Lisey's Story

Lisey's Story

I just finished reading this book last night. When I first started reading this book, I thought King has gone to the "normal" side and this is going to be a very tough read... because I do not find "normal" all that interesting. This story is about a woman (Lisey) who is married to a writer (Scott). He husband dies and this is supposed to be her rendition of their life together... Interesting twists start coming into the story because it not only goes into her past with Scott but also covers the current status of her life. Lisey has anything but a normal life especially with Scott and two years after his death, her life still remains anything but the societal norm.

This book is pretty long (little over 500 pages) but I believe it was worth the wait and the read. Some reviews say upon completion of the book "it feels like friends are lost". I view this as more of an adventure that has come to an end... and a snap back into reality.

Oh by the way, this was one of the first books that I recall King making the lead character a female... that made this also a bit of an intrigue or anticipation to see how he will handle the switch up in roles. He executed it very well! I would recommend this book for a person who can be a little patient through some of the more typical lifestyle stuff before King blows the top off of the house in this book.

Night Shift

Night Shift

This book is good for those who do not want to commit to a story. This has several short stories in it and it is quite a ride. King leaves a few cliff hangers, realistic stories, and then those that are just plain intriguing. This book is good and includes the Children of the Corn! I read this book a very long time ago and upon reading it again remembered only about 4 of the stories, but they are all entertaining.

Needful Things

Needful Things

How I really enjoyed this book! It has all of the blood and guts I really enjoy reading about from Stephen King. He has this mysterious man move into a cute little town, only to cause it to turn inside out! Everything sweet and seemingly innocent turns and its ugly side comes out in a chain of events where events take on a domino effect. One person does something malicious to one person and that person in turn does something to another person they believe to be guilty or the wrong against them. All of this begins because of the items contained in this shop the newcomer opens... but it never appears to be really "open".

Definitely read this book! I believe it may be the best work by Stephen King and as for the movie! The movie is not a direct hit from the book but I would watch it more than once for sure, it is very good as well!

Thinner

Thinner

If you have a fear of gypsy's then reading this story will amplify that fear. The main character finds himself with what he believes to be a curse by a gypsy woman. This overweight man becomes nothing more than a bag of bones while some of the other people he knows dies of strange illnesses as well. The movie is pretty decent but I would recommend the book over the movie in this case.

The Dark Towers

The Dark Towers

This post is about the entire series of books. All I can say is WOW!!! I have heard of this being called the Lord of the Rings by Stephen King, but I cannot speak on that since I do not follow those stories. I can say that this series makes you LOVE so many of the characters that it really pulls at you to continue reading and reading. There are some books that are very long over a thousand pages! It will be worth it in the end though. I will admit there are some parts that appear stagnant when you are reading them and as a reader you are like why is he taking me here... back to the real stuff! Fight through those parts, later you will understand why he gave you all of that information.

I have heard that King is reviewing this series and wants to take himself out of it. DON'T DO THAT! I mean you know that the things in this story cannot happen but when King brings himself into the series as a character and so much of his actual life is discussed (wife, house, etc) it just makes it seem like it could happen... meaning it draws you into the story even more! If you read a lot and are looking for a good read that can take a  month or more, this series is it! Grab it up and start reading! Just keep in mind when you think the story is taking on information of no importance, it will come.... hang in there. Oh and by the way, I don't cry, it is weakness and I just don't generally do it, but I did cry once in this series when one of my favorite characters was killed (won't tell you who in the event you are reading or are going to read them). So that is just for ya to know in the event you feel a little jerk of it coming on.

Blaze

Blaze

Blaze is a very interesting character in this book. I actually liked him even though he is the "bad guy". I think King was driving to draw the readers into his character and wanting them to like him even though he was the wrong-doer. It is the classic case of a child who was brilliant and then stripped of his potential by an abusive parent, leaving the child in a mental state younger than his age. Blaze had a friend who helped keep him in line per se... but this friend was not so nice, and was into illegal activities. One day his friend is no longer with him and Blaze has to find a way to continue on without him, but although he is dead, Blaze continues to hear him telling him what to do and giving advice (if that is what you want to call extreme criticism). This is a good story and a little on the sad side, but don't worry you won't be crying. Save that for when Oy dies in The Dark Towers!

