Any Stephen King fans out there?

[discordiatookie]

Absolutely love King's work. There's only two or three books that I haven't really loved - but still enjoyed (hmm, namely Cell and Under The Dome are the two that come to mind). With very few exceptions (Neil Gaiman and the Game of Throne books most recently) when I'm reading other writers' novels I want to be reading Stephen King. It's like I'm addicted!

Just finished reading a couple of short stories, about half an hour ago I completed Jerusalem's Lot, and am now away to reread Lisey's Story. Amazing book, loved it first time around, I'm looking forward to it.

Some random thoughts:

When I was a late teenager, early twenties, King became a bond between my mum and I. We would get a book each, read it and then swap over, discussing them when we were done. We got through his back catalogue that way, good times.

I remember being quite young, and my Mum had Skeleton Key up on the bookshelf. Hardback, with a skeleton on the cover. I used to think that cover was awesome. I tried reading it once or twice but it was a bit old for me.

My first book was Desperation, on paperback that I got from my Mum. I was around 14, and had never read anything quite like it. I've still got it, and the copy of Skeleton Key in my shelf ('though Desperation is falling apart now).

I went through a bit of a rough time in my early 20s, split up with my first long term girlfriend, I moved back home only for my Mum's partner at the time to leave and we ended up nearly homeless, amongst other things and I remember skiving off college one day because I couldn't be arsed with it all. I had a new book, a beat up copy of The first Dark Tower book so I climbed a hill (the Broad Hill, not that big but pretty cool, one side looks over a graveyard, the other the beach, and it also gives you a wee peek to the local football (soccer) stadium, where before the new stand got put in, gave a big peek and was nicknamed Miser's Hilly) and read the whole thing in a day. It was sunny and windy, and a great way to immerse myself into a book! I snapped up the other three (at the time) Dark Tower books and devoured them, and got the next three on the day they were released.

(Side note: it was around this time I had rediscovered TMNT in comic form and I got a bunch of vol 4 issues from a comic shop and wondered down into a park during another sunny day and read them all, once again skiving college).

So yeah, I'm a massive King fan, and his recent run of books (Lisey's Story, Duma Key, 11/22/63, Joyland, Doctor Sleep, All Dark, No Stars, Wind Through the Keyhole, Just After Sunset) are amongst his best, proving to me that he's still got it, and the best writer there is...