Stephen King, help please?

[Number666livesaMrMIller]

Ok, I'll admit I've never really read a Stephen King book. I've dallied with the usual 'it' and 'pet semetry' in my teens but nothing since.
Any particular recommendations? What order do I need to read things in?
I'm not a fan of short stories and love a good chunky novel to get my teeth into.
Thank you

I love The Stand. It's immense, and beautiful, and sad, and the characters will stay with you forever.

11/22/63 is fantastic, though a long way from horror.

Duma Key I thought was good when I read it recently - I'm now scared of tennis balls, though. Under the Dome is fantastic though the ending isn't as good as the rest of the book.

I also like The Dark Tower books a lot but they aren't quite the same as his other books, although in many ways they are the culmination of a lot of his work.

Duma Key is very good, I agree. And it's properly scary. I was wary of tennis bald for a good year after reading it & was anxious I might see one in the sea.

Cell is silly and well, terrible. I don't think SK understands technology very well.

Dark Tower is a cowboy story / fantasy. I hate Westerns and don't care for fantasy genre in general so didn't get along with it. YMMV.

Among the SK books I read decades ago, I loved:
The Stand
Firestarter
The Shining
Pet Cemetery
Short stories

... but wasn't impressed with:
Misery
Tommyknockers
Needful Things
Dreamcatcher
Talisman
Kujo

I started The Stand this afternoon. Almost wanted to ring in sick to work and carry on reading! I'm a fast reader but this bad boy is going to last me ages
Thanks for all the recommendations.

IT is the ultimate King. He writes best about coming of age and the complexities of human relationships, for me - and this is just perfect. 11/22/63 is brilliant too for similar reasons and ties in well.

deffo the stand

misery
the shining
carrie
the cell
four past midnight (short stories)
graveyard shift
geralds game
it
dolores clairborn
needful things

pretty much anything, and also look for richard bachmann (the running man totally differnt from the arnie film and the dark tower series)

Brilliant: The Girl who Loved Tom Gordon, The Stand and Insomnia.

Avoid: Gerald's Game

I never dared read IT as my big brave sister swore it was the only horror novel to ever keep her awake at night and I already find clowns terrifying. I didn't much like 11/22/63, I'm surprised it's so popular here.

At the risk of sounding like Amazon's software, you may also enjoy Dean Koontz, especially "Watchers".

My friend lent me Under the Dome - a real page-turner, and also strangely memorable and thought-provoking.
Neither of us are horror fans - maybe like a bit of soft sci-fi, but mainly just enjoy stuff with some character development, and a pacey plot. We both actually like novels aimed at the young adult market, and I think this is how King writes (or at least in Under the Dome, which is all I have read). Style seems aimed at young adult readers, but a longer text and with more adult themes, iyswim?

I love The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon, has to be one of my favourite books ever. Also really like Duma Key, IT, Insomnia, Lisey's Story, Rose Madder and the Dark Tower series.

I find it immensely pleasing how many of his books are interconnected, DH and I keep saying we should create a massive diagram showing how everything ties together but it looks like we've been beaten to it:

Warning: SPOILERS!!

And that's just the none-Dark Tower books

The shining
Cujo
Misery
I must get around to reading Christine saw the film years ago

Carrie
Misery
Salmems Lott

Is IT really scary, still, for a 40-something year old? Tried reading it years ago but couldn't, have just reread 11.22.63 and would like to revisit Derry but nervous to!

If you read nothing else by Stephen King EVER you should read The Stand.

Enjoy

Desperation... loved this maybe cause I was on holiday at the time of reading . I liked the scenery of this book :) and it's a great story ... I won't be going on a driving holiday in America tac tac :)

The stand is my favourite too
Also It
The green mile
Hearts in Atlantis
Eyes of the dragon
Misery
Just about all of them :)
I'm just coming to the end of Mr Mercedes
Just in time for the new one

The Stand and 11/22/63 are just brilliant.

Love The Shining and pretty much everything he's written. Can't wait for the new one, I know he's considered a horror writer but I think his writing is very broad.

Have any other Stand fans read Swan Song by Robert McCammon? It's very similar theme and definitely worth a summer read.

Forgot to say, there's a really good Rolling Stone interview with him where details his addiction problems and the drop in quality around The Tommyknockers. Really good insight for any fans.

Have you got a link to the rolling stone piece AHot?

I'm ready for a new King, I really liked Mr Mercedes. I was disappointed by Revival though.

The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon is absolutely brilliant. Not a horror but a little bit creepy. Short too. I'd definitely recommend that. Rose Madder is really good as well but I found it really upsetting. I also loved The Green Mile and the collection of stories that includes The Shawshank Redemption. And I loved 11.22.63.

I think he's an amazing author, I just can't bring myself to read any of the scary stuff, I'm too much of a wimp

Christine, the Shining, Carrie and Cujo were the ones I loved best. Found Tommyknockers dull and didn't finish it.

I'd have trouble picking the 'best' one as well. Though there have been one or two I was less keen on: Needful Things, Cell, Gerald's Game, From A Buick 8, those never really did it for me. I do love The Stand even though I go through spells of being infuriated by bits of it - I have read it countless times and (as with a lot of iconic books) I often find myself hoping that certain things will turn out differently this time. Insomnia's good, and Bag of Bones, and Lisey's Story, of the later ones.
I love Christine but I love it more now as a brilliant portrayal of being a teenager in small town America in the late 70s. Same with Salem's Lot in many ways.

I read Swan Song years ago and remember quite liking it. I have also read McCammon's Mystery Walk which is good.
Dean R Koontz is immensely patchy (I have a feeling 'he' is one of those writers like VC Andrews that's actually a 'brand' whose books are written by assorted beginners and hacks.)

Duma Key is my absolute favourite SK. I would also recommend reading the Shining and then Doctor Sleep - really interesting the way his writing has evolved between the two books.

I second Cote's 'avoid' list in its entirety.

'The Dark Tower' is NOT a "cowboy story".

I don't get the love for The Stand (perhaps I should reread it...). It's in my 'ok list', along with Pet Semetary and Needful Things. What I do love are The Talisman, The Dark Tower (the earlier ones are better), Rose Madder and the Tommyknockers.

Bag of bones is one of my favourites. I've enjoyed most mentioned apart from 11/22/63 and Under The Dome both of which I thought were rather overblown and disappointing.