#SalemAlong (it's over for me)

 

I am sad to say---it's over.

I've finished the book---and now my read-a-long time is done.

I'm taking my vampire teeth and moving on.

(Thanks for the vampire teeth Melissa --- they sat beside my computer every day while I listened to the audio version of the book. )

 

 

 

I know I'm a few days earlier in writing my post, but I am headed off to a little mini-vacation tomorrow.

This is the 2nd Stephen King Read-a-long I've participated in and it's been so much fun.

Besides making a few new friends,  I've discovered many blogs that I was unfamiliar with. There are so many amazing book lovers out there.

So, besides a good, fun read, thanks for exposing me to new people, new blogs, new friends Melissa, Care and Trish

(the co-hosts of this read-a-long)

 

My thoughts on Salem's Lot?

It was a GREAT October read!

It was my first time reading it and I was once again caught up in the characters in King's book.

I know he is the king (King is a king?) of setting up apprehension and fear, but he is also the king of character development---and I LOVE that.

You know his characters and then he slowly starts to set up the scene so that you are drawn in and before you know it--you really do want to put your book in the freezer!!

He can scare the poop out of you by his words!

 

He can also set the scene. Makes you understand where you are in a story....

 

""The town knew about darkness."
"The town has its secrets, and keeps them well."

 

Maybe he doesn't so much as set a scene but he makes you think of the place/scene as a whole separate character?  Perhaps.

 

One of the secrets is, of course, a vampire.

Not your teeny-bobber vampire (sorry Twilight) or your cheesy Barnabus Collins-type vampire  ( YES, I am really THAT old. Dark Shadows was my favorite after-school fright when I was 11), but this was a creepy, evil BAD vampire!

I have not read Dracula, but understand there a lot of comparisons.

I think one of our hosts is going to do a comparison post (Trish?), and I'm excited to hear what she has to say.

 

I didn't realize how much I loved a good scary read until this month.

When's the next Read-a-Long?

 

 

 

From Goodreads:

'Salem's Lot is a small New England town with white clapboard houses, tree-lined streets, and solid church steeples. That summer in 'Salem's Lot was a summer of home-coming and return; spring burned out and the land lying dry, crackling underfoot. Late that summer, Ben Mears returned to 'Salem's Lot hoping to cast out his own devils... and found instead a new unspeakable horror.

A stranger had also come to the Lot, a stranger with a secret as old as evil, a secret that would wreak irreparable harm on those he touched and in turn on those they loved.

All would be changed forever—Susan, whose love for Ben could not protect her; Father Callahan, the bad priest who put his eroded faith to one last test; and Mark, a young boy who sees his fantasy world become reality and ironically proves the best equipped to handle the relentless nightmare of 'Salem's Lot.

 

R.I.P. Update

 

 

I did it!

I completed my  R.I.P.  X  challenge.

This challenge is hosted by Estella Revenge.

 

I had challenged myself to  Peril the 2nd.

(okay, yes, so it wasn't that hard to make my goal---I get that--but don't burst my bubble, okay?)

Peril the Second: Read two books of any length that you believe fit within the R.I.P.categories.

 

 

My two books were:

The Fate of Mercy Alban

and

Salem's Lot (just finished today! It was good and scary!) 

Review post coming up in a couple of days.

 

 

 

I made the Handyman watch Rosemary's Baby the other night.

It's really creepy.

There is no slashing, no vampires, no ghosts, but it's the idea of the....devil among us.

It's not for everybody, I know.  My friend Robin can't do anything 'devil'  (and yet, she does Stephen King???)  Anyway it's just a creepy, eerie movie.

The book was even better.  I read it a couple of Octobers ago.

 

To even myself out I had to watch Hocus Pocus.

For fun AND  for  a monthly food challenge called Food 'n Flix. (see my post here.)

 

And I'm hoping to watch a couple of Alfred Hitchcock thrillers this weekend while at my son's.

The Birds for one!

and to end it on the best note... I'll be watching "It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown" with my grandkids.  THE BEST Halloween flick ever.

 

Oh wait!  What if I don't have time for Don Knotts in The Ghost and Mr. Chicken?

 

It's been a fun October.



