King

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Stephen King
The next book on my list is Stephen King. Literally. Every Stephen King novel is on my book list this year. All 56 (soon to be 58 since he is releasing 2 new books this year) are on my list. To say the least, I’m anxious.

           My dad handed me Firestarter when I was 9 years old. I was really in to horror as a child. I loved Goosebumps by RL Stine and I had started reading Fear Street, also by RL Stine, until my dad gave me that first Stephen King book. I finished it in 4 days. I don’t know what came over me. I was consumed by the story. Looking back I don’t even k now if I completely understood what was going but his writing kept me going page after page. The next thing I knew I had finished Christine, Pet Sematary and The Shining. King became an essential part of my library.


The only place I was truly lacking in my Stephen King journey was The Dark Tower series. I conquered that battle last year and what a battle! The story of Roland, the Gunslinger, is a difficult one but it was an amazing series. King commented on the series being his Lord of the Rings, his magnum opus, his great work! Stephen King has stated “I am coming to understand that Roland's world (or worlds) actually contains all the others of my making...” He has even included characters from his other novels into the Dark Tower Series. Fans of his writing have made many connections with his series and his other novels. It’s obvious that he is pulling from the same place for all of his work. He draws attention to it in the series by even naming some of his other works and mentioning his old pen name, Richard Bachman. He wants his fans to understand his stories completely. And that ladies and gentlemen is why I am reading all of Stephen King’s novels. I want to watch his creative world come together. I want to see the characters come to life and watch how they unfold is his creative world.

So far this year I have read both Carrie and Salem’s Lot. The next on my list is The Shining, one of his most well known novels. Interestingly enough one of the main characters in the Dark Tower Series played a vital role in Salem’s Lot. There was also a strange man in black mentioned in character that I think I’m supposed to pay attention to. Hmmm…I’m starting to feel like I’m collecting the pieces of a jigsaw puzzle or better yet it’s a Stephen King scavenger hunt!

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