Stephen King Fans discussion
Welcome to Our Group
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Introduce Yourself- part 2
Saar wrote: "Hello, I'm Saar, 34 years and I live in Belgium. It's great to find this group here! I have read many books of Stephen King. Besides that I love to read fantasy books and other."Hi Saar welcome to the thread I hope you enjoy your stay among us, we all long to hear others opinion on all things King and even other books.
Michael wrote: "Hello all,My name is Mike and I became a voracious reader in jr High after discovering Tolkien and TLOTR series which I read multiple times over the next 20 years.
By 9th grade (1981), I was re..."
Hi Mike and welcome to the thread. We would love to hear your thoughts on SK's books also any other books for that matter. You say you like fantasy, have you read the Wheel of time by Robert Jordan?
Monica wrote: "Hi! I'm Monica from NC - been an avid reader my entire life. I was introduced by my older brother to The Stand when I was 12 and was instantly hooked to Stephen King's universe! I've been on Goodre..."A great book to be instantly hooked on. It's one of my favorites by King.
Hey everyone. I'm Matt, been reading Stephen King since '86, and have read everything from him. Outside of King I'm a big SF and fantasy fan, though generally not of series, also classics, political science, history, and I try to read most Canadian authors. Look forward to some fun discussions on my favourite author.
Hello Matt! Ah Canada * dreamy sigh*
Hey!!! I am Tanner from Wisconsin. Definitely looking forward to getting more Stephen King recommendations. My favorite by him is 11/22/63! Whats is everyone else's favorites! I'm working on Mr. Mercedes right now.
Tanner wrote: "Hey!!! I am Tanner from Wisconsin..."Welcome, Matt and Tanner!
Hi everyone,I am Karen and have started reading Stephen Kings books last year I am hoping to finish the Dark Tower book over the next couple of months and reread IT before the movie comes out.
Looking forward to chatting everyone :-)
Hi Matt and welcome, Hi Tanner and welcome, it depends on what you want to read first. You could go to his earlier years and read Carrie, Firestarter, Cujo, the Stand and Christine. Or you can read his books in chronological order. One you might like is called the Long Walk, oh and Apt Pupil is also a good story to read.
Latasha wrote: "Hello Matt! Ah Canada * dreamy sigh*"I love being Canadian. Maple syrup, Blue Rodeo, Robertson Davies, hockey. I've actually only been out of the country a total of two weeks my entire life, so I don't have a whole lot to compare Canada to.
Tanner wrote: "Hey!!! I am Tanner from Wisconsin. Definitely looking forward to getting more Stephen King recommendations. My favorite by him is 11/22/63! Whats is everyone else's favorites! I'm working on Mr. Me..."Hi Tanner, My favorite of all is Wizard and Glass, right smack in the middle of the Dark Tower series. Also, I love 11/22/63. I thought Mr. Mercedes was okay. You might like the TV series though it is pretty graphic and, as you're finding out, the subject matter of MM is a little dicey.
Matt, I've never been but if I could run away to anywhere, that's where I'd go. Maybe someday I'll just show up & never leave! 😵
Latasha wrote: "Matt, I've never been but if I could run away to anywhere, that's where I'd go. Maybe someday I'll just show up & never leave! 😵"Latasha, it can be cold, but it's nice and very relaxed outside of the cities. People who holiday here love it. I still have to make my way east of Quebec before travelling elsewhere.
Karen wrote: "Hi everyone,I am Karen and have started reading Stephen Kings books last year I am hoping to finish the Dark Tower book over the next couple of months and reread IT before the movie comes out.
L..."
Welcome Karen
Hi, I'm Donna or dfree46. I am new here but have read many Stephen King books in the past and love him. I will be reading "Roadwork" with you all starting September 1. Can't wait!
Matt- it can be cold. Exactly. Bring it! I HATE summer!
Erin wrote: "Monica wrote: "Hi! I'm Monica from NC - been an avid reader my entire life. I was introduced by my older brother to The Stand when I was 12 and was instantly hooked to Stephen King's universe! I've..."It's been a while.... I'm thinking it's time for a re-read of The Stand. Although I've lost count of the number of times I've read it!
Hi Monica! We are neighbors! I'm from TN.
The nice thing about going back to a book is you know the characters and get re acquainted with them.
Hi everyone. Thanks for the welcoming. I am officially starting "Roadwork" today. Are we also supposed to start reading "Cycle of the Werewolf" today as well?
Latasha wrote: "Hi Monica! We are neighbors! I'm from TN."We sure are! TN is beautiful - I went to the Beale Street Music Festival in Memphis years ago and have always hoped to go back!
Hi All! My name is Kellie. I'm from New Jersey.
Karri from Dallas, here. I'm joining the group for a little friendly book chat and hoping to catch up on my backlog of works by Stephen King. I only started reading his stuff a few years back and I'm loving it. Look forward to chatting with you all!
Welcome Karri, we love talking books and always welcome new input.
