SK's flavors of the month - 2010

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SK's flavors of the month - 2010

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1jseger9000
Aug 29, 2009, 2:06 am

Okay, here's what (I think) is up for 2010. I expect this will probably be revised, several times:

January - The Talisman
February - Thinner
March - Skeleton Crew
April - The Bachman Books (Rage and The Long Walk)
May - The Bachman Books (Roadwork and The Running Man)
June - It
July - It
August - The Eyes of the Dragon
September - Misery
October - The Tommyknockers
November - The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger
December - The Dark Half

2jseger9000
Aug 29, 2009, 2:08 am

Can I just say that I hope the list stays the same, because I love the idea of reading It over the summer.

3cal8769
Aug 30, 2009, 7:32 pm

Thanks, jseger. :)

I am excited to be doing this challenge. This has always been something that I wanted to do but never started. I am finding that some books are different than I remember and some I don't remember at all.

4Moomin_Mama
Aug 30, 2009, 8:47 pm

Same here Cal, and next year looks like a good one! I noticed that, like me, you have a separate tag for this mammoth group read. I feel less silly now I know I'm not the only one ;)

5Madcow299
Sep 22, 2009, 8:42 pm

It will be interesting because I will be moving sometimes between May and July, and I too wish to read It. It's been at least ten years since I read it.

6jseger9000
Sep 26, 2009, 1:25 pm

It's been even longer than that for me. It's funny though, how much of that book I can remember. So many little incidents pop-up. I think I remember It more than I remember most books I've read. I guess that's what makes it a classic.

7beatles1964
Edited: Nov 17, 2009, 11:43 am

I don't know about re-reading Skeleton Crew. Don't get me wrong, I love the book of course it's just the short story Survivor Type creeps me out about what he had to do in order for him to survive. I know I certainly don't look forward to having to re-read Survivor Type again since it really grosses me out. Of course, King goes for the total Gross-Out at times. Besides it's been years since I've even bothered to re-read Skeleton Crew. Who knows, maybe 2010 is finally time I decided to give Skeleton Crew another chance.

Am I the only one here who has some kind of reservations about having to read or re-read for that matter Survivor Type? I know I can't be the ONLY King fanatic here who was grossed out by the story, or am I the only one who feels this way about the story?

Beatles1964

8jseger9000
Nov 17, 2009, 12:59 pm

Well, I don't have quite the same reservations you have about re-reading Survivor Type, but I certainly know what you mean about that story...

9Moomin_Mama
Nov 17, 2009, 5:27 pm

No, but I had the same reservations about reading One for the Road in Night Shift - because it scares the living daylights out of me.

Speaking of which, I've just remembered the notes I put aside for Night Shift. I'll sort them out and put up my thoughts (very late, I know)!

10jseger9000
Nov 17, 2009, 10:18 pm

#9 - Hey Moomin,

Whe you put up your review for Night Shift post about it here or in the Night Shift thread. I'd like to read your review.

11Bookmarque
Nov 18, 2009, 10:49 am

this isn't compulsory folks. read what you want to read. skip a story, or a whole book, it doesn't really matter. I'm looking forward to reading both SK & ST. ST is one of my favorite King stories.

12cal8769
Nov 18, 2009, 12:06 pm

I am enjoying these group reads a lot. I have always put off rereading King's books and it is fun to rediscover his....dare I say it....genius. I'm a book behind but I love reading everyone's comments.

13cal8769
Dec 28, 2009, 8:44 am

Bump

14Locke
Jan 26, 2010, 2:07 am

Count me in! Hope I can follow up this year, though....

2009 was a really, really bad reading year due to a high pressure workload on my job. Talking about zombies; I felt like one myself when I got home from work. Anyway, 2010 can only be better and I'm already halfway through »Thinner«.

Guess it gives me a chance to catch up a little in february... ;)

15cal8769
Jan 26, 2010, 10:58 am

Glad to see you here. This month hasn't had a lot of discussion but stick with us. We are a great bunch.

16jseger9000
Edited: Feb 27, 2010, 5:14 pm

Hmm... I've been looking over lists of SK's books in publication order. I've been having a had time fitting in the Dark tower books, due to their weird publication history.

I found this list at Amazon Stephen King-A Comprehensive List Part I (Publication Order) and I like it.

