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Jan 23, 2012

Lou rated it:

Listen to an excerpt from Stephen King's 11/22/63 audiobook, narrated by Craig Wasson.
The grandmaster of storytelling, the Dickens of modern times is back with another top read.

He's back with no Here's Johnny! but certainly here's Lee Oswald! a brutal husband and a father.
The stage is set the focal time 22nd November 1963, enter the main protagonist Jake Epping soon to be known as George Amberson down the Alice in Wonderland Rabbit Hole, the mission to rewrite history. More...

44 comments like (65 people liked it)

Jan 01, 2012

Jeanette rated it:

Thank you, Steve. You were wrong all those years ago when you said you weren't very good at writing about love and intimacy. The love story here is full of honesty and tenderness. When I got to the last couple of pages, I was crying so hard I couldn't read.

11/22/63 is a supernatural, quasi-historical, philosophical, science-fiction love story.
If you're avoiding it because you think Stephen King only writes horror, please reconsider. There's no horror here, aside from a couple More...

48 comments like (119 people liked it)

Feb 04, 2012

Blythe rated it:

WOW! Holy crap! This book was amazing, and is my 3rd favorite book by Stephen King... I was so worried about what the ending would be, and I had a feeling I knew what it would be, but, that ending was great... It left everything wrapped up nicely, and was one of his better endings; it made me smile, but also made me sad at the same time. I liked the purpose of the character the Card Man, even for the short time he was in the book, but the real star in this book was the relationship between Georg More...

29 comments like (58 people liked it)

Jan 29, 2012

Mitchel marked it as to-read

Is it just me or is this one missing the most obvious release date tie in ever?

9 comments like (53 people liked it)

Feb 12, 2012

Richard rated it:

Rating: 5* of five

The Book Report: Jake Epping is a modestly successful high-school English teacher with a bad, broken marriage to an alcoholic behind him, a future of great sameness before him, and a date with destiny that cannot be foreseen. He is, in short, you, or me, or any other Stephen King hero.

What happens to Jake is, he gets a chance to change the world. Seriously. No spoilers here, but Jake gets a chance to make 11/22/63 just another date on the calendar Pope J More...

37 comments like (33 people liked it)

Jan 27, 2012

Lisa rated it:

What did I think? I think I lost a weekend and there is no way to go back in time to get it because I don't know where the rabbit hole is! But would I? Would I change having read this book? No way!

I was a huge Stephen King fan in high school and gobbled up all of his books. Until ... they went from cool weird to over-the-top weird. Suddenly coke machines were your worst enemy and there seemed to be a less emotional element mixed with the macabre (think Pet Cematary) and it was ju More...

3 comments like (26 people liked it)

Jan 16, 2012

Meg ♥ rated it:

I'll be honest here. It's really rare that I get through a book over 500 pages, let alone 700 (Nook pages). It's also true that I have never read a single thing from Mr. King until now. Why? I'm not sure. Maybe his books intimidated me, because when I was younger everyone was always talking to me about how his books were so long, and blah blah. Anyway, I am proud to say that 11/22/63 was my first book read by Stephen King. I hear it's so much different than his other work, but I also haven't met More...

25 comments like (55 people liked it)

Oct 30, 2011

★ Jess marked it as to-read

Look at the amount of pages in this book.
Look at the amount of pages in Under The Dome.
Check the date this book is published.
Check the date Under The Dome was published.

*eyetwitch*

description

Real.

12 comments like (192 people liked it)

Feb 07, 2012

Jason rated it:

Hi, my name is Jake Epping and I’m a dull high-school English teacher who has decided to go back in time to prevent JFK from being assassinated. I’ve decided to do this primarily because a fat man who serves me 53 year-old cheeseburgers (with whom I share only a vague casual acquaintance) has told me that I should. There is no other real reason for me to being doing this. There really isn’t. Once I’m there, I will also risk my life to save a bunch of other people that I barely know because I wan More...

9 comments like (20 people liked it)

Jan 27, 2012

Rick rated it:

It's no mystery that I am a rabid King fan, and have been ever since I read Salem's Lot way back in 1975. Each new book holds the promise of another singularly well-told tale filled with suspense, terror, and a sardonic wit. Does he have his duds? Absolutely...witness The Tommyknockers, The Dark Half, and Dreamcatcher, for example. At his worst, he's overly didactic, infantile, and runs his patented catch phrases into the ground. But in his best works, like Pet Sematary, Dolores Claiborne and Th More...