Hi, I'm Ashley! I'm a longtime fan of King and consider him my favorite author of all time. My top two favorite books by him are: IT & The Green Mile. I'm an aspiring writer that draws a lot of inspiration from him!
I can't wait to keep reading his novels, and join in on the discussion!
Hey! I'm Dheeraj from India. I'm an ardent fan of Mr. King's writings. My favourite is green mile and I loved Carrie and Salem's lot. I've also read under the dome, Cujo and a few short stories. I am planning to read pet semetary next. Have a good day everyone! :)
Hi all. I'm Olly from near Brighton in the UK. Constant reader for some 30 years and wanting to start using GR more for chatting about books as well as just recording what I've read
Welcome Olly, or do you prefer Oliver?
Happy 70th to Stephen King.A constant in my life since 1978.
My introduction to Stephen King came while I was sitting in the cafeteria at Delta College in University Center, MI. While Delta College may never be spoken with the same reverence as Yale or Princeton or Cambridge, without Delta College, I'd have been lucky to be hired and gainfully employed as the overnight assistant manager at the 24 hour self-serve Clark Station in Prudenville, MI. Delta College put me on a good road. Without that school...well I hate to imagine. I was not, as family and friends from the time will confirm, a boy of goals. Large or small. Well, I had one goal. It involved women's breasts. But I digress. I was a boy whose goals were completely out of my reach. There isn't much use for a high school dropout in the world. Not even in the world I dreamed of. I was going to be in broadcasting and work in radio and that was going to be my career.
Through a simple bit of Forrest Gump luck, I was allowed to enroll at Delta College in the R/TV curriculum. For the first time, a dream triggered a goal. With the help of folks at he college television station and in the classes I took, I was actually learning something and wanted to learn more. To that end, when folks took 12 credit hours, I took 15. I wanted all of the classes. I worked at the college TV station. I was living my own life fantasy as a reality.
But as they say, all work...I might have been a loud and gregarious and boorishly noisy and annoying person, but my history tainted me. Instead of dating and hanging with people, I lived in other worlds and read. On a particular day in 1978 between a morning and afternoon class, I finished reading the novel All Heads Turn When The Hunt Goes By written by John Farris. It wasn't a bad work by any means. Quite enjoyable. The book was done and sitting on the table in front of me. And now I had nothing to do but stare at a wall or read something in my textbook. As fate would have it, a college friend who was also a reader was sitting nearby. We yacked for a few minutes and she asked what I had been reading. I told her the story. She reached into her backpack and pulled out a hardback book and handed it to me. Read this guy. He's pretty good. What she handed to me was the short-story collection Night Shift. It was written by someone I had never heard of. Steve something would be the way I described it. I thanked her as she left.
That night at my grandparent's house where I was staying while in school, I read the first story. It was called Jerusalems Lot. I hated it. Bored me to tears. It was written in a style that I have never liked, and still don't. "Found Diary Entries". I put the book on my dresser, turned off the light, probably touched myself, and went to sleep. I made a mental note to return the book. This just wasn't for me.
But things happen. During lunch the next day, for want of anything else, I pulled out Night Shift and read the second story. It was called Graveyard Shift. And to run to the punchline, it scared me to tears. Literally. I got wrapped up in that story as if I was living the story. Fear gripped me, I was paralyzed in fear, my breath was short and tears streamed. This was more like it. By the end of the day, between classes, I had finished Night Shift. Some stories were scary. Some touching. The stories The Last Rung On The Ladder and The Woman In The Room showed the other side of Steve what's his name. The tender side. Not tears of fear...tears of sadness and sorrow.
The next I read was The Shining. Bought the paperback at the Waldenbooks store in Fashion Square Mall in Saginaw, MI. Guess what. Scared me. Couldn't stop turning pages. That was followed by Stephen's telling of What If Dracula Moved To Maine Story. 'Salems Lot was that book. Between Danny Glick tapping at the window, the gravedigger screaming STOP LOOKING AT ME and a baby with chocolate pudding dribbling down its chin, I was freaking out big time. Tears of fear and paralysis. I had to put down the book more than twice just because I couldn't take it anymore. But I finally finished it. It was a worthy thrill ride.
In the meantime, I continued reading John Saul and Dean Koontz and anything that had the name Ray Bradbury attached to it
In September of 1978 Doubleday published THE STAND. 823 pages of Bad Things Are Gonna Happen to Good People. It was by far the largest book I had ever purchased. It is also, aside from college books, the first hardcover book that I bought. It cost me $12.98 cents plus tax at the aforementioned Waldenbooks. In 1978 dollars, that's a fair amount of either weed for me or gasoline for the bright Orange Pontiac Ventura. I think I made the right choice. Took a week to read because those damned classes kept interfering. 39 years later, I still have that book. With the original cover.
