Stephen King Fans discussion
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What Are You Reading Now? Pt 2.
I just finished Fairy Tale and loved it! Next I'm going to read A Distant Earth by our very own Nick Iuppa
I’ve just finished All The Bright Places by Jennifer Niven
I'm finishing up Frederick Forsyth's The Afghan and then I'm reading James Patterson's Pop Goes the Weasel. 1st time reading him.
Reading Violets are Blue-Apex Cross Series. James Patterson. My most favorite series of his!
Almost finished with Misery. I don’t know why it took so long to open up this classic King novel. Disturbing to say the least! 🪓🦶😁
Jacob wrote: "Almost finished with Misery. I don’t know why it took so long to open up this classic King novel. Disturbing to say the least! 🪓🦶😁"
Yes Misery is disturbing did you see the movie? The movie was good too :)
Yes Misery is disturbing did you see the movie? The movie was good too :)
The Vapors: A Southern Family, the New York Mob, and the Rise and Fall of Hot Springs, America's Forgotten Capital of Vice by David Hill
The Oracle of Maracoor by Gregory Maguire author of the Wicked series.
I'm reading an oldie. The Bourne Identity by Robert Ludlum. From a first edition I bought at a used bookstore.
lynne wrote: "Jacob wrote: "Almost finished with Misery. I don’t know why it took so long to open up this classic King novel. Disturbing to say the least! 🪓🦶😁"Yes Misery is disturbing did you see the movie? Th..."
I agree about the movie. Definitely worth the watch.
Jacob wrote: "Almost finished with Misery. I don’t know why it took so long to open up this classic King novel. Disturbing to say the least! 🪓🦶😁"@Jacob - only King book that gave me nightmares. I love his books and writing style, but I think for me this one was just a little too real and possible.
lynne wrote: Yes Misery is disturbing did you see the movie? The movie was good too :)"I agree that the movie was also good. It's one of the few cases I can think of where the book is as good as the movie and sticks close enough to it. (Whether it's a King book or not) Usually when movies are made out of books, they change it a LOT and or leave out so much it's not the same story. :-(
Just started Firestarter.11.21.2022 Update: I just finished the book and I really enjoyed it! Charlie's development was great and Rainbird is a creepy a** villain.
Wise Cat wrote: "lynne wrote: Yes Misery is disturbing did you see the movie? The movie was good too :)"I agree that the movie was also good. It's one of the few cases I can think of where the book is as good as ..."
@Wise Cat agreed usually movie quite different from books. Thankfully with King - often books and movies/series equally good.
Oops, I meant to say it's one of the few cases, to me, where the MOVIE is as good as the book, and the movie sticks pretty close to the book. :-) And since this is mostly a non-King thread, The Hunger Games movies were good adaptations of the books too, in my opinion. Harry Potter too.
@ Wise Cat I just finished The Wheel of Time series. Very different from the 8 episodes on Prime. Personally glad I read the books.
Elaine have you read The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood? If so have you seen the tv series? I haven’t but read the book years ago. I’d like to read the sequel someday, The Testaments…..****
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@Wise Cat I read The Handmaid's Tale years ago. Haven't checked out the TV series. Partly because to me 8 episodes are not a season. I miss the shows with 20 plus episodes like Supernatural and Big Bang Theory. So in January I went back to reading books. I am also old school book in hand. Plus I highlight and write notes as I read. I finally got active on goodreads and am still figuring things out. My reading list is getting longer as so many great suggestions and books I need to revisit.
Elaine Online wrote: "@Wise Cat I read The Handmaid's Tale years ago. Haven't checked out the TV series. Partly because to me 8 episodes are not a season. I miss the shows with 20 plus episodes like Supernatural and Big Bang Theory. So in January I went back to reading books. I am also old school book in hand. Plus I highlight and write notes as I read. I finally got active on goodreads and am still figuring things out. My reading list is getting longer as so many great suggestions and books I need to revisit...."I agree that 8 episodes is too short, not like a real season. On a related note, they made just 8 episodes of The Discovery of Witches, and the sequel Shadow of Night, by Deborah Harkness. (I think they did 10 of that) I'm old enough to remember when an average season was 24 - 26 episodes, and more than that before: 30 or more!
