From the Bookshelf of Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge…

11/22/63

Stephen King

Finish date: January 7, 2015

Discussion: 2015 Challenge Prompts

Why we're reading this: love stephen king
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2015 Challenge Prompts

Prompt 25: A book you were supposed to read in school but didn't
By Ann · 67 posts · 992 views

last updated Jan 17, 2023 03:51PM

Prompt 39: A book with magic
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last updated Jan 02, 2019 05:46AM

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What Members Thought

Feb 25, 2016 Isabel Jazmín rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Jake Epping aka George Amberson es un sujeto raro: es un profesor de lengua y literatura que viaja en el tiempo para volver a ser un profesor de lengua y literatura. Debo confesar que al principio me chocó un poco que lo primero que se le ocurrió al personaje que pudo viajar en el tiempo fue salvar a Kennedy pero luego me convencieron con sus argumentos y luego me volvieron a convencer con el giro cerca del final.

Me conmoví, sufrí, me reí y quise bailar junto con los personajes.

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Oct 01, 2012 Nikki rated it really liked it

Shelves: books-set-in-usa, fiction, maine, fantasy, books-set-in-texas

I've finally done it -- I've read a Stephen King book all the way through. A time travel story can always draw me in, and this one had the novelty of having the traveler back in time go to a time I lived through. Plus, the story begins in Lisbon Falls, Maine -- a neighboring town I've been visiting and passing through all my life.
By now you can probably figure out the basic plot. Jake, a high school English teacher, is shown a time-portal by his dying friend Al and entrusted with a mission to pr I've finally done it -- I've read a Stephen King book all the way through. A time travel story can always draw me in, and this one had the novelty of having the traveler back in time go to a time I lived through. Plus, the story begins in Lisbon Falls, Maine -- a neighboring town I've been visiting and passing through all my life.
By now you can probably figure out the basic plot. Jake, a high school English teacher, is shown a time-portal by his dying friend Al and entrusted with a mission to prevent JFK's assassination. The portal always takes him to the same day in 1958; he makes a couple of practice trips, preventing other deaths, before he settles down to the business at hand.
Time travel, like other fantasy, must have rules; the rule Jake is told from the outset is that each trip back resets history to the way it was before he meddled.
It's difficult to say much more about the plot without spoliers.
The book has most of the traits that have kept me from ever finishing one of King's books in the past. It's wordy, padded with brand names, and it's evident that no one bothers to edit of fact check King's books. (One scene that almost had me fling the book across the room: Jake is trying to locate a family in a strange town, but he only knows the last name. He goes to the library, in 1958, and asks to see the 1950 census. The librarian, instead of laughing at him, sends him to the town hall. Given that King was probably writing this book during or shortly after the 2010 census, one would think he would have known that census results are kept under wraps for 72 years.)
Still, the book held my interest, although I found the ending disappointing. I enjoyed the time travel and suspense, but even more I liked that I felt King used this book as an exercise in personal time travel. Jake, the protagonist, is a high school English teacher who directs the school plays and lives in a small Maine town. He has ambitions to be a writer. In other words, his life (minus the time travel) could easily have been Stephen King's life if a few things had gone differently. Despite its flaws, this was a hard book to put down, and I'd recommend it especially to people who like time travel stories. ...more

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Oct 21, 2012 Graceann rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: suspense, alternative-fiction

If you could go back in time and change history, would you? More importantly, should you? It's a question that gets asked over and over. Many think it would be a no-brainer to go back to Europe in the late 20s and kill a young Hitler, or perhaps take over the wheel on the Titanic. But what if you actually received a tangible opportunity to change the pivotal tragedy that happened on November 22, 1963?

There's so much I want to say about this novel, but can't, because it would spoil major plot po ...more

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Oct 22, 2016 Joan rated it really liked it

I haven't read anything by King for quite a while (and The Girl who loved Tom Gordon is probably my favorite by him), but I am so glad that I picked this up. Time travel, suspense, a love story, moral dilemmas; add these elements to King's masterful prose and vivid characters and you have an excellent read. ...more

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Jul 14, 2013 Sacred rated it it was amazing

Enjoyed this all the way through. Time travel. Love story. Moral dilemma. Heroes and villains. This one has a little of everything. King does it again with an intriguing storyline that pulls you in from Page 1 to The End.

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May 27, 2015 Rebecca Heneghan rated it it was amazing

Read at the recommendation of a friend, despite the fact that it was Stephe King. Loved it! An amazing concept of time travel done so well. It is a true love story.

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