Books You Almost Didn't Read, But Are Glad You Did

[11811 (Eleven)]

Both are in my top 5 King and I've read quite a few. I'm a rare but rabid fan of Cujo.

[Tressa]

Wonder if I'm the only one who cried at the end when King wrote in the POV of the dog? I remember something along the lines of "the boy" etc.

[Mehmet]

Ok Tressa, thank you :-) understand what you saying and agree. I only read Carrie and First Dark tower novel. Got 3 of his books recently to try out.

[Mehmet]

No problem Charlene :-)

[Mehmet]

No problem Charlene

[Jon Recluse]

Tressa wrote: "Wonder if I'm the only one who cried at the end when King wrote in the POV of the dog? I remember something along the lines of "the boy" etc."

That always struck me as being overly manipulative. Like throwing Gage under the truck in Pet Sematary.

[Rhian]

good to know others love cujo too

[Gregor]

Jon Recluse wrote: "Tressa wrote: "Wonder if I'm the only one who cried at the end when King wrote in the POV of the dog? I remember something along the lines of "the boy" etc."

That always struck me as being overly..."

I'm with you on the Gage deal.

[Char]

I liked Cujo a lot. Most especially the parts from Cujo's POV.

[Taysha]

The book that I'm currently congratulating myself for not abandoning is Out of the Black. I 'm not sure how much of a horror I can really call it, but it was certainly interesting and a great value (it was a freebie)

[Tressa]

Mehmet wrote: "Ok Tressa, thank you :-) understand what you saying and agree. I only read Carrie and First Dark tower novel. Got 3 of his books recently to try out."

It's OK. Mehmet. I didn't take offense at your questions about my comment. His politics aren't as prevalent in his books as in his columns or on Twitter.

[Tressa]

Charlene wrote: "I liked Cujo a lot. Most especially the parts from Cujo's POV."

Yeah, I thought that part was touching. Jon, how is that manipulative? A big part of the story is that before Cujo turned into CUJO, he was a loyal dog who loved his boy. I liked how that love peeked through at the end. Wow, it's making me sad just to think about it. I still cannot believe that after all that (view spoiler)[King still killed Tad! (hide spoiler)]

[Jon Recluse]

That's why it was manipulative, Tressa.

(view spoiler)[You thought the boy would survive because Cujo loved his boy. (hide spoiler)]

[Robby]

Tressa wrote: "Ha! about Lonesome Dove. I am not a fan of westerns in general, and read this on the recommendation of my boss back in the early nineties. Boy, am I glad I took a chance.

Books I almost didn't re..."

Great list, Tressa. Read some of them, some of the others are on my "TBR" shelf, and the rest I've been curious about. Your comments were very helpful toward making future selections. Thanks.

[Tressa]

Thank you, Robby. I hope you get to some of the ones you haven't read and enjoy them as much as I did.

[Tressa]

Jon, Cujo belonged (view spoiler)[to the mechanic's son, he is The Boy. Tad is a dogless victim. :-) (hide spoiler)]

[Jon Recluse]

Tressa, I know. But (view spoiler)[ Cujo thinking about The Boy had people thinking the other boy would survive. Because usually only the kids make it out of a Stephen King book. (hide spoiler)]

[Justin]

I never read Cujo(or any Stephen King novels, but I've seen movies) but I heard the scene where the woman's in the car with her son while Cujo is outside waiting is tedious and way too dragged out.

[Tressa]

Jon, every great author manipulates a reader! That's their job.

[Jon Recluse]

It's not supposed to be obvious, Tressa!

[Holly]

I almost didn't read once I discovered it was YA. Since I already had the book in hand I decided to read it anyway. It turned out to be the best horror genre book I read in 2013.

[Char]

Justin wrote: "I never read Cujo(or any Stephen King novels, but I've seen movies) but I heard the scene where the woman's in the car with her son while Cujo is outside waiting is tedious and way too dragged out."

I disagree with that opinion, Justin. The time spent in the car was way longer in the book than in the movie. Also, there is a HUGE difference in the ending of the movie and the ending of the book.

As far as Tressa and Jon's comments on Cujo (view spoiler)[ I don't think there was any other way to end the book. For once, SK went where the story demanded that he go. He didn't pretty it up or try to lessen the blow either. That is exactly why I liked that book so much. (hide spoiler)]

[Justin]

That's what I said. I was saying the car scene in the book was longer then the one in the movie. Sorry for the confusion.