Finders Keepers

 

From Goodreads:

A masterful, intensely suspenseful novel about a reader whose obsession with a reclusive writer goes far too far—a book about the power of storytelling, starring the same trio of unlikely and winning heroes King introduced in Mr. Mercedes

“Wake up, genius.” So begins King’s instantly riveting story about a vengeful reader. The genius is John Rothstein, an iconic author who created a famous character, Jimmy Gold, but who hasn’t published a book for decades. Morris Bellamy is livid, not just because Rothstein has stopped providing books, but because the nonconformist Jimmy Gold has sold out for a career in advertising. Morris kills Rothstein and empties his safe of cash, yes, but the real treasure is a trove of notebooks containing at least one more Gold novel.

Morris hides the money and the notebooks, and then he is locked away for another crime. Decades later, a boy named Pete Saubers finds the treasure, and now it is Pete and his family that Bill Hodges, Holly Gibney, and Jerome Robinson must rescue from the ever-more deranged and vengeful Morris when he’s released from prison after thirty-five years.

Not since Misery has King played with the notion of a reader whose obsession with a writer gets dangerous. Finders Keepers is spectacular, heart-pounding suspense, but it is also King writing about how literature shapes a life—for good, for bad, forever.

 

From Me:

I was prepared to be let down.  I didn't want to get my expectations too high, and while I still prefer when Stephen King does horror (although I hate that label too), I was pleasantly surprised by how much I liked this.

I won this audio version (CD's) in a give-away this past June from Armchair BEA.  We finally got around to listening to it on a long car trip to Washington. When we got back from our trip, we had one CD left (Out of 12), so the next weekend, we took a nice long drive and finished our book.

The Handyman liked it very much---this crime suspense novel of SK.

I'm giving it 3 stars.

Excited! It's October

I'm so excited!!

It's October.

My favorite month.

Is it weird that I LOVED the Anne of Green Gables books, but also LOVE Stephen King?

Because October also means another Stephen King Read-a-long!!

I own the book,(have never read it tho)  but... am thinking of downloading the audio version.

What should I do?

If you want to Read-a Long with us check out 

Avid Readers Musings!

I'm so excited!!

oh.. I said that already.

Audio Book Challenge Update

Back in January, I decided to do the audio-book challenge.

 

This challenge is hosted by  the Book Nympho and Hot Listens.

The goal is to find a new love for audios or to outdo yourself by listening to more audios in 2015 than you did in 2014.

 Hey, I thought...I listen to audio, I could do a few extra and play along, right?

I thought it would be a fun one to do.   No pressure really--just do what you can do.

 

Originally, I thought I was a Weekend Warrior.  I could do between 5 and 10 books this year.  

Yep. 

I could do that.

 

As soon as one month went by and I had listened to a few already I knew that I would go beyond the Weekend Warrior level, so I figured I should  up my level to Stenographer.

levels:

• Newbie (I’ll give it a try) 1-5 
• Weekend Warrior (I’m getting the hang of this) 5-10
• Stenographer (can listen while multi-tasking) 10-15
• Socially Awkward (Don’t talk to me) 15-20
• Binge Listener (Why read when someone can do it for you) 20-30
• My Precious (I had my earbuds surgically implanted) 30-50
• Marathoner (Look Ma no hands) 50+

 

Guess what level I'm at now?

Come on...take a guess!!

 

Take a guess My Precious--take a guess!

 

THAT'S RIGHT--MY PRECIOUS!  I have listened to 31 audio books so far this year. And I'm in the middle of two more.  I don't think I'll make it to Marathoner, but... HOLY COW, that's a lot of books to listen to.

 

So far my favorite audio books have been:

Necessary Lies by Diane Chamberlain

You can see my review here.

And...The Martian by Andy Weir

You can see my review of that one here!

Two great audio books!

 

If you've never listened to audio, I suggest you give it a try.

But my mere words are not going to convince you....so I give you

Stephen King:

(excerpt taken from Entertainment Weekly's article)

(for the whole article click here)

 

Stephen King, ladies and gentlemen:

Some critics — the always tiresome Harold Bloom among them — claim that listening to audiobooks isn’t reading. I couldn’t disagree more. In some ways, audio perfects reading.

