Handshakes (Scott) runs for a third ROOT!

2026 ROOT Challenge:
Hi everyone! It feels good to be back. This year I'm going to shoot for 52 books, 15,000 pages, and 365 hours of reading. I have approximately 200 books on my TBR shelf so, needless to say, I need to start doing something with my ROOTs!

The alphabet challenge slowed me down a lot last year since I started to read books I was less than excited about, so I'm no longer going to include that in my year-long challenge.

Now that I've crossed the halfway mark (in terms of age--I turned forty this past November), I'd like to start taking the challenge a bit more seriously.

Current Statistics:
Books: 3
Pages: ~800
Hours: ~25

Completed ROOTs
1. The Outsider by Stephen King ★★★☆☆
A relentless, entirely bloated rip-off of "Invasion of the Body Snatchers". I've never wanted a main character to die so badly. I only finished the book out of bitterness. I couldn't care less what happened in the end, as long as it was over and I could be done with it.

2. The Wind Through the Keyhole by Stephen King ★★★★☆
A more imaginative, enjoyable fairytale like story from the King of horror, than the previous Outsider. The framed narrative did prove difficult for remembering key details, but overall it was a blast to read.

3. The Mist by Stephen King ★★★★☆
It started off pretty slow, but the dread was palpable and relatable. I wish I would have gotten a less ambiguous ending, or that the book would have been longer, but I was fairly happy with it either way.

4. Bag of Bones by Stephen King ★★★★☆
I tried reading this one a few years back and I couldn't get into it. I don't remember why. I decided to give it another shot and I completely plowed through it. The emotional connections I felt were incredible, and the story just seemed to carry along smoothly. I was, as I usually am, disappointed in the ending, but the little tidbits that SK kept dropping throughout the story came together and finally completed the puzzle.

Cover Gallery

I recognise some good books in that list. Happy ROOTING in 2026.

Hi Scott, go to see you back with the ROOTers this year.

Welcome back! The Mr Mercedes / Bill Hodges trilogy may be my favourite works by Stephen King, so I hope you enjoy the first book when you get to it.

Happy ROOTing. I'm similar to you in #books and #pages (all my reads in a year, not just ROOTs) and have never considered #hours. Do you keep track or do you estimate something like an hour a day?

>5 detailmuse: I use the read more app on my phone!

Thank you everyone else it's an honor to be here with you!

Happy ROOTing!

>6 handshakes: oh interesting!

1. The Outsider by Stephen King

I didn't like this one very much. It was like two books being glued together. Both were ok, but they weren't necessary enough to require each other, in my opinion.

Happy ROOTing! I'm going for 52 ROOTs as well.

>10 LisaMorr: thank you! Did you come close last year? I sure didn't, but I did improve over the previous year!

2. The Wind Through the Keyhole by Stephen King

I really enjoyed this one, although the framed narrative made it difficult to remember things.

>11 handshakes: No, not at all; I've been in a reading funk for a long time; I only read 18 books last year (but 16 of 18 were ROOTs, LOL). I'm hoping again to get back to reading a lot more and I'm on my 5th book of the year, so that's promising!

>13 LisaMorr: that's really good progress! I was in a funk too but something snapped me out of it I have no idea what... I think getting out of my usual genres helped.

>13 LisaMorr:, >14 handshakes: great to hear the reading funk for you both is over.

>15 connie53: Thank you, Connie!

>15 connie53: yes, thank you!

Oh boy, I've definitely fallen behind!

>18 handshakes: No panic, Scott. There a lot of year left.

>19 connie53: thank you, Connie. I needed that.

Finished The Mist by Stephen King.

Looks like I forgot to drop a line in here to let you guys know that I completed Bag of Bones by Stephen King. I seem to be on a kick this year--I can't help it. Reading his stuff is like hanging out with friends.

>21 handshakes: Reading his stuff is like hanging out with friends.
I have 11/22/63 in my TBRs, sounds like a good immersion during These Times

>22 detailmuse: I read that one last year and it was a mostly pleasant experience. I didn't particularly care for the way the plot played out, but it was enjoyable to just hang out with Jake Epping for 800 pages.

Your Stephen King reading has me thinking about which of his books I should read next!

I started reading Stephen King with Carrie when it was first published. I voraciously read everything he put out for years - grabbing his books up as soon as I could at the bookstore! I fell off a bit as I broadened my reading - or at least I thought I did! I recently took a look at which authors I've read the most since I've been cataloguing my reading on LT in 2008 - and Stephen King came in second at 14 books.

>24 LisaMorr: funny how that works, isn't it? Who is your first? I can only imagine how cool it.must have been to be alive back then. I couldn't even read until the 1990s.

Robert Jordan and Jim Butcher with 15 each.

Robert Jordan is up there because I finally finished his Wheel of Time series, which included a bunch of re-reads - I remember distinctly reading the first book in the series in 1990 (I bought it in a resort bookstore where I was having a job interview).

And Jim Butcher because I only just discovered his Dresden Files series since being on LT.

And now back to mulling over which Stephen King book to read next, LOL.

>26 LisaMorr: haha. So many good ones. Thank you for the heads up on those authors as well. I'll have to read some of their work.

Finished The Taking by Dean Koontz. I accepted the book for what it was; a fun little romp, and nothing more. It seemed like a really half baked idea that never would have seen the light of day had anyone else published it.

>22 detailmuse: I loved the book by Stephen King MJ mentioned. I do recommend that one!