Author: Stephen King
The four and final of the authors that I originally classified as "I Want to Read Everything" is Stephen King. I started reading his books in junior high or so and haven't stopped yet. Since King isn't apparently troubled by writer's block and has hinted that he has many books cued up to be released for years to come, I don't foresee reaching the end of his bibliography any time soon.
Stephen King
As always, King's super power is making the reader care deeply about his characters, even the one chapter throwaways. His weakness for many decades was finishing the book in a coherent fashion, but in recent years he's overcome that.
As of this writing King has written 56 novels and 10 collections of short stories, plus one non-fiction book, that I have read. I last got caught up on his stuff in early 2018; following that general habit if I started again now I'd have three new novels to read. He's also got four non-fiction books, mostly about writing and horror, that I haven't read.
Given that backlog, I'm clearly not going to talk about everything here. I'll try to call out some of my favorites.
Start Here
- I first got into King through some of his short story collections. Night Shift and Skeleton Crew were particular stand outs I read early on. As with most short story collections, there were some stinkers, but on the whole I find that when freed from the expectation of a resolution King is even better at horror, whether the "oh god that's scary" or the unsettling "that's odd." Nightmares and Dreamscapes also stands out in my memory, as does the novella collection Different Seasons.
- From a novel perspective, the post-apocalyptic The Stand is one that has stuck with me the longest. Misery is frightening. Cell one of the better modern zombie books, and I'm stunned at how badly they apparently botched the movie version. Under the Dome was a more recent favorite.
- I can't forget the Bachman Books. His alter ego led to a number of entertaining books, including The Long Walk and The Running Man both prophesy a violent future sport, made to entertain the masses.
If You Like Those
- The Shining is one of the very few books that terrified me when I read it.
- The Eyes of the Dragon is straight fantasy and very enjoyable for those who like fantasy.
- If King hasn't written The Dark Tower, would I have stuck with him that long dead period in the 1990s when most of his books didn't do much for me? I don't know, but the original Gunslinger was so good that it held me a while longer. Wizard and Glass may be my single favorite King novel.
- Needful Things is like a dark mirror Peyton Place, and is the definitive Castle Rock story in my opinion.
- The Colorado Kid is a weird open ended mystery not like much of anything else King has written.
- 11/22/63 is a more interesting take
on the "go back in time to stop a crime" genre than most such.
- King has also done a number of collaborations. I liked the two books he did with Peter Straub.
For Completists
- Dolores Claiborne, Gerald's Game, Insomnia and Rose Madder all came out over three years, and were all exceedingly average.
- The Tommyknockers fails at pretty much everything.Cujo did almost nothing for me.
Probably Won't
- Eventually, I'll read everything but the screenplays, even the non-fiction about writing.
Stephen King
As always, King's super power is making the reader care deeply about his characters, even the one chapter throwaways. His weakness for many decades was finishing the book in a coherent fashion, but in recent years he's overcome that.
As of this writing King has written 56 novels and 10 collections of short stories, plus one non-fiction book, that I have read. I last got caught up on his stuff in early 2018; following that general habit if I started again now I'd have three new novels to read. He's also got four non-fiction books, mostly about writing and horror, that I haven't read.
Given that backlog, I'm clearly not going to talk about everything here. I'll try to call out some of my favorites.
Start Here
- I first got into King through some of his short story collections. Night Shift and Skeleton Crew were particular stand outs I read early on. As with most short story collections, there were some stinkers, but on the whole I find that when freed from the expectation of a resolution King is even better at horror, whether the "oh god that's scary" or the unsettling "that's odd." Nightmares and Dreamscapes also stands out in my memory, as does the novella collection Different Seasons.
- From a novel perspective, the post-apocalyptic The Stand is one that has stuck with me the longest. Misery is frightening. Cell one of the better modern zombie books, and I'm stunned at how badly they apparently botched the movie version. Under the Dome was a more recent favorite.
- I can't forget the Bachman Books. His alter ego led to a number of entertaining books, including The Long Walk and The Running Man both prophesy a violent future sport, made to entertain the masses.
If You Like Those
- The Shining is one of the very few books that terrified me when I read it.
- The Eyes of the Dragon is straight fantasy and very enjoyable for those who like fantasy.
- If King hasn't written The Dark Tower, would I have stuck with him that long dead period in the 1990s when most of his books didn't do much for me? I don't know, but the original Gunslinger was so good that it held me a while longer. Wizard and Glass may be my single favorite King novel.
- Needful Things is like a dark mirror Peyton Place, and is the definitive Castle Rock story in my opinion.
- The Colorado Kid is a weird open ended mystery not like much of anything else King has written.
- 11/22/63 is a more interesting take
on the "go back in time to stop a crime" genre than most such.
- King has also done a number of collaborations. I liked the two books he did with Peter Straub.
For Completists
- Dolores Claiborne, Gerald's Game, Insomnia and Rose Madder all came out over three years, and were all exceedingly average.
- The Tommyknockers fails at pretty much everything.Cujo did almost nothing for me.
Probably Won't
- Eventually, I'll read everything but the screenplays, even the non-fiction about writing.