0 comments like (16 people liked it)

Jan 27, 2012

Brian rated it:

* Roger Ebert wrote of the movie Pearl Harbor that it "is a two-hour movie squeezed into three hours, about how on Dec. 7, 1941, the Japanese staged a surprise attack on an American love triangle." The paraphrase for King's book is a natural: it's a 200-page novel squeezed into 800 pages, about how on November 22, 1963, Lee Harvey Oswald assassinated the world's most powerful love affair. Or at least tries to. You'll have to see for yourself how it all turns out.

* Being More...

15 comments like (16 people liked it)

Feb 02, 2012

Koeeoaddi rated it:

4.5

30 CDs. Phew.

The conventional wisdom is that the love story carries this book, but I didn't think so. The half star deduction was for our hero's screamingly dull love interest and some draggy parts in the middle where he bounced back and forth between bird dogging Lee Harvey and puttin' on a talent show. Twice.

What I loved was going back to the late 50s/early 60s with a 2011 sensibility. It was irresistible to drive around in a Sunbird convertible with no s More...

9 comments like (12 people liked it)

Dec 31, 2011

John rated it:

There are two types of Stephen King readers.

The ones who just read his stuff because it is usually "horror" and the ones who know what I mean when I saw all stories lead to The Tower. It is impossible to explain how each book is a brick in a much larger wall to someone who hasn't read every single book but trust me when I say...it is an incredible way to read books.

So to me there are two ways to read King's work. On it's own merit and how it connects to the rest More...

8 comments like (32 people liked it)

Jan 27, 2012

K. A. rated it:

I'm a reluctant fan of Stephen King. But this book was terrible.

The main guy is a teacher.

EVERY POSSIBLE CLICHE ABOUT TEACHERS is in this book. As in:

1. Meticulously correcting oral grammar
2. Catching some kids drinking at the sock hop, but letting them off easy after a heartfelt talk about actions and consequences
3. Directing a play and thereby enabling the town's best football player to realize his intellectual strengths

and on and on More...

7 comments like (14 people liked it)

Jan 27, 2012

Ken rated it:

Oh, Mr. King, you are one helluva storyteller. I've always loved time travel novels and this one certainly didn't disappoint. But there was so much more to it than the time travel aspects. I was touched by the love story that is a huge part of the book. And the late 50s/early 60s pop culture references were great fun. I was 11 and in sixth grade at the time of the Kennedy assassination. I still remember how terrified I was during that horrible weekend. There was so much uncertainty. And e More...

0 comments like (9 people liked it)

Jan 27, 2012

Dan rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

7 comments like (6 people liked it)

Jan 27, 2012

Dem rated it:

My first Stephen King Novel and my last. This type of book is not for me. I was really looking forward to this story as I was really taken by the premise of this story because the Kennedy Assassination has always interested me but sadly after about 200 pages of this story found out this is just not for me and was not the story I had thought I was going to read.

I really felt this book would have benefited with being about 40% shorter as it is much too long and the story seemed to ram More...

8 comments like (9 people liked it)

Nov 17, 2011

Steven rated it:

Inner ear infection the last three days, so one of the only things I could do laying in bed is read, and that only barely. So I read this much-anticipated book. I have mixed emotions and thoughts about it, so...let's break 'em down.

The Good:

Well, it's gotta be a good sign that I read 849 pages in essentially two days, and about 750 of those today (Wednesday) alone. King's detractors will say that this is bad, that nothing serious enough to be written by one of the best-sel More...

19 comments like (26 people liked it)

Jan 01, 2012

Mike (the Paladin) rated it:

Stephen King is a good, even gifted writer. This book does show that. The story, the prose everything about it is well done, as I said good, gifted, even at times inspired. There is however for me (and I sure for some other readers) a sad fly in the ointment, but it doesn't ruin the book by any means and is an example of something that will happen in many books. I hope we can all learn to enjoy books in spite of situations like the one I find and am mentioning here.

First, before I m More...

15 comments like (13 people liked it)

Nov 29, 2011

Gatorman rated it:

Wow. This book is a mess on so many levels I'm not sure where to even begin. First, it's a damn shame that King chose to take what could have been an interesting story centered around the Kennedy assassination and turn it into nothing more than a liberal lovefest worshipping all that is Kennedy and a political diatribe against all that is Republican, conservative and/or religious. I was well aware of King's political views when I read this book, as well as every other King book I've read, but More...

