May Spotlight: Stephen King
In honor of launching this bookstore during my birthday month, I’ll start my monthly spotlights with the author that inspired it all - Stephen King. I have read every Stephen King book, starting with It when I was 15. It took my 7 years to finish that book because I kept getting so terrified I would hide the book deep in the recesses under my bed for months—even a year!—at a time. But it hooked me. King’s way of storytelling is unparalleled, creating rich characters you feel like you truly know and complicated environments you can perfectly picture in your mind.
Here are some of my all-time King favorites. If you are new to his work, I suggest you start with one of these; if you are a fan yourself, leave a comment and let me know which books are your favorites!
It
The one that started it all. It follows a group of friends as they come face to face with a killer clown named Pennywise. The story starts when the friends are children in 1957. Pennywise terrorizes the children, appearing as their worst nightmares, and carrying a red balloon. The children bravely fight the monster and believed they had defeated it… but 27 years later Pennywise appears again and the group of friends—now adults—must come together once again to fight.
The Bill Hodges Trilogy
I actually listened to the audiobook of this trilogy and a highly recommend it. The audiobook is voiced by Wil Patton, and he does an amazing job. The trilogy includes Mr. Mercedes, Finders Keepers and End of Watch and is named for its main character, the lovably gruff Bill Hodges. The first book begins with a job fair—you meet several job seekers and hear their stories, like the man who took 3 buses to get to the job fair 3 hours early and the single mom who had no other choice that to bring her baby with her. Then a Mercedes plows into the crowd, killing or injuring all of the characters in which you became invested. Shortly thereafter, Bill, a retired detective bored with his new life, receives a letter from a man who claims to be The Mercedes Killer. And the cat-and-mouse game begins.
The Stand
If you ask King fans which is their favorite book, many will say The Stand. It’s a classic story and one that is just so well told that it sticks with you for decades. I’ve read it a few times, and at over 1,000 pages, that is showing some commitment. The story takes place in a post-apocalyptic world where two communities are built—one focused on good, run by a sweet old woman; and the other focused on evil, run by the dark man himself. It’s truly a must-read.
The Institute
A thread you’ll see running through King’s work is stories focused around children. In this novel, children with special abilities are kidnapped from their homes and sent to The Institute, where staff work to extract the special ability from each child until the child’s resources are used up. No one knows what happens after they are no longer needed by the staff—they are sent to the “Back Half” and are never seen again.
The Outsider
One of the things I LOVE about King is that he weaves his stories together. You will not find a King book that is not referenced in another King book. The Outsider surprised and delighted me when I found that a large part of the plot referenced The Bill Hodges Trilogy. That’s all I will say as to not give up the connection, but suffice to say, if you loved Mr. Mercedes, you will love this.
The Long Walk
By now most people know that at one point early in his career, Stephen King wrote under the pen name Richard Bachman. The Long Walk is one of the short stories written under this pen name. I read this story years and years ago, but it is still ingrained in my memory. It’s one of those stories that you keep thinking about and say to yourself, “that was so brilliantly fucked up.”