I LOVED SUPERNATURAL AND BIG BANG THEORY!! I miss both a lot....Have you watched the prequels to both: The Winchesters and Young Sheldon? I enjoy both, though the former may take time to grow a bit. I wasn't sure if I liked the casting of young John Winchester at first but I'm warming up to him.
When you said old school book in hand, it sounds like you read/prefer books in print, not on a screen or Kindle?? Same here. Nothing like holding a book. No slow loading pages or error messages!
My reading list is ever growing and I end up adding way more than I can check off.....
Wise Cat wrote: "Elaine Online wrote: "@Wise Cat I read The Handmaid's Tale years ago. Haven't checked out the TV series. Partly because to me 8 episodes are not a season. I miss the shows with 20 plus episodes lik..."@ Wise Cat I read The Discovery of Witches, but didn't read the next 2 books in the series, reviews on my public library site were not good and was before I returned to Goodreads, lol, seems I have had an account since 2013, but this is the first year I have really used it. Like you I am also old enough to remember the longer seasons, before everything was on 5 or more streaming channels that all have a separate fee, which is another reason I don't watch most new shows. Growing up I remember new shows and seasons began in September and ran until May or June, reruns were July and Aug,
I stopped watching Supernatural for a bit after the Leviathan season - several years later decided to catch up and have now watched the entire series 3 times. Big Bang have watched it twice. Haven't seen the Winchesters is it on Prime?
I am definitely book in hand, cat beside me reader. No Kindle or Kobo for me. If I paid for a book I want to be able to hold it and see 2 pages at a time. If I am researching online, I print off the pages to read them, because like books I highlight and write notes next to the text.
At the moment I am reading nonfiction, but soon may switch back to fiction as some Stephen King and Dean Koontz I would like to revisit. Also just saw a comment about a John Saul book so may have to revisit him as well.
Just finished Fairy Tale...I enjoyed it. Just starting Kings of the Wyld. Hope I like it.
Elaine Online wrote: "Wise Cat I read The Discovery of Witches, but didn't read the next 2 books in the series, reviews on my public library site were not good and was before I returned to Goodreads, lol, seems I have had an account since 2013, but this is the first year I have really used it. Like you I am also old enough to remember the longer seasons, before everything was on 5 or more streaming channels that all have a separate fee, which is another reason I don't watch most new shows. Growing up I remember new shows and seasons began in September and ran until May or June, reruns were July and Aug,I stopped watching Supernatural for a bit after the Leviathan season - several years later decided to catch up and have now watched the entire series 3 times. Big Bang have watched it twice. Haven't seen the Winchesters is it on Prime?
I am definitely book in hand, cat beside me reader. No Kindle or Kobo for me. If I paid for a book I want to be able to hold it and see 2 pages at a time. If I am researching online, I print off the pages to read them, because like books I highlight and write notes next to the text.
At the moment I am reading nonfiction, but soon may switch back to fiction as some Stephen King and Dean Koontz I would like to revisit. Also just saw a comment about a John Saul book so may have to revisit him as well.
..."
I've been a member since 2012 but haven't used it as much as I used to in recent years. And since I've read tons of books before I joined, most of what I've read isn't even on here, LOL. I never heard of Kobo and don't know how to use either that or Kindle.
I actually cried over the BBT finale. It seems Jim Parsons wasn't only speaking as Sheldon, but as Jim who would miss his fellow cast members.
Yeah I can't watch a lot of new shows because of streaming, none of which I have. The Winchesters is on the CW, like Supernatural was. But the network was sold, so many shows have been cancelled. Reruns were convenient sometimes; they don't do that now. (Supernatural is on endless reruns on TNT :-) ) TV is 24/7 now. I'm waiting for Shetland to return to PBS, along with Doc Martin. Right now they are only on streaming services. :-( I've read just one book in the Shetland series, which the show is based on. And so far the TV series is better!
