Lately, I have been feeling nostalgic. Maybe it is being a parent.
Maybe it is the summer ahead of me, already hot and sticky and reminding me of those summers
I spent in the cool air conditioning of the local library, surrounded by books.
Taking those books home and hunkering down with them in the heat of the day.
In those summers of my youth, I would read Stephen King. So much Stephen King.
I feel like it is time to revisit some of my favorites.
So, this summer I will be.
Not all of his books, that would be impossible! But the ones that I really loved and really stuck with me.
We all have our favorites, but here are mine.
It should be on this list, but I don't think my heart could take it this year. So I replaced it with Revival, which I have never actually read!
The Stand ~ You can't have a SK list without this book, it is not possible, Plus, does anyone else get a cold when they read it?
Bag of Bones~ I think this is maybe one of my all time favorite books. I read it aloud to my husband one summer. I just really loved this one.
Desperation ~ My brother and I share a love for this book. Occasionally out of the blue we text each other random Tak En Las.
Joyland ~ Love this one. I am picking it for my book club to read in July. Yay!
I hope I can handle these - I am easier to scare now than I used to be! I can add so many more to this list but I will never get through them in one summer, not now. The Shining, Tommyknockers, Needful Things, the list goes on and on. Not to mention the short story compilations!!
And for nostalgic reasons, I might as well throw in an Anne Rice, my favorite of her work.
What about you? Are there are any books or authors that remind you of summers past, those endless hours spent reading?
King definitely reminds me of summers past! IT and DUMA KEY in particular! I read IT in the pool one summer and DUMA KEY while hubs was out of town at the end of summer one year. THE STAND also reminds me a bit of summer considering I read it during the last week of freshman year in high school. Ah, those were the days :)
ReplyDeleteIt should have been on this list - but I don't think I could read it now! I think it might freak me out too badly now that I am a parent. But you never know, it may show up on my reading list. I swapped it out for Revival actually - I somehow missed that book's release! Duma Key - another good one! I remember I was thrown for a loop with the Florida setting, but I still loved it.
DeleteI love how books can take you back to moments, just like a song. I can remember what book I was reading at different times in my life, and Stephen King is definitely a summer memory for me.
I don't have much stomach for true horror, so I've only dabbled in King. Funny that you should ask if The Stand makes people feel like they have a cold. I read it while in the Peace Corps, and I DID have a cold--which I used as an excuse to stay home from work for a day so I could keep reading it! I wouldn't be that irresponsible now, but boy does King write compulsively readable stuff.
ReplyDeleteI used to have a much larger capacity for it than I do now - I am not sure when or how that happened! I still love King though. 11/22/63 is amazing if you haven't read it.
DeleteI remember skipping school in high school to read Pat Conroy's Prince of Tides - sometimes the book just demands to be read. ;) How cool you were in the Peace Corps!! And see, a cold while reading The Stand. It's a thing, I know it.