/TV adaptations. Now that I am on the up-and-up I know that this is a ghost story (exciting!) and that it is about a writer (I guess I can forgive it since it has been a while) but besides that...I am going in mostly blind. I prefer it that way. I do also know that many King fans say this is one of their favorites, if not their favorite. I think it might be slept on and I am excited to see what it is all about! After reading: I am sure that if you've never read Stephen King before, you would still thoroughly enjoy this book, however, I think that this books is more specifically for the King fans and for them, it is quite rewarding. Funny enough, as I read through it I kept thinking that it almost felt like a love letter to his fans (disguised as a horror novel no less) and then at the end the main character who...

Before reading: I am so ready to get back into a Dark Tower book! Reading King books in order is difficult when you have a series spread throughout, but I will say I have enjoyed reading other books that are related to The Tower  in between. Let's just get right into it.  After reading: I'm not even sure what I want to say. I do this thing where, oftentimes, right after I finish reading a book I think I just read a masterpiece. It's possible that my thoughts are clouded by the fact that I literally just finished this book five minutes ago. Regardless, I am now in a very sad and depressive after-reading slump. I'm so sad it's over. It was so good. I've looked around on the internet and have read other people's rankings of the Dark   Tower  series and Wizard and Glass  seems to always either be people's number one, or at the bottom. Honestly, I can see why some people might not enjoy this book. However, almost immediately I knew this would be my favorite ...

Before reading: Something very interesting happened in 1996...two books were released at the same time. One was Desperation  by Stephen King and the other was The Regulators by Richard Bachman. These books were mirrors of each other. When you place their hardcovers side by side, they make a complete picture. I have absolutely no idea what any of this means or what I'm about to read but I'm geeking out so hard and am very excited.  After reading: The verdict is in...I liked The Regulators better than Desperation. Per usual, my King opinions don't seem to line up with the majority, so let me explain. Desperation  is technically a much better book. It is textbook King, has great characters and world-building, and it is a great horror novel. Now, The Regulators, is camp. It is weird and theatrical and whimsical. It is also a quick read. For those reasons, I was more drawn to this book than the other. All that being said, they are both great and excellent companion pieces. Thi...