I think we need to move The Gunslinger up, but I like the idea of reading It over the summer. I was thinking of revising the list like so:

January - The Talisman
February - Thinner
March - Skeleton Crew
April - The Bachman Books (Rage and The Long Walk)
May - The Bachman Books (Roadwork and The Running Man)
June - It
July - It
August - The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger
September - The Eyes of the Dragon
October - Misery
November - The Dark Tower: The Drawing of the Three
December - The Tommyknockers

Any opinions/input?

(If this new version is the one we like, I'll revise post #1)

17jseger9000
Feb 27, 2010, 5:16 pm

Also, he has The Tommyknockers before Misery, but I'm pretty sure Misery and It came out very close to each other, with The Tommyknockers coming out later.

18Bookmarque
Edited: Feb 27, 2010, 6:31 pm

TDT = 1982
SC = 1985
IT = 1986
TK = 1987
Misery = 1987
DotT = 1987
Eyes of the Dragon = 1987

Bachman books -
Rage - 1977
TLW = 1979
RW = 1981
RM = 1982

according to all the mostly hardbacks on my shelves.

19jseger9000
Edited: Feb 27, 2010, 6:42 pm

Aha!

It - September 15, 1986
The Eyes of the Dragon - February 2, 1987
Misery - June 8, 1987
The Tommyknockers - November 10, 1987

And... (if we use the mass market paperback printing date)
The Gunslinger - September 28, 1988

That would make the original list in post #1 correct. Should we stick with that, or start in on the Dark Tower stuff in August?

Thanks Wikipedia!

20cal8769
Feb 28, 2010, 6:57 pm

I would just stick with the original list. Thanks for putting in the research!

21Moomin_Mama
Feb 28, 2010, 7:02 pm

I'm happy with the original list too.

22Bookmarque
Feb 28, 2010, 9:44 pm

I don't really have an order preference...but I'm probably not going to read any Dark Tower.

23Raychild
Mar 18, 2010, 7:31 pm

I'd like to join this too. I'm new to this group, actually this website, but I love Stephen King and this will help me when I can't decide what book to read next! Quite a few of those I've read already but I'm excited to re-read It. And The Eyes of the Dragon. My sixth grade teacher read that to us in class and I've been into King since then. Thank you Ms. White!!!

I'll just have to start up in April. I'm already in the middle of another book I want to finish.

24jseger9000
Mar 20, 2010, 3:26 pm

Welcome aboard Raychild!

25cal8769
Mar 20, 2010, 7:15 pm

Glad to have you!

26Moomin_Mama
Mar 26, 2010, 1:33 pm

Looking forward to you joining in :)

27cal8769
Apr 20, 2010, 7:03 pm

*Bump*

28PaperbackPirate
May 17, 2010, 3:14 am

Thanks for organizing the Stephen King Flavor of the Month club. It finally got me to read The Running Man which has been sitting on my shelf forever. I may join you again in September for a reread of Misery (one of my favorites) and in December for The Dark Half, which also has sat on my shelf unread for too long.

So hi and thanks again!

29Mark1111
May 17, 2010, 3:24 am

Did anyone read Under the Dome? Not his best, but still worth reading, as all of King's books are. Nobody in horror fiction has his deft touches that are sprinkled throughout his books. And the man is funny, naturally. I like to refer to his fiction as horror with a smile. Glad to see people talking about him. A very underrated writer who will achieve greater respect, I'm guessing, when he's gone.

30jseger9000
May 17, 2010, 8:55 pm

I haven't read Under the Dome yet (I buy the paperbacks). There's a thread devoted to it though

Oh! And welcome PaperbackPirate! The posting for this month's read has been a little slow.

31cal8769
Jul 13, 2010, 10:13 am

*bump*

32beatles1964
Edited: Jul 13, 2010, 1:09 pm

Could someone Please explain to me what's up with all of these "Bumps?" Am I the only who just doesn't get what the "Bumps" are all about? Are they supposed to be funny? Also when and where are you supposed to use these "Bumps?"

Beatles1964

33Bookmarque
Jul 13, 2010, 1:30 pm

Nothing.
They're just reminders of what's coming up and what we're on now. PSA.

34beatles1964
Jul 13, 2010, 1:49 pm

Thanks for explaining it to me and everyone else who didn't know what "bump" meant. Excuse me but I'm not up with all of these acronyms and don't even know what you mean by PSA. Is there a web site I can go to somewhere that gives you the definitions of all of the Internet acronyms?

