Stephen King Fall Read-a-Long: 'Salem's Lot

It's time to begin the second book in the Stephen King Read-a-Long hosted by Midnight Book Girl: 'Salem's Lot. I had a great time reading Carrie in September, and ended up buying 'Salem's Lot and Misery (and a LOT more) at the Children's Hospital Book Sale, so now I keep on reading along!

Here's when you can expect discussion posts:

October 17th: chapters 1 to 8
October 31st: chapter 9 to the epilogue (This one will obviously be prescheduled, since I'll be busy watching scary movies and eating obscene amounts of candy.)

Carrie Read-a-Long: Part 3: Wreckage

This post is the last of three updates for the Carrie Read-a-Long. It covers part 3 of the book, called Wreckage. Part 1 is here, and part 2 is here. This post will contain spoilers. You have been warned!

Part 3 of Carrie is very short, only 9 pages in my edition, and is basically an epilogue. It's quite different from the rest of the book. While part 1 was filled with foreshadowing, and part 2 is pure action, part 3 is the quiet aftermath. It consists entirely of excerpts from the books about the Carrie White incident that have been quoted throughout the book. It's essentially a description of how the town has failed to bounce back from the tragedy.

I like that this part was included. It makes perfect sense that a small town would not easily recover from the death of so many people, including so many children. Think how much of the population must have lost someone in their own families. There would just be too much grief all concentrated in one place.

As for final thoughts, I loved this book, just as I loved The Shining. I have officially become a Stephen King fan.

5 stars.

Oh, and I happened to pick up both 'Salem's Lot and Misery at the Children's Hospital Book Sale, so I'll definitely be taking part in the read-a-longs for those in October and November!

Carrie Read-a-Long: Part 2: Prom Night

This post is the second of three updates for the Carrie Read-a-Long, which covers part 2 of the book, called Prom Night. Part 1 is here. This post will contain spoilers. You have been warned!

My main impression while reading this book is that Carrie is not the villain. That might be obvious, but as I read it I can imagine people calling Carrie a villain. I mean, she does kill an awful lot of people. But the real villains are her mother, who ruined her life by raising her all crazy-like, and Chris and Billy, who make the people who bullied me as a kid look like teddy bears.

During the prom, Carrie seemed so hopeful. Like her life could have turned out all right if it weren't for the horrible people surrounding her. So mostly I just feel sad for her. She proved that she could dress up nice, carry on normal conversations, and just basically fit in, if given the chance. But then that chance is taken away from her, and it's just heartbreaking.

Carrie Read-a-Long: Part 1: Blood Sport

This post is the first of three updates for the Carrie Read-a-Long, which covers part 1 of the book, called Blood Sport. This post will probably contain spoilers from the first half of the book. You have been warned!

I've seen the movie Carrie several times, and love it, so I'm happy to find that I'm loving the book, too. This is only my second Stephen King novel (my first was The Shining), and one thing I've learned is that that man can write! I hang on his every word!

The first part of the book basically sets the stage, showing you who Carrie is, and what she's had to deal with. She starts her first period in the worst way possible: in the locker room, surrounded by girls who hate her, and thinking she's bleeding to death. While the teachers ask themselves "why didn't her mom tell her about this?" I just kept asking "why hasn't this 17 year old taken sex ed?!". I guess that's the 70s for you.

One thing I've really been enjoying is how the story is interspersed with excerpts from books written about what happened to Carrie, after the fact. So you get little glimpses of what's going to happen. Like mini-spoilers. I find they really help to build the suspense.

I'm loving this book so far! Now I'm off to read part 2. :)

Stephen King Fall Readalong: Carrie

Midnight Book Girl is hosting readalongs of three Stephen King books, one in each of the next three months. The first one is Carrie, and since that one is on my TBR pile anyway, I thought I'd join in on the fun, despite my disturbingly large number of things I'm planning to read this month. :) I don't know yet if I'll do the other two readalongs, since I don't already own the books. We shall see!

For complete details, click the image at the top of this post. Discussion posts will be on September 12, 23, and 30.