In August of 1979, I was working as a cameraman at WNEM-TV5 in Saginaw, MI. I had been there just over a year. Chuck Alvey made the wise or foolish choice and let me be a member of the TV5 team. I was living the dream. Working at the same TV station I dreamed of working as a boy while watching Captain Muddy and laughing at Hoss the Talking Horse. I was actually doing what I dreamed. How the hell did that happen? Also in August, The Dead Zone was published. It was slightly different. It wasn't scary as in BOO here's something jumping out of the closet. It was thoughtful and introspective. The story of a man given a curse or a gift. Who's to say. It was a one night read. The story of Johnny Smith really touched me. I felt what he was facing. It was, I believe, Stephen Kings perfect novel. Everything he had been working toward with his short stories and his first 6 novels, (I'm including RAGE and THE LONG WALK...Bachman books..in this count) gelled perfectly. Since then, he has written 63 hundred thousand and 4 more books...give or take...but none have achieved the perfection of The Dead Zone. There is no cliche on the pages...no tripping in the doorway while the story moves along. With that book, I became something that hadn't even been invented. I became a Constant Reader. When I read his salutation to "My Constant Reader", I read it as "Thank You Scott".
Since I was first introduced to Steve what's his name, I have picked up each new Stephen King novel the day it was released. Waldenbooks is no more, nor is there a B. Dalton, but there is still a Barnes and Noble and Amazon. Stephen King has been the one constant in my life. Authors I have had to read have come and gone. Many times I just lost interest in their stories. But Stephen King is still with me. Next week SLEEPING BEAUTIES, co-written with his son Owen, will show up at my door. Sometime later, I will receive a signed limited edition of that book from Cemetery Dance...Richard Chizmar and his company do a tremendous job with the limited editions they publish. And I expect this one will also be a beautiful work of art.
I'll never be able to thank Stephen King for being a part of my life and creating the people and stories that he has. He's been there for my highpoints and for my dark low points when I lived in what seemed to be a depression that would never end. He's also pushed through his own monsters along the way, but he kept his stories coming.
I'll never get a phone call from Simon and Shuster, or King himself asking if I have time to narrate one of his novellas, or short stories or novels. Not gonna happen. Still, I'll remain a constant reader as long as he cares to share his work.
Delta College and Stephen King in the year 1978 both impacted my life in ways I Wouldn't have thought possible. I've come a long way since then...Still a bit of an odd duck...but, I hope, in a good way.
Scott wrote: "Happy 70th to Stephen King.A constant in my life since 1978.
My introduction to Stephen King came while I was sitting in the cafeteria at Delta College in University Center, MI. While Delta Col..."
Wow! An autobiography. Thanks. I'll pass over the temptation to discuss your early goals and just say King has been transformative in my life as in yours. I consider him a friend, even more so many of his characters. And I do love The Dead Zone.
Hello everybody. My name is Ivana and I am Italian. I live in Bologna. I'm a Stephen King reader since the beginning of the 1980s. I started with Cujo, instantly fell in love and made up for the missed books in a blink. I have read and reread his works first in my native language and then, after studying English, in the original language. Yeah, I am a fan. I hope to find someone here to talk about his books, someone indulgent and ready to forgive my less than perfect English. Thank you.
Welcome Ivana and Scott, that is an impressive introduction!
Ivana wrote: "Hello everybody. My name is Ivana and I am Italian. I live in Bologna. I'm a Stephen King reader since the beginning of the 1980s. I started with Cujo, instantly fell in love and made up for the mi..."I think your English is pretty perfect. Welcome. I've been to Italy a few times. Love it there. And was especially happy to see Under The Dome in English and Italian on sale at the Rome airport just after the book came out.
Welcome Ivana I see nothing wrong with your English. Welcome Scott wow what an intro. you are both welcome here, all are welcome.
Thank you. I'm particularly interested in the Dark Tower series, I've just finished Song of Susannah. In parallel to the saga I'm reding The Talisman and Black House, cause they are so strongly related. My aim is to find all the links and the references between the books (or should I say worlds) which are not easy to be spotted if I read them individually. I know that you are all reading together the saga but are still into the first book, so I don't won't to spoil your read by saying too much. It's not easy though, I can't wait to discuss the topic by and large. Long days and pleasant nights (reading, of course)
Matthewcross87 wrote: "does any one know when the third book of the talisman trilogy is coming out ?"The only updated information I found was this: http://liljas-library.com/article.php...
So if they started working on it this year then maybe it would be out by next year?
welcome Scott and Ivana
As I understand the third installment of the talisman is another year or two away before they even start.
Kenneth wrote: "As I understand the third installment of the talisman is another year or two away before they even start."The moral of the story is, read what has been written and available and don't worry about what may or may not be written.
To me The Talisman is great as a stand alone book. I have read it multiple times.
Stephen King Fans
Books mentioned in this topic
Pet Sematary (other topics)The Dark Tower (other topics)
The Stand (other topics)
Pet Sematary (other topics)
The Shining (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Oscar Wilde (other topics)Jonathan Franzen (other topics)
Jonathan Franzen (other topics)
Pierce Brown (other topics)
Bentley Little (other topics)
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Hi, Monica? About those birds....