[Gavin]

The Dramcatcher by Stephen King. It's the first book of his I read and what got me started in wanting to read all his stuff. And I dropped it once, luckily I picked it up again.

[Char]

Justin wrote: "That's what I said. I was saying the car scene in the book was longer then the one in the movie. Sorry for the confusion."

Oh, ok. I misunderstood. :)

[Jonathan]

The Gunslinger

I almost didn't want to get into because it was so confusing with the Mid-World language. But the charm grew on me and it started to pick up with the second book.

I am now a fan of the Dark Tower series!

[Tressa]

I almost didn't read Out because I don't really care for murder mysteries and this one tells you who the killer is at the beginning, plus the story about a group of blue collar Asian ladies just didn't look very appealing. Holy cow, what a book!

[Erin]

Jonathan wrote: "The Gunslinger

I almost didn't want to get into because it was so confusing with the Mid-World language. But the charm grew on me and it started to pick up with the second book.

I am now a fan of..."

I almost past on Dark Tower series because I thought The Gunslinger was going to have a western theme to it, I was totally basing it on the book cover, haha. Anyways, I am glad I gave the book a shot because I absolutely love the series.

[Eliot]

I read Peter Benchley's follow up to Jaws, called Beast, while I was on a boat trip and had a good time. It's less scary than fun, but scratched an itch I had for jaws, one of my favorite movies and a decent book. Beast

[Eliot]

Eliot wrote: "I read Peter Benchley's follow up to Jaws, called Beast, while I was on a boat trip and had a good time. It's less scary than fun, but scratched an itch I had for jaws, one of my favorite movies an..."

I'd heard it was derivative and bland, which it sort of is, but I like all the marine biology and fishery politics to go along with a plausible sea monster. I love sea monsters.

[Tressa]

Speaking of Benchley...I worked in a UBS back in the eighties and his The Girl of the Sea of Cortez came in as a trade and on a whim I picked it up and started reading it and I was shocked at what a lovely, engrossing story it turned out to be. Now, I haven't revisited it since, and don't remember everything about it, but I have always remembered it as a book I am so glad I gave a try.

[Eliot]

Interesting, I'll have to check that out. Thanks for the tip.

[Steven]

Wake Wood. Picked it up in the library, put it down in search of something better. When I came up empty, I picked it up again, read it in 5 days, loved it, reviewed it! And the author is Welsh! Like me!!!

[Marie]

Mine was The Store by Bentley Little. I had bought some books and read everything except that one. I just let it sit on my bookshelf. Finally I decided to read it and I was glad I did. It grabbed me from the get-go and I read the book in two days as I wasn't able to put it down.

[GracieKat]

An author I reluctantly picked up was H.R. Wakefield. I wanted to read him because he was compared to M.R. James but I'd also heard he was very anti-women. Well, I love the stories and really, they're not too bad. I've read a lot worse. Also, in one of the introductions, it says that they got almost all of their information from one niece.

As far as particular books, I was leery in picking up No. 472 Cheyne Walk: Carnacki, the Untold Stories and New Tales of the Yellow Sign because I hadn't read pastiches much and wasn't too sure as if I would like them or not.

[Wayward Skyril]

Cinder.

I didn't like the cover, thought it looked weird, but I found the book on sale, shrugged, and gave it a try. Turns out it was amazing!

[Tressa]

I owned the e-book copy of I Remember You and didn't want to read it because the cover is so cheesy and amateurish. I didn't know anything about it and thought it was one of those vanity press type of e-books. Boy, am I glad I read it because it is fantastic.

[Holly]

byRichard Adams. It was a huge book with sleazy artwork on the paperback edition cover. It was the book that made me a fan of fantasy once I realized it didn't have to be all about hobbits and orcs.

[[deleted user]]

Hands down, The Stand by Stephen King. Seems obvious, right? But, I always put it off because of its size. Glad to finally add it to my "read" list.

[Rhian]

Almost gave up on We need to talk about Kevin but stuck with it and glad I did, also The girl with the dragon tattoo took me 3 attempts to get into and I loved it

[Rhian]

Ok Kevin I'll remember that lol

[Kimberly]

Harvest Home, Thomas Tryon, and
Boy's Life, Robert McCammon