What are you currently reading?

[Betta]

So I’m in Leviticus in the Old Testament and John in the New Testament right now

my husband and I have a Joel Olsteen devotional we read daily 

just recently we’ve started to look into the Dead Sea scrolls and the book of Enoch among others

pride and prejudice would be the other I started again just because I like it 😏 

[jwcarlson]

On 7/18/2022 at 11:51 AM, JettsPapa said:

I see there are quite a few Stephen King fans here.  I read Misery decades ago, and while I powered through and finished it, I had no desire to read anything else he wrote.  Maybe I need to reconsider.  If yes, any suggestions?

Kind of depends on your personal tastes, I'd say.  King is obviously mostly "horror" though typically not extremely gory.  Certainly "adult" themes with words I don't necessarily want to plop on here.  I particularly like his characters as they are usually quite well developed.  I am not old enough to have lived through the life of "Richard Bachman", but I think they are pretty good books as a rule (though I have not read them all, by any means).  I like Thinner, The Long Walk, Running Man, and Road Work.  The Long Walk is the best in that batch IMO.  And they're all relatively short. 

If you like a good exploration of grief - Pet Sematary.  

This book is usually dislike by a lot of people, but I thought Lisey's Story was a pretty good book.  Coming of age - The Talisman is solid and Later is also quite good.  King does a pretty good job of writing as a younger person in spite of not having been particularly young for about half a century.

Different Seasons is four short (?) stories that give quite a bit of flavor.  Shawshank Redemption is among them.  

If you like westerns, I think The Gunslinger is a good book.  It is the first (and most say the weakest, though I don't think I agree) of his The Dark Tower series.  

More recently published stuff - The Institute and Elevation (more of a short story or maybe novella) are pretty good.  Elevation isn't particularly highly rated, but like Lisey's Story... it isn't quite typical King and so I think that might turn off some of the Constant Readers.  I don't mind rolling with the punches and can appreciate seeing some range.

If you'd like to just hear more about his writing technique and/or style his On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft is pretty entertaining and personal.

Hitman with a conscience?  Billy Summers is your book.

All that said, if Misery wasn't for you then maybe King just isn't for you.  I'd be curious to know if there's a lot of King fans who hated Misery, but still liked most all of his other stuff.  Some of the shorter stuff won't be a huge time investment if you still find it not to your liking.  If horror and psychological elements aren't your jam, then you're not likely to enjoy much of King's writing.  His plots can be meandering and not particularly well paced, but I am a character reader first and foremost.  I really think King could write a novel about someone watching paint dry and make it incredible.

Edited to add: I might be important to note that pretty much all King's books are interconnected in some way or another.  The Dark Tower is kind that underlying connective tissue, but in almost all cases - you don't need to have read any other books to get the vast majority "out" of any standalone.  Additionally - The Eyes of the Dragon (discussed a bit ago by a few of us) is a great King novel that's probably well connected to his other works, but a very good standalone story.

King has narrated a decent number of his own books (including On Writing).  I greatly enjoy his narrations.  If you happen to have a Scribd subscription or want to sign up for a free trial, you could listen to the vast majority of his collection on that platform.  I think I pay $10-12 per month and probably listen to about that 8+ books each month while working, keeping bees, walking dogs, water changes, etc.  I grew up reading King at a pretty young age, including The Dark Tower in my early teens - the final two books were published the year I graduated HS or perhaps the year after.  

Edited July 19, 2022 by jwcarlson

[PineSong]

On 7/18/2022 at 12:51 PM, JettsPapa said:

I see there are quite a few Stephen King fans here.  I read Misery decades ago, and while I powered through and finished it, I had no desire to read anything else he wrote.  Maybe I need to reconsider.  If yes, any suggestions?

If you are at all interested in memoirs or the writing process, King's book "On Writing" is fantastic. I'm not a fan of his fiction and when I worked in a bookstore long ago and his books took up three whole shelves, I would grumble to myself about not knowing why he keeps cranking them out. When I read his book on writing, I found the answer to that question and a new appreciation for his mind and labor. Still don't read his fiction, but I recommend "On Writing" to everyone interested in him or in writing.

[Brandon p]

Has anyone read Last Train to Hiroshima? 
I know it came out at least 15 years or more ago and the that it was released as documentary book. Later the author had to admit it was fiction. That aside I was wondering if it worth reading. I wanted to buy the book when it came out and it was basically wiped away. Now I have seen it out on digital platforms.  Im just starting Masters of the air by Donald L. Miller it about the 8th Air Force bombers and pilots over German in 1942. 

[MattyM]

I've been making my way through The Stormlight Archive by Brandon Sanderson - they are loooong but great books. If you're a fan of epic fantasy books - highly recommended, especially the audio books! 