 

There you have it!!

The master, Stephen King, loves audio books!!

You'll have to read the article to find out why.

 

But if audio books are good enough for Stephen King, they are good enough for me.

 

What are books/novels, if not stories?  Audio does story-telling at it's best.

Give it a try, I think you'll like it.

 

Misery RAL

From Goodreads:

Misery Chastain was dead. Paul Sheldon had just killed her - with relief, with joy. Misery had made him rich; she was the heroine of a string of bestsellers. And now he wanted to get on to some real writing. 

That's when the car accident happened, and he woke up in pain in a strange bed. But it wasn't the hospital. Annie Wilkes had pulled him from the wreck, brought him to her remote mountain home, splinted and set his mangled legs. 

The good news was that Annie was a nurse and has pain-killing drugs. The bad news was that she was Paul's Number One Fan. And when she found out what Paul had done to Misery, she didn't like it. She didn't like it at all.

From Me:

I had read this book years ago, but decided to join in the fun with Care's Online Book Club as she hosted a Read-a-long (#miseryRAL)  for Stephen King's book:

MISERY.

I had a lot of fun, but I'll get into that in a minute.

I had forgotten how CREEPY Annie Wilkes is!!!

Creepy!

With a capitol C!

It was a great King classic!

Ominous and horrible and twisted!

(I am over using the !  I know, but I can't help it.  I'm trying to get a point across on how--Stephen Kingish it was!)

I listened to this on audio and I know that some of the others in the RAL weren't impressed with the narration, but it worked fine for me.  

The story within a story (because Annie Wilkes makes Paul Sheldon write another Misery Chastain novel)  Eh.  That's never been a big draw for me, but it too, worked okay in this great novel.

Because I am late in writing my round-up,  I had the pleasure of reading every one else's reviews/opinions and I also noticed that their is mention of King's struggle with his endings.

I'm with you there #miseryRAL sisters!

I  have felt the same way in some of his books.

Also, they say the movie has a better ending than the book too.  I'll have to re-watch that sometime this summer.

As far as suspense tho, I feel this book far outweighs any King book that I've read so far.

At the first of the month, I had fun Tweeting  (#miseryRAL) every once in a while, but let's face it....I'm old.

(not really, but I figure if I say it enough now, it won't be so bad when it happens in a couple of years*)

And social media-- well, I could make a ton of excuses about why I'm not any good, but really--you don't care, do you?

So, let me just say---that when I did join in, it was fun!

And you all were very gracious and told me,  "yeah,  you just jump in, any time'.

So, I did.

And I would do it again.

In October!

I'm excited!

As well as having a fun time, I discovered some great blogs during the #miseryRAL

That's always a good thing.

*ps-- I'm not really that old.

except to my grandchildren.  Then I'm ancient!

It's Monday (night) and this is what I'm reading! MISERY!

Today is June 1st, and that marks the start of
Stephen King's "Misery"  read-a-long

#miseryRAL 

Hosted by  Care at 

Care's Online Book Club 

Check out her  Kick-off post!

I am in!

For the Merry Merry Month of June!

It'll be Uncle Stevie for me! 

A couple of years ago, I signed up for  The Stephen King Project hosted by

Coffee and a Book Chick.

Sadly, I never finished it.

BUT--- I did write THIS POST about it. 

And how I was in love with SK, etc etc etc.

Here is an excerpt:

 Long  before I fell in love with him,  he and I were just friends.  I liked him fine, enjoyed a couple of his books, never thought of him much.  Then, I saw him and his wife, Tabitha on a BookTV special once  (roll your eyes if you've heard this before---my kids do, and I'm certain I've mentioned it on my blog before), where I heard him use the word 'lover' while talking about his wife.

NOW... aren't you intrigued? 

Don't you want to go read my original post? 

Here it is 9:04pm and I've just gotten home from work and a board meeting, and finally, FINALLY, I get to sit down and open... 

...THIS BOOK!!! 

I think you still have time to join if you'd like.

It's a real simple read along.

Mostly by Tweets on Twitter

(which is scaring me!  I don't really get Twitter and I feel as if I just blurt out random dorkiness at inappropriate times)

I have Twitter Tourettes!