Better get off subject of TV before I get in trouble with somebody! I'm going to be reading The Morality of Beautiful Girls by Alexander McCall Smith soon, along with One of Us Is Next by Karen McManus (sequel to One of Us is Lying). And finally the Dec book club pick sounds up my alley: The Affair of the Mysterious Letter by Alexis Hall.
I just finished Memory of Babel, by Christelle Dabos, which was so tedious and not nearly as good as the first two books in the series. It's translated from French so maybe some things got lost in translation. Anyway I need to take a break from it before finishing up with the 4th book.....It could have been 200 pages shorter too.
Andrew wrote: "Today I started Krull, by Alan Dean Foster, a story I remember for a '80s movie."Seems the book came after the movie? I looked it up and it seems that way; that title rings a bell but I didn't see the movie. And I remember a lot of stuff from the 80's.
In God We TrustAll Others Pay Cash
Jean Shepherd
Gary wrote: "In God We TrustAll Others Pay Cash
Jean Shepherd"
Every year we turn that movie on as soon as we wake up on Christmas and it plays in the background basically all day. I have no interest in watching the newly released sequel, but love the original and the source that you are reading! I hope you enjoy it.
@Wise Cat I am laughing about the 200 pages shorter. My thought after rereading The Witching Hour by Anne Rice between all the sentences that began with And (ugh my pet peeve with authors who should know better) plus constantly repeating the family history, instead of 1,000 plus pages, could have been 800 or less.The last episode of BBT was definitely a tear jerker. Currently as I am reading quantum physics related material, chuckle every time I come across the name Schrodinger and string theory. Brings back good memories. Just finished The Field by Lynne McTaggert and Science and the Akashic Field by Ervin Laszlo. May soon read some fiction, just to give my brain a break and process the other material.
Elaine Online wrote: "Wise Cat I am laughing about the 200 pages shorter. My thought after rereading The Witching Hour by Anne Rice between all the sentences that began with And (ugh my pet peeve with authors who should know better) plus constantly repeating the family history, instead of 1,000 plus pages, could have been 800 or less.The last episode of BBT was definitely a tear jerker. Currently as I am reading quantum physics related material, chuckle every time I come across the name Schrodinger and string theory. Brings back good memories. Just finished The Field by Lynne McTaggert and Science and the Akashic Field by Ervin Laszlo. May soon read some fiction, just to give my brain a break and process the other material...."
I have a paperback copy of The Witching Hour by Anne Rice, which I plan to read one day! It has such tiny print, which will be hard on my eyes after the comfortable fonts I'm used to lately. It looks like my cup of tea, but I hope it's not a lot of "filler". LOL, I scanned a few pages and saw that "And" appear a lot! I see it is the first in a series.
Yikes, it's over 1,000 pages....So is Gone with the Wind, but that kept my attention. Thanks for the warning. I don't know when I'll get to it. I've read some of Rice's vampire books and some were actually boring. So far Interview with the Vampire is the best I've read so far.
Speaking of repetition, The Earth's Children series by Jean Auel is very repetitive. Overall, I'd give the series 4 stars---5 if the author didn't repeat so much stuff. How many times does she have to tell us about Ayla's strange accent? We KNOW.
I found out that Schrodinger was a hypothetical experiment, meaning a real cat was NOT used! I'm so glad to hear that. If they were going to use a live creature, use a detestable roach. NOT a CAT!!!
Sorry to say The Witching Hour has a lot of filler, mostly the family history which spans several centuries. The character Aaron Lightner and the Talamasca both come up as well, both were in The Vampire Chronicles. Read it years ago - didn't like the character of Rowan or all the incest in this family. Just ick. This time I read all 2 - Lasher and Taltos are the other 2 books in the series. The next 2 books are not as long, still some family history repeating and lots of sex scenes in second book and not the romance kind. Can't say I like Rowan any better after the second read through. This time just finished the series for my youtube channel as I plan to do a summary, but months later haven't done it because not sure how to describe it. Once I am done will be sending The Witching Hour to the recycle box, haven't decided about Lasher yet. Taltos I may read again in a few years as it pretty much covers the plot and family tree without all the ick scenes.I just read Interview with the Vampire a few months. One of her books I did enjoy. May read the rest of the series as my library has copies. When they were coming out I just read up to book 4 or 5. Now the series goes up to 12.