Full Dark No Stars

Full Dark No Stars

If you are a person who wonders what it would have been like to live in the early 1900's as a child or adult, this book gives a chilling account of what was possible. There was not a lot of interest in what a man did to his wife, especially if his wife was not obedient. Children could find themselves in positions that today would be unheard of or would be seen as outrageous. This book gives an account of things that could have been possible in those days and it is just a bit creepy! It is a pretty good read and a medium length read were some of King's books are shorter or very lengthy.

Cell

Cell

If you love your cell phone, this book may may you think again! With all of the terrorist acts that have been threatening our nation and many others as well... King uses this as a strong influence. In this book there appears to be a like with madness and people who use cell phones. On a certain day and at a certain time, there was a broadcast that changed the world forever! This book did not have a dead spot one, I actually found myself wanting less detail in certain areas because I wanted so know what happened next so much. This book is anything but boring or lacking in any way, a definite read!

The Green Mile

The Green Mile

I read this book when I was quite a bit younger (mid 30's now), but I can remember many of the details and I must say the movie was pretty good! I would read this before watching the movie through it just seems to make it so much better. I found myself getting extremely attached to the character John Coffey, but I believe King was intending to draw readers to him. This story has a bit of a supernatural twist to it that may give you a hair standing on end chill. I found myself a little confused with if Coffey was good or evil at some points, but overall I don't think that tipping on the fence feeling mattered because I just liked him. If you choose to read this book buy the complete book; it was divided in fragments when I was younger and ended up with several of these slightly over 100 page bits that just teased me for the next one. You will not want to put this book down because the curiosity will hunger for more.

Roadwork

Roadwork

Again, this is another story by Richard Bachman (Stephen King) that is on the very realistic side of things. Have you heard of people who are essentially forced out of their homes because of a highway or some type of "progress" that is overtaking that area... well that is what this book is about. The main character is the adult male of the house and ends up being pushed over the edge with all of the things in life that can go to extremes and drive a person to their absolute limits. He takes matters into his own hands a bit with the stress. The book is great and of course is recommended! :-)

The Long Walk

The Long Walk

If you like the Hunger Games, this book is in a way similar to it. The Long Walk was written under Richard Bachman, but proves to be as great as any of the other writings by Stephen King. This book has a group of teenage boys who are involved in a "Long Walk" where if they stop, sit, or slow in any way through the walk they get up to three warnings and meet their maker (get killed). The one who can last the longest... well I will leave that for you to find out by reading the book. It is a very good read and more on the realistic side of things than some of King's other writings (e.g. The Dark Towers). 

Hearts in Atlantis

Hearts in Atlantis

This is a classic Stephen King publication. He takes on the view of a main character and really keeps the story going very well, then throws your mind for a loop when he does a time and character jump. The intriguing part is even with this shift in characters he keeps the story interesting and then brings it back around to link with the original or main plot and adding characters in the process. I think it would be very difficult to write the way he does and be able to keep up with what he has going on with all the different characters. Strongly recommend this book as well, if you like a challenge that is... some people do not care for the Pulp Fiction type of reads where you actually pay attention, but I find his writing awesome.

The Dark Half

The Dark Half

This book was quite entertaining throughout. I am unsure how well you follow Stephen King's work, but he wrote under another name Richard Bachman for a little while. This book is about an author who chose to write as another author for a little while as well... but in his case the main character chooses to end the alter-ego's "life" (he was never alive to begin with). The twist is that the alter-ego comes to life and begins killing people who were involved in his demise. That is all I will say about the story in the event you have not read the book yet, but I would recommend it. I am the type of person who needs to be entertained through the book and get bored quite easily. King keeps you wanting more and provides enough information during the story to draw you into the scenes and characters.

The movie ... less desirable. It leaves out a lot of the detail (surely because of time limitations), but there are several things that have been changed quite a bit from the story portrayed in the book. However, the movie is a shaky Okay.