[jwcarlson]

On 7/20/2022 at 9:39 AM, MattyM said:

I've been making my way through The Stormlight Archive by Brandon Sanderson - they are loooong but great books. If you're a fan of epic fantasy books - highly recommended, especially the audio books! 

I have the first three, but haven't started them yet.  I have read the first Mistborn Trilogy and The Rithmatist by him and enjoyed those. 

Stormlight... They sure are massive books and I will eventually get to them.  Sanderson is one prolific fella.  I need to decide if I'm going to finish Wheel of Time before I think about starting another big series.

His "coming clean" announcement awhile back was absolutely hilarious:

Edited July 20, 2022 by jwcarlson

[MattyM]

@jwcarlson I saw that! Yeah guy is prolific. FWIW once I got to book 3, I decided to switch to audio books (via Audible - free trial and credits if you're an Amazon Prime member). The audio books really help plow through them - the narrators are so good. (Plus I really look forward to my morning walk now!)

[BeeD]

On 7/18/2022 at 11:51 AM, JettsPapa said:

I see there are quite a few Stephen King fans here.  I read Misery decades ago, and while I powered through and finished it, I had no desire to read anything else he wrote.  Maybe I need to reconsider.  If yes, any suggestions?

I think the classics for me would be The Tommyknockers and Pet Cemetery. I read them a long long time ago, but I would say they read a little differently than some of his other work. I never read Misery, though, so I don't know how they compare in style or pacing. 

[Darktower805]

On 7/18/2022 at 9:51 AM, JettsPapa said:

I see there are quite a few Stephen King fans here.  I read Misery decades ago, and while I powered through and finished it, I had no desire to read anything else he wrote.  Maybe I need to reconsider.  If yes, any suggestions?

Personally I don't enjoy books that explore the ultra dark side of humanity. King does the same in some novels, but many of his stories mix in the supernatural element and those books I'm good with and love. That's why I don't read authors like Jonathan Kellerman and James Patterson. The last book by King that I had to put down and didn't finish was Rose Madder; it really focuses too much on the horrors of domestic violence and the psychopath dishing it out. Too dark for me...

If you want to try some of his fantasy/horror stuff with focus on fantasy and supernatural I could suggest a few. I'm still exploring his works so keep that in mind.

• IT - VERY dark book. Imo, he does a masterful job creating a town that has a sickness of the soul. If you've seen the movies you get the plot, the book isn't too different plot wise but one thing the movies didn't capture is the darkness of the town and why the antagonist was so attracted to it. Big book, it's a journey so be prepared.
• The Stand - Has a underlying religious factor, most of his books do, some more subtly than others. But this is pretty much an end of days, good vs evil book. As with IT, the story brings in a diverse cast of protagonists that join together to fight the ultimate fight. Another big book, but like IT I never felt it was too long.
• The Dark Tower collection - This includes books 1-7 and an interlude called The Wind Through the Keyhole. This is imo King's  best work. There's fantasy, science fiction, a western, horror all rolled into one. Many character's from his other works appear in this one. It was my introduction into the King Multiverse (yes, after reading this you realize that's a thing) and got me hooked on his works.
• The Shining and Doctor Sleep - One of his early works (1970s) and still holds up to this day. A story of a haunted hotel, a broken family and isolation. Vintage King horror here. Followed up just a couple years ago with the sequel Doctor Sleep, I'm not sure The Shining needed it but it worked and I loved it!

All these books are his early works with the exception of The Dark Tower which were published from the early 80s to the early 2000s. If you start with some of these you'll realize why people love him. If none of these resonate with you, maybe he isn't for you and that's cool too.

[jwcarlson]

@Darktower805I'm listening to Doctor Sleep right now, but I've never read The Shining (but have seen the movie).  The Shining wasn't on Scribd, or I would have listened to that first.  

I think it's interesting how different people experience things differently.  I didn't particularly like Rose Madder, but I actually chuckled that it was too dark for you, but IT wasn't.  🙂I thought IT was brutal, BUT it's a lot deeper and so there's a lot of additional 'stuff' to dice it up a bit.  Plus, we are all different, of course!

I almost hesitate to suggest King because of how different tastes are... there's some really heavy stuff and I think that I become blind to it after awhile and worry that what I consider a "light" King novel could actually be a pretty rough.  I have a friend who started reading The Dark Tower series and really... struggled... with certain scenes with demons with some of the main characters.  Scenes that weren't particularly impactful to me as a teenage boy or as a 20 or 30-something on re-reads.  

[Katherine]

On 7/21/2022 at 12:07 AM, Darktower805 said:

Personally I don't enjoy books that explore the ultra dark side of humanity. King does the same in some novels,

I don't mind horrible thing happening in books, but I don't want to be inside the head of the person doing them. 