Yes I prefer the hypothetical experiment Schrodinger did.
Elaine, thank you for your thoughts. I like stuff about witches or warlocks, so I did enjoy The Discovery of Witches trilogy, as well as The Witches of East End trilogy by Melissa dela Cruz. They made a series out of that as well, on Lifetime, but it was cancelled after 2 seasons...on a cliffhanger to boot! I did like the casting though.I don't need all the sex scenes which don't add to the story anyway. And if it's not the romance kind, I shudder to think WHAT kind.
I wasn't reading The Vampire Chronicles books in the right order, and I didn't read them all. Too many, and unless a series is REALLY good (like Harry Potter), a trilogy is long enough, Especially if the books are enormous, such as 500 pages or more. It's not that I don't like to read, it's that I have so many books I want to read.
Actually I do enjoy sagas covering centuries, as long as there's a lot of character development. I read The Princes of Ireland and Rebels of Ireland by Edward Rutherfurd. It covers generations of families without telling you about the people and their lives. Ancestors are mentioned but just briefly---you know nothing about that person, how they grew up, where they grew up, how they met their spouse, when their children were born, etc. And it skips several centuries at times, and you don't know what happened in the last 500 years.
They both read too much like a history book. Historical fiction, with mostly just history and not enough fiction.
For many years I thought the Schrodinger experiment used a real cat. That's why I couldn't stand even hearing the NAME.
Hi Wise Cat. The Witching Hour scenes are basically - Wham, Bam, Thank you Mam and on to the next part of the story. No flowers or dinner or romance in the majority of cases. Lasher - I personally cannot imagine a woman EVER saying "making it feel like rape", could just be me, but definitely did not make Rowan a likeable character for me on top of all the choices she makes throughout the 3 novels. Lasher does cover Julien's back story and history which is about the only thing that makes the book worth reading - lots of cringe scenes like the first book. Taltos is in my opinion is the best of the 3 - not much cringe and explains Lasher, his species and wraps up the whole series.Trip to my public library yesterday - decided to get back to some fiction for awhile. Picked up 2 King books, 1 Koontz and 1 Saul. Next may get back to the Vampire Chronicle series, haven't decided yet.
Elaine well I’m cringing now over that rape stuff!😱Thanks for the heads up. If I ever get to it I’ll let you know what I think. I also picked up books from my library, the 3 I mentioned a few days ago. And I can tell I will enjoy them.😃
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Kandice wrote: "Gary wrote: "In God We TrustAll Others Pay Cash
Jean Shepherd"
Every year we turn that movie on as soon as we wake up on Christmas and it plays in the background basically all day. I have no int..."
I was surprised that in the first 30 pages told the story that is The Christmas Story.
I love going to the library. Great way to try out new authors and genres. Best of all fits my budget, free. With the price of books these days, definitely an investment and I like to be sure worth the purchase. Just finished the John Saul book - House of Reckoning, great read. Funny I have been thinking about The Blackstone Chronicles - turns out that was also written by John Saul. Read it years ago and played the video game based on it. Both were equally creepy.
Dog in the Details :a Golden Retriever mystery
Elaine yeah I’ve been going to the library since I was a kid. I haven’t purchased books, even at a thrift shop, in decades. The senior center has a “library” of donated books one can take or read on premises. There’s no official checkout though. That’s where I found The Witching Hour.😛There’s an AMC series out based on Interview with the Vampire. So far it’s better than the 1994 movie.
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Stephen King Fans
Books mentioned in this topic
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Peter Straub (other topics)Anne Rice (other topics)
Scott Sigler (other topics)
Rick Yancey (other topics)
Kiersten White (other topics)
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@Michael I haven't watched many of her movies. Have read a couple of her books. She has some interesting views on life and experiences.