192 comments like (30 people liked it)

Jan 13, 2012

Jaime rated it:

I wish I could rate this book more than 5 stars because it is definitely a 10!!!

2 comments like (7 people liked it)

Jan 27, 2012

Jason rated it:

4+ Stars

"The butterfly spreads it's wings."

I love Stephen King and I always look forward to what he might bring us next. This book takes us to a scary place, an often sought after place but at times difficult to find, it reaches deep within the chasm, only to find a place in the heart. Love, romance, selflessness, compassion, empathy, connections, and perseverance, are all what this King novel is about. You already know that it is about JFK, about Lee Oswald, and o More...

1 comment like (4 people liked it)

Dec 30, 2011

Philip rated it:

It was nice to read a current book for once... and not just a YA current book... I keep pretty up to date with those.

I love time travel, and I enjoy Stephen King. Sometimes though, I wonder if he writes these really big books because he's pressured to do so. You know, It, The Stand, etc... It's like he's the "big book guy" and maybe he feels this internal pressure to make his books 849 pages long, when it would have been a much better book at 450... I don't know, I like More...

6 comments like (8 people liked it)

Jan 02, 2012

Trudi rated it:

All hail the King! Talk about ending the reading year of 2011 on a high note. Review to follow. Happy New Year everyone!

The past is obdurate for the same reason a turtle's shell is obdurate: because the living flesh inside is tender and defenseless.

…when that happens, you see that the world is barely there at all. Don’t we all secretly know that? It’s a perfectly balanced mechanism of shouts and echoes pretending to be wheels and cogs, a dreamclock chiming beneath a mystery-glass we ca

More...

9 comments like (13 people liked it)

Dec 12, 2011

Kathy rated it:

Another amazing story by Uncle Stevie. I admit that I don't know much about history, but I was immediately immersed in this book! The time period alone, intrigued me. I could have happily stayed there and been very happy!

This is the story of Jake Epping (aka George, who goes back in time with the hopes of saving President John F. Kennedy from his assassination on 1/22/63. He arrives through a "rabbit-hole" into September of 1958, where he lives and works while investigat More...

42 comments like (9 people liked it)

Jan 27, 2012

Debi rated it:

For those who love King's horror novels, this is not typical; but read it anyways. For those who love his use of prose and the ability to make the reader think long and hard about the world, their own lives, and your place in space? This book is for you.
The first half of the book sets you up in a manner relative to a Southern drawl; slow, a little drawn out, and charming. The second half of the book hurls you into the year 1963 where you spiral into a headspin that has you screaming in fru More...

0 comments like (4 people liked it)

Jan 27, 2012

Suzanne rated it:

What a book! This was my first experience reading Stephen King, and I am blown away! It was suspenseful and powerful and kept me wanting more the whole way through! It was also probably the longest book I've ever read! Overall, an amazing book!

0 comments like (5 people liked it)

Jan 27, 2012

Ruthette rated it:

I picked up this book with equal parts anticipation and trepidation. I've never read anything by Stephen King before, but was assured that this one was "different." It was that promise coupled with a keen love of time-travel stories that helped me to overcome my inhibitions.

First, there is no doubt in my mind that Stephen King is a master writer. This book has a phenomenal premise which is executed with precision. His ability to weave together a massively complex story in a More...

16 comments like (3 people liked it)

Jan 27, 2012

Jo Anne rated it:

“The past is obdurate. It doesn’t want to be changed. Resistance to change is proportional to how much the future might be altered by any given act.”

King hit one out of the ball park with this one! I have read many Stephen King novels but I feel that this was his best by a long shot. It seemed more like his legacy book that transcended all the others.

I love Stephen King’s writing. It is easy to read and full of funny one-liners that make you chuckle yet leaves you with a More...

1 comment like (3 people liked it)

Jan 27, 2012

Nancy rated it:

After having been a bit disappointed in Under the Dome, I wasn't so sure I wanted to shell out the $$ for this one, but because a) I needed a "light" read at the moment and b) the premise sounded interesting, I coughed up the cash and brought it home. What I thought this was going to be and what it turned out to be are on opposite ends of the spectrum. I thought I'd be reading an alternative-history/what-ifish kind of thing based on a thwarting of the Kennedy assassination in 1963, a More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

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