(no disrespect to people with tourette syndrome)

I will forge my way along the Twitter Highway this month, and hopefully not make a fool of myself and  be known as --that crazy old lady!

or the crazy nice lady --forget old.

Okay then.

In closing...

Which cover do you like best?

Which is the creepiest?

Big Driver

From Goodreads:

 Tess Thorne, a famous mystery writer, faces a long drive home following a book signing engagement. Advised to take a shortcut at the suggestion of the event’s planner, Tess sets out for home, well after dark. On a lonely stretch of New England road, her tire blows out, and when a man in a pick up stops, it is not to help her, but to repeatedly assault her and leave her for dead. Tess survives, and she plots a revenge that will bring her face-to-face with another stranger: the one inside herself, capable of gruesome violence

From Me:

3.5 stars from me!

I enjoyed listening to this short audio book by Stephen King.

It was gritty and there some were scenes in the story that made my skin crawl... not from King's usual creepiness, but from 'this could happen in real life evil creepiness'.  As I get older, I usually don't like to read about those kinds of situations,  but I did  like how strong the main character became...even tho, she, herself committed some atrocities. 

The narrator, Jessica Hecht,  did a good job of transitioning the main characters voice from the 'before' and 'after'.

I understand it was originally published in King's 2010 anthology; Full Dark, No Stars.

Lifetime also made this into a movie, or rather a TV EVENT (as it says on the cover).

Now I want to see the movie.  It looks like there are some great strong female characters.  

Blockade Billy

From Goodreads:

 Even the most die-hard baseball fans don't know the true story of William “Blockade Billy” Blakely. He may have been the greatest player the game has ever seen, but today no one remembers his name. He was the first--and only--player to have his existence completely removed from the record books. Even his team is long forgotten, barely a footnote in the game's history.

Every effort was made to erase any evidence that William Blakely played professional baseball, and with good reason. Blockade Billy had a secret darker than any pill or injection that might cause a scandal in sports today. His secret was much, much worse... and only Stephen King, the most gifted storyteller of our age, can reveal the truth to the world, once and for all.

From me:

3 stars from me.

I liked it.

Baseball* and Stephen King.

What's not to like? 

I had to research a bit to see if Billy Blakely was real,  (he wasn't), but King sure made it seem as if he was.

I just love King's style of writing.

This was a short novella, which I read in one sitting --- just during coffee yesterday morning.

Stephen King said:

 I love old-school baseball, and I also love the way people who've spent a lifetime in the game talk about the game. I tried to combine those things in a story of suspense. People have asked me for years when I was going to write a baseball story. Ask no more; this is it

and I, love to read about old-school baseball*.

Truth be told, it wasn't  'all that' suspenseful for me, but it was a fun, quick, SK read.

*I love to read about baseball more than I like to watch it.

*I love the history of baseball and baseball movies more than I like to watch it in real life.

*I love the 'idea' of baseball.

*I love the smell of leather baseball mitts and the sight of little kids in their uniforms (not to mention adult men in their's)

*I love the sound of the ball park.

*I love the sound of a baseball game as it floats in the air up to my house, from the park down the street.

*I love hot dogs. (and peanuts and popcorn)

*I love to sing "Take me out to the Ballgame"

But.... sitting thru a whole game in real life?

I refuse to answer on the grounds that it might incriminate me.

Outdoor Wednesday

It's time for Outdoor Wednesday!

Hosted by Southern Daydreamer,where we get to post photos of  anything "outdoors."

A few weeks ago, my granddaughter came to spend a week with us during her spring break.

She lives in Phoenix, we live in Winnemucca.

We met in Las Vegas.  One weekend for me to pick her up, the next weekend for me to give her back to her parents.

That is a lot of desert to drive thru!!

On our way we go thru this  little mining town of Tonapah, NV.

(pronounced  Tone a paw, to all of us who live in Nevada.   Pronounced

  Ne vad a  ( the vad rhymes with RAD  no  ahhhh)

And while Googling Tonapah we came across a little known fact to us --

It has the most haunted motel in America!!

We were so excited to see it.  We thought it might be some stately old mansion or something equally as cool.