Beatles1964

35Bookmarque
Jul 13, 2010, 1:53 pm

Probably, but I don't know what it is.
PSA = public service announcement

36Locke
Edited: Jul 13, 2010, 4:05 pm

#34: Could someone Please explain to me what's up with all of these "Bumps?

BUMP -> Bring Up My Post

Is there a web site I can go to somewhere that gives you the definitions of all of the Internet acronyms?

Yes, you can find it by following the instructions here.

Sorry about the link. Just couldn't help myself... ;)

37Morphidae
Jul 13, 2010, 4:05 pm

>36 Locke: GMTA

:D

38PaperbackPirate
Jul 13, 2010, 7:59 pm

Locke, that was magical!

39jseger9000
Jul 13, 2010, 11:03 pm

Thank you for bumping the thread. For some reason I'd gotten it in my head that next month's book was Misery.

I have memories of seeing It and Misery next to each other on the 'Best Sellers' section at Crown books way back in the mid-eighties.

40Locke
Edited: Jul 14, 2010, 2:12 am

Maybe you have seen them together in the best sellers section! After all they were both published within a year or so according to the Wikipedia Bibliography.

I don't have Eyes of the Dragon in my personal library so I'll probably not be joining you all next month. Maybe I'll backtrack instead and catch up on one of the titles I have skipped earlier on (e.g. The Stand, The Shining or Pet Sematary)...

...or will we be starting all over when we finish the last published Stephen King novel which appears to be Full Dark, No Stars at the present moment?...

41jseger9000
Jul 14, 2010, 11:07 am

Eyes of the Dragon is worth picking up. It is something very different from Stephen King and the most Dark Tower-y book that I've still managed to enjoy (well, that and Low Men in Yellow Coats).

42jseger9000
Jul 14, 2010, 11:21 am

Checking the wikipedia page:

It was published: September 15, 1986

Eyes of the Dragon was published: February 2, 1987

Misery was published: June 8, 1987

So my list is right.

43Bookmarque
Jul 14, 2010, 11:44 am

I think King's reason for publishing EotD was so that he could write a book his (then little) kids could read. It's definitely YA and has some lovely drawings. Plus it has Flagg and so how bad could that be?

44Locke
Edited: Jul 14, 2010, 12:28 pm

#42: So my list is right.

Of course your list is right! I just mentioned that your memory of seeing the books together in the bestsellers section could also have been right because there's only less than a year between the publication date of It and Misery...

...Anyway, I might try to get hold on Eyes of The Dragon as we approach next months group read. But, I'm really not sure about this one, though. Don't really dig YA!...

45cal8769
Jul 14, 2010, 1:17 pm

It never hurts to bump this thread. I figure if I'm curious about the next read then someone else has to be. :)

jseger, thanks for doing some much work and making this such a successful long-term group read.

I need to find EotD, too. I thought I had it but it's nowhere to be found!

46jseger9000
Edited: Jul 14, 2010, 3:33 pm

#44 - Oh yeah. I was just backing up my own memory. I'm sure they were both on the bestseller wall together. Probably Eyes of the Dragon was mixed in there as well.

It's been 20+ years since I've read it, so my memory is hazy. But I believe Eyes of the Dragon is well worth a read. I'd never thought of it as a YA book, though I suppose it could be. It has the tone of a fairy tale, but after all it is still a Stephen King fairy story. I remember putting it off, figuring fantasy just wasn't going to be my thing. But I remember being hooked.

47Moomin_Mama
Jul 15, 2010, 7:49 am

Locke, you must give Eyes of the Dragon a go! It's not stereotypically YA, it just avoids anything too adult (sexual or gory). I remember it being quite stylised, and short enough that it's a great way of experiencing his fantasy work without diving into the Dark Tower series or The Talisman, which are much longer. Actually it's less fantasy and more fairy-tale as channelled by King, and quite unique.

48Locke
Jul 15, 2010, 4:34 pm

#41: Eyes of the Dragon is worth picking up
#43: Plus it has Flagg and so how bad could that be?
#47: Locke, you must give Eyes of the Dragon a go!

Okay, okay, I hear y'all! Found a good deal on the internet and will give Eyes of the Dragon a try in the group read in august!... :)

49Bookmarque
Jul 15, 2010, 5:04 pm

It's funny because I hadn't thought I'd read this one, but now I might give it a go. It's a mood thing, really.

50jseger9000
Jul 15, 2010, 5:08 pm

#48 - Man, if you don't enjoy Eyes of the Dragon a number of us are going to have some 'splaining to do!