I read The Stand years ago and loved it. I attempted The Dome a few months ago and didn't make it 25 pages in. A few of the characters were thinking things (and some doing) about other people that I just didn't want to be reading.

[Darktower805]

On 7/21/2022 at 5:17 AM, jwcarlson said:

@Darktower805

I think it's interesting how different people experience things differently.  I didn't particularly like Rose Madder, but I actually chuckled that it was too dark for you, but IT wasn't.  🙂I thought IT was brutal, BUT it's a lot deeper and so there's a lot of additional 'stuff' to dice it up a bit.  Plus, we are all different, of course!

I have a friend who started reading The Dark Tower series and really... struggled... with certain scenes with demons with some of the main characters. 

IT was dark and had some crazy stuff but the whole time I knew what the antagonist was and the fact that the book had a big sci-fi element to it gave some levity to the situation for me.

Yeah, that demon scene was crazy, I can see how it would turn off some people for sure lol. Same with the sex scene in IT, that was uncomfortable to read. What the hell King lol?!? That dude has a big, beautiful but effed up brain lol! 

On 7/21/2022 at 5:29 AM, Katherine said:

I don't mind horrible thing happening in books, but I don't want to be inside the head of the person doing them. 

I read The Stand years ago and loved it. I attempted The Dome a few months ago and didn't make it 25 pages in. A few of the characters were thinking things (and some doing) about other people that I just didn't want to be reading.

I totally get you on that! I'm really empathetic and if a character is well written I can easily get in their head. That's the main reason I stay away from that type of content.

On 7/21/2022 at 5:17 AM, jwcarlson said:

@Darktower805I'm listening to Doctor Sleep right now, but I've never read The Shining (but have seen the movie).  The Shining wasn't on Scribd, or I would have listened to that first.  

How do you like Scribd? I never heard of it till you mentioned it now. It seems like the Netflix of audiobooks, is that correct? I typically use Audible but only get a credit a month and I'll be honest I'm too cheap to buy every book I want to listen too haha. It would add up too quickly for me.

[jwcarlson]

On 7/21/2022 at 9:14 PM, Darktower805 said:

How do you like Scribd? I never heard of it till you mentioned it now. It seems like the Netflix of audiobooks, is that correct? I typically use Audible but only get a credit a month and I'll be honest I'm too cheap to buy every book I want to listen too haha. It would add up too quickly for me.

Scribd is great, I listen to a lot of books and everytime I look into Audible I don't understand how it's worth it.  But Scribd is such a great value comparatively that I don't bother.  Unlimited access, can download the audiobooks so if you have data limitations it helps there.  I download a few books at a time while I am at home and listen to them at work, on walk, etc.  I'd give it a shot.  There's 104 King audiobooks on Scribd at the moment. 

[jwcarlson]

On 7/22/2022 at 7:43 AM, jwcarlson said:

 

I like this forum, but from a mobile standpoint it's a mess.  Not sure what's going on with this quote that won't go away. 

I finished Nettle & Bone last night, it was a very very good book.  I started Fire & Blood by George R.R. Martin. 

Edited July 22, 2022 by jwcarlson

[Darktower805]

On 7/22/2022 at 5:43 AM, jwcarlson said:

Scribd is great, I listen to a lot of books and everytime I look into Audible I don't understand how it's worth it.  But Scribd is such a great value comparatively that I don't bother.  Unlimited access, can download the audiobooks so if you have data limitations it helps there.  I download a few books at a time while I am at home and listen to them at work, on walk, etc.  I'd give it a shot.  There's 104 King audiobooks on Scribd at the moment. 

Started the trial on Scribd and started Gwendy's Button Box. First book is a good listen, I'm about halfway through the 2nd and it started slow but now it's picking up. I hear the last part of the 3rd book is a love letter to Dark Tower fans, looking forward to that. But I really like the idea of the box so far, it almost reminds me of The Bends o' the Rainbow. Also I wouldn't be surprised if it were made my North Central Positronics lol.

Edited July 23, 2022 by Darktower805

[jwcarlson]

@Darktower8052nd book didn't list SK as author, third book does.  3rd book is pretty good and LOTS of DT references. 

Edited July 23, 2022 by jwcarlson

[Darktower805]

Finished Gwendy's Button Box trilogy. I really enjoyed the story but felt it was a bit soiled by King's personal feelings against Trump. He's always had some politics in his writings that he's managed to blend in subtly and tastefully, but this was different. It was blatant and didn't do anything to compliment the story, quite the opposite imo.

Just finished The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. Very nice listen, I think I'll go through more of his books.

[jwcarlson]

Yeah, King yapped a lot about Trump in Billy Summers as well.  My main complaint about it is it sometimes feels forced or inserted for no real reason.  Maybe it's because it feels like I'm stubbing my toe on a jog on something that shouldn't be there.  I suppose in 20 years it won't be as jarring.  Plenty of other political/presidential references in his older stuff too.

