Recommend me a Stephen King book please

[Hathall]

I have a new kindle. Yay!

I used to read lots of Stephen King when I was younger (Carrie, Salems Lot, Pet Sematary etc) but haven't read any of his newer stuff (er from 20 yrs or so) so if someone could be so kind and let me know which is a must have, I'd be very grateful.

ooh i stay away from fantasy as a rule but i do like recommendations! thank you!

(and one who like John Peel.......!!)

I loved the stand and also under the dome.

I really liked The Dome

Far fetched beyond belief but by jingo it was a good read

Ooh yes to The Langoliers. Is that the book that The Library Policeman is in too? Now that one is v scary!

Loved the Dome and halfway through 11.22.63. From a buick 8 was ok but I LOVED needful things - that is my fave so far

Yes Remus! And the freaky dog and polaroid camera one

Lisey's Story seems to be one of his 'love it or hate it' books. I fell into the 'love it' category when I read it. My friend hated it but loved Duma Key, which I thought was strange because to me they are both very similar in style.

I love From a Buick 8 and his twin books, Desperation and The Regulators (one of which is as Richard Bachman but both have all the same characters in different roles).

And the Dark Tower series is fantastic. I cannot say that enough, because they really are worth reading.

Insomnia is one of my favourites after a rocky start. I actually gave up on it and almost gave it away, but decided to give it a second chance and couldn't get enough of it.

Rose Madder is very, very, very good.

Full Dark, No Stars is a book of four long short stories (if that makes any sense) and they are brilliant. Two in particular stand out to me but I think there's certainly one for everybody in that book.

And to those of you who recommended Joe Hill (big yes to those recommendations, Heart Shaped Box above Horns or 20th Century Ghosts for me) have you tried the short stories by Robert Shearman?

He's a British author best known for his work on the Doctor Who TV series, but his short story collections are brilliant. His first book is Tiny Deaths, the second is Love Songs for the Shy and Cynical and the third is Everyone's Just So, So Special.

They are all very good, a bit surreal, and well worth a read. Tiny Deaths is my favourite and has stories where a girl dies and is reincarnated as an ashtray and one where a man dies and goes to hell, where he shares a room with Hitler's dog.

I don't rate Joe Hill (King's son). 'Heart Shaped Box' was okay but I thought, 'Horns' was really disappointing - a good idea but rather silly in its execution, I thought.

Just got, 'Thinner' from the charity shop: haven't read it since I was a teenager iirc.

Great thread! I haven't read a Stephen King in AGES but could do with a new reading obsession! May I recommend:

Rose Madder (not new but really good.)

Hearts in Atlantis (Set in decades I'm not really old enough to totally identify with, but loved it anyway.)

The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon (He should write more like this.)

4 Past Midnight (fantastic all round. Incidentally, The Langoliers, which is one of the stories in the book, was made into a TV drama - it was pretty dire but I still enjoyed it!)

Gerald's Game (very tense, some bits have really left me)

And of course..... The Stand. A marathon of a book - possibly a bit dated now but still fantastic!

Hope you find one soon!

The new Dark Tower book, The Wind Through The Keyhole, comes out in 99 days and I'm really excited about it. I haven't read anything about it though, so I'm not sure who will be in it or when it is set.

I have just finished reading the dark towers series and it's brilliant. The first one I did persevere with but the rest were amazing.
Didn't know a new one was due out in 99 days so will be eagerly waiting fo that release!
The shining terrified me so much I was almost too scared to turn the page iykwim lol. Felt like doing a joey out of friends and putting it in the freezer!
Also liked the dome but bit disappointed with the way it turned out.
I read it when I was 13 but must re read that as I probably would like it more/ understand it better now I'm considerably older lol.
Nothing like a sk to take me away from the horrors of real life!

I agree with Gerald's Game if you haven't read it before, it scared the bejesus out of me!! Still think of that one often!

The new Dark Tower book will look at what happened to Roland etc between the end of 'Wizard And Glass' (leaving the Emerald City) and the beginning of 'The Wolves Of The Calla' when they're arriving into Calla Bryn Sturgis.

What I REALLY want to know is if Cuthbert's horn changes anything after the end of Roland's next round on the quest - but I suspect that King will keep me guessing forever on that one!

My version would be - Roland leaves the tower with Cuthbert's horn, starts again and does things rather differently because the horn reminds him about love, restores the tower and can have a life, marries RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie and drinks lots of hot chocolate, mit schlag. :)

I like most of his work but Green Mile is prob my favourite, even though it was published as a series.

"Full dark, no stars" (I love the title even, sticks with you!)
"Just after sunset"
Both short story collections - includes a gross one about being trapped in a portaloo!

And "under the dome" is good, if huge...

However, some pretty gross and vivid scenes in each which may disturb/ peturb

I prefer the old ones, sorry.

Christine, The Stand, Salem's Lot, Pet Sematary ..... don't think I've read anything newer than "It", apart from Misery (which is brilliantly horrible).

As far as his short story collections go, some of the stories in "Night Shift" from 1977 still stick in my head for sheer terror..... oh yes, many sleepless nights from that collection read when I was 12 or 13 years old.

Actually this thread has just inspired me to read them all again. Thanks

Diabolo - is one of the ones that stick in your mind the one about the boogeyman by any chance? It's entirely the fault of that story that has me closing wardrobe doors before I can get into bed if they have been left even slightly open.

RemusLupin - I was hoping it would be a Roland book, although I'm not sure what to think about it fitting in between 'Wizard' and 'Calla'.

In my perfect version of Dark Tower: Round Two I would like the horn to change things for Roland as well. I would hope he's not quite so lonely this time and that some of the deaths can be avoided. I've often wondered if Jake, Eddie and Susannah (and Oy, who I would like to come and live with me) would be called back from wherever it is they are now, or if he would find new companions this time around.

I would hope that it would be Eddie, Jake and Susannah again - because I think they teach Roland so much about love. I think though, however much the horn changes things, there still wouldn't be much hope for Susan Delgado. She HAS to die, so that I get Roland! :)

I thought he started over again when Susan, Cuthbert and Allan were already all dead, although I would love to have the Round Two books have them alive and helping Roland (perhaps in place of Jake, Eddie and Susannah - even though I would miss them very much).

Yes - you're right. I'm just staking my claim! The whole Susan thing bored me tbh - but I would have liked to see/hear more of Alain.

How do you imagine Roland to look?

I can't get past this image of him as looking like a young Clint Eastwood.

It's all the descriptions of his slim hips that do it for me. I imagine him to be tall, very slim and sort of 'hatchet' faced, like Slim in, 'Of Mice And Men' is described; also sort of spare looking and a bit gaunt at times - chiseled, I guess.

My current Roland

I had no trouble at all imagining any of the others, but Roland just seems to be a bit hazy and illusive for me, Clint Eastwood always pops up instead. I agree about the tall, and very slim, and tanned because of all the walking and travelling through the desert, but I can never really picture his face.