51PaperbackPirate
Jul 15, 2010, 9:01 pm

While you were all convincing Locke to read Eyes of the Dragon, you convinced me too. I bought it today!

52Locke
Edited: Jul 23, 2010, 10:12 am

#1,#16: What version are we going to follow? I mean are we going to read all DT books or just The Gunslinger?...

53Bookmarque
Jul 23, 2010, 7:14 am

Ig. You guys have lost me for any Dark Tower reads.

54Locke
Jul 23, 2010, 10:24 am

#53: Oh, it's not that I have a particular interest in the DT-series myself. Just thought it would be kinda silly to read The Gunslinger if we're not going to read the rest of the DT books as well...

55jseger9000
Jul 23, 2010, 4:50 pm

Well, the project is to read the books as they were published (though with The Gunsliner we are going with wide publication, not that specialty edition) so the Dark Tower books will be spaced out accordingly.

I'm tenacious and will read every single book, but I personally don't like the Dark Tower stuff myself.

56Locke
Edited: Jul 24, 2010, 2:34 am

#55: Yeah, that's what I thought! That means I can buy the DT-series if I stumble across a good deal somewhere...

Project-wise, I've planned my upcoming four week summer vacation so that I'll read some of the SK-titles I've missed in the past. Also, there's a few titles coming up I've already read so I'll substitute those with the rest of the unread batch. That way I'll get up to speed when we reach On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft...

57cal8769
Jul 24, 2010, 12:07 pm

I only read The Gunslinger. It doesn't stand out in my mind so I'm kind of eager to read the DT series.

58cal8769
Sep 20, 2010, 8:40 am

bump

59jseger9000
Sep 20, 2010, 10:23 am

I was wondering about The Tommyknockers. I don't have the page count handy, but I remember the book being a fatty.

Should it be a two-monther, or does everyone think one month is okay?

60Morphidae
Edited: Sep 20, 2010, 10:26 am

Eh, 558 pages. Thick but not outrageous.

ETA: Another source says 747 pages, which is a bit different.

61Bookmarque
Sep 20, 2010, 10:29 am

my hardcover is 558 p. Am looking forward to this one. Strangely.

62jseger9000
Sep 20, 2010, 10:32 am

Okay, Amazon says that the current Signet paperback clocks in at 752 pages.

I know I'll have it read within the month, but will see what everyone else wants to do.

I have to admit, I'm looking forward to the re-read. The Tommyknockers gets slammed A LOT!, but I remember really liking it. Of course, it could be the time in my life when I read it, etc.

63Bookmarque
Sep 20, 2010, 11:09 am

Same here, I liked it for it's bizzaro-world quality. hopefully I don't have it ruined by this reading like happened with Pet Sematary.

64cal8769
Sep 20, 2010, 3:43 pm

That's one that I haven't read. (Can you imagine!) I'm running a little behind right now but I will be joining you for The Tommyknockers!

65Locke
Oct 29, 2010, 2:35 am

Isn't it about time we prepare for the november group read?

I can see that The Gunslinger is up next. I have mixed feelings about this one as I don't really consider Stephen King's fantasy novels quintessential reading on my personal TBR-list. Also, it feels like a huge commitment given that this is only the first in a series of books with a rather large page count...

Can anyone vouch for the book/series?...

66Bookmarque
Oct 29, 2010, 8:05 am

Eh, I've read 3 1/2 of them, can't get any further and will sit out any GS group reads here. A lot of people love them, but I can't get into them.

67jseger9000
Edited: Oct 29, 2010, 6:18 pm

I'll stick to it, but I'm not looking forward to rereading The Gunslinger...

I'll start up a thread for it when I get home from work though.

68thegreattim
Oct 30, 2010, 1:27 pm

65-67:

I'm really looking forward to the DT rereads. I know everyone isn't so up on these books. I was the same way for a while too, but they tie into so much of his canon that I couldn't ignore them. Now they are my favorite of his works... They bring so much more meaning to books like Insomnia, The Stand, 'Salem's Lot... Anyway, of course to each his/her own.

Just curious. For those planing it, is there a consensus on which edition of The Gunslinger to read? If not, I suggest the revised 2003 edition. It is vastly more accessible that the original and King ties some symbology and plot lines from later books into the first. It's a much more coherent tale. In my experience (having read both), the original book almost turned me off this series forever.