Anyway, no politics on the forum.  🙂

I am enjoying Fire & Blood more than I would have thought.  It makes me wonder why I struggle to care about The Silmarillion.  Perhaps it's the writing style or something.

Finished Doctor Sleep on audio and very much enjoyed it.  I have not read The Shining.  In fact, I have not read many of the most popular King books - The Shining, The Stand, Salem's Lot, Carrie... others, I'm sure.  I'll get to them eventually as most of them are on the shelf!  Started If it Bleeds on audio last night walking the dogs.

[PineSong]

I’m reading this book as my “winding down at night” read. A neat memoir of Wilson’s obsession with ants and the natural world.

[BeeD]

On 7/22/2022 at 8:12 AM, jwcarlson said:

I like this forum, but from a mobile standpoint it's a mess.  Not sure what's going on with this quote that won't go away. 

I finished Nettle & Bone last night, it was a very very good book.  I started Fire & Blood by George R.R. Martin. 

I was about to start Fire & Blood, and then I realized that it's only a first volume of two, and that he hasn't finished the second volume. I about fell out of my chair. I think I'm going to finally sit down and finish all of the Dunk and Egg stuff instead. At the moment all I have is The Hedge Knight.

[Darktower805]

On 7/25/2022 at 8:12 PM, PineSong said:

I’m reading this book as my “winding down at night” read. A neat memoir of Wilson’s obsession with ants and the natural world.

 

A tad off topic, but I never really liked ants until I started watching a YouTube channel called Ants Canada. The guy is super enthusiastic about ants and has many colonies of different species. He uses a high quality camera to show the inner-workings of colonies. I now have a HUGE respect for ants and have never looked at them the same since. If you check out his channel, his earlier videos are the best imo.

Edited July 29, 2022 by Darktower805

[Darktower805]

On 7/25/2022 at 6:04 AM, jwcarlson said:

Yeah, King yapped a lot about Trump in Billy Summers as well.  My main complaint about it is it sometimes feels forced or inserted for no real reason.  Maybe it's because it feels like I'm stubbing my toe on a jog on something that shouldn't be there.  I suppose in 20 years it won't be as jarring.  Plenty of other political/presidential references in his older stuff too.

Anyway, no politics on the forum.  🙂

I am enjoying Fire & Blood more than I would have thought.  It makes me wonder why I struggle to care about The Silmarillion.  Perhaps it's the writing style or something.

Finished Doctor Sleep on audio and very much enjoyed it.  I have not read The Shining.  In fact, I have not read many of the most popular King books - The Shining, The Stand, Salem's Lot, Carrie... others, I'm sure.  I'll get to them eventually as most of them are on the shelf!  Started If it Bleeds on audio last night walking the dogs.

Gotcha on the politics, it's a good policy as politics can and have ruined forums!

I was going to be going through more of  Paulo Coelho's works but then remembered that I had been wanting to read Michael Crichton's books for years. So I started listening to Prey. Almost finished and I'm not sure what to think of Crichton so far. I enjoy a mix of technical, scientific subjects if they're explained right and blended well in a good story. Andy Weir did this the best in The Martian. So far Crichton has done a good job as well, I just don't think his writing style is the best. I'm sure I'll still go through his other works though.

[jwcarlson]

@Darktower805

I have not read a ton of Crichton, but have read... Jurassic Park, Andromeda Strain, and at least one other that is escaping me.  JP was the best of his that I have read.  I agree that his style doesn't necessarily trip my trigger.

I would suggest you read some Blake Crouch if you like Crichton.  Dark Matter or Recursion are both fantastic, with a slight lean to Dark Matter.  Very very fast paced techno thriller in the Crichton vein.  At least one huge MC fan says that Crouch feels like his spiritual successor.  I do not often have books that keep me awake reading, but both of those have.  I own his Pines trilogy and his very recently released Upgrade.  

I also have enjoyed some time watching Ants Canada, a very passionate guy and some very fascinating information/videos.  My kids love it too. 

[Darktower805]

On 7/29/2022 at 4:44 PM, jwcarlson said:

@Darktower805

I would suggest you read some Blake Crouch if you like Crichton.  Dark Matter or Recursion are both fantastic, with a slight lean to Dark Matter.  Very very fast paced techno thriller in the Crichton vein.  At least one huge MC fan says that Crouch feels like his spiritual successor.  I do not often have books that keep me awake reading, but both of those have.  I own his Pines trilogy and his very recently released Upgrade.  

Thanks, I'll put that on the list!

[jwcarlson]

Fire & Blood was quite good! 

I'll start The Books of Babel #3 tonight - The Hod King.