Second Reads

[Michael]

Have you read a King book and didn't quite like it but later gave it another chance and liked it much better on the second read?
Roadwork, Desperation, and Cell were like that for me.

On the other hand, have you liked a King book on first read, but didn't like it on subsequent reads?
For me, Lisey's Story and the Holly books.

Along the same vein, the last two Gwendy books are ones that got one read but will get no more. The middle one wasn't too bad, but it was just barely a short story with two tons of filler added in to make it novella/novel length, and the actual story seemed to be secondary to the nothing. And the third book just didn't do it for me.

I have to mention The Dark Tower. I read those suckers three times, but there won't be a fourth. (The Drawing of the Three is my favorite.)

[Johanna]

I never red a book of King twice, cause i prefer to jump to the next book. Something that happened to me tho is that i start reading and it doesnt really catch me enough to keep reading, so i let it half read for some time, then i recatch it and i read it to the end, changing my opinion on it.
This happend with Fairy Tale, Christine and Insomnia.

I loved Mr Mercedes, but i think the 2 sequels were not as good as the first book. I red Holly and liked it quite a lot.

[Rick]

I’ve read several of King’s books more than once. The Body and Apt Pupil both got even better the second time through, but I liked both of them a lot the first time. The Shining, 'Salem's Lot, and The Eyes of the Dragon, were all not quite as good as I had remembered them being, but The Talisman was even better. The Long Walk and On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft were both just as good the second time I read them. As for The Dark Tower series? I have found they get better with each reading. I’ve read or listened to The Gunslinger about 7 times, The Drawing of the Three about 6 times, The Waste Lands about 5 times, and Wizard and Glass at least twice. I find new wrinkles, nuances, and subtle things every time.