We were kind of disappointed when we drove up to this:

Just your basic, old  1960's era drive up motel.

It's  $39.50/night

What a deal!

To be honest... and I have to be...

it looks more dumpy than creepy.

I'll probably be going to clown hell now.

The only semi-spooky thing was this old miner cemetery that is right next to it. 

In this video the host keeps saying the name of the town WRONG!  You'd think if you were on Roadtrippers, you would have investigated and found out the correct pronunciation of the town  you were featuring!!!

I just thought this would be a fun little  "Outdoor Wednesday" to share with you.

Some haunted desert digs!

Stay at your own risk!

And don't take any Stephen King books!

Pet Sematary

from Goodreads:

The Creeds have just moved to a new house in the countryside. Their house is perfect, except for two things: the semi trailers that roar past on the narrow road, and the mysterious cemetery in the woods behind the house. The Creed's neighbors are reluctant to talk about the cemetery, and for good reason too.

from Me:

 3 stars.

It was a great, creepy Stephen King book,  the problem for me was, that I  had listened for years to everyone saying how it was his creepiest.

All that talk took some of the creepiness out.

It's still pretty creepy and if you like SK, then don't read this one while you are waiting for a pedicure, or in the dentist's office.

Be home, at night, alone, in a chair, no TV, no radio, no interruptions. Then it will be perfect.

Stephen King is the master of foreboding! 

And I love his descriptions and his character development.

I have to share this photo with you --

For some reason a few months ago (last summer) I started taking a picture of  my morning coffee cup along side the book I am currently reading, and posting it on Instagram.

This morning the  cat jumped up on the table, so I just snapped it.

Ironic, don't you think?  

Pet cat, Pet Sematary?

I was also reading Pet Sematary as part of a read-a-long

hosted by Somewhere in a Book.

Some of the other's in the read-along-have already posted and after reading

Care's post,  I have questions too!

She asked these questions (among others) (and there might be a spoiler here):

WHAT the heck happened to the family who lived in the house before the Creeds????????!?!??!??!?!

Why the heck did kids maintain the path to the Pet Sematary – the FAKE one? who cares, WHY.  WHY!?!?!?!

WHO did not protest any kids on their property maintaining said path?  WHA?

What was wrong with these people of Ludlow that they would humor kids to bury their pets on someone else’s property?

These things are a puzzle to me too!!

Especially why anyone would let those kids on their property!!?

I've been wanting to read this one  (and Salem's Lot)  (And Christene) for a long time, (hint hint Somewhere in a Book or whoever schedules SK read-alongs)

So, Thanks for pushing me along!

My favorite SK Book?

The Stand.

Musing Monday and the Stephen King Project

Sometimes on Monday's I participate in  "Musing Mondays" hosted by  Miz B of  Should be Reading. When I read this mornings musing, it seemed like a good idea to blend two things together....I am way behind on posting about   11-22-63 by  Stephen King for the Stephen King project, and today's musing just happens to be:

What is the longest book you have ever read? How long did it take you to read it?

This year, I've read some long books:  Gone with the Wind,  IT, 11-22-63.  Two of those are SK books, so I'd have to say,  the longest book I have ever read was a Stephen King book.  The   SK's books that I mention  are both over 1100 pages and GWTW was  53 hours of audio  (for a book club).
If a book is good and keeps my interest, I can read a 1000+ book in about a week.
If I didn't care for the book, well,  at this point in my life, I just wouldn't read it.  I would give it a good 200 pages or so before I gave up on it tho.  There used to be a time I'd finish everything I had started, but now, as time grows short in my life,  (Yes, I'm LAUGHING!!!)  there are just too many books out there I want to read, so I don't force myself.

Sitting down with a big book when you have high expectations that it's gonna be good, is like a treat!!  A couple of  long summer afternoons in the hammock.  A lot of iced tea.  Your book.  There is nothing better.  
So without anymore meandering, my answer for Musing Mondays is:
I have read a few books between  1100 and 1400 pages, and it does not take me very long at all.

Now about that Stephen King project.....(oops!!  there are only  849 pages in  11-22-63,  I must have been thinking about The Stand, my favorite all time SK book.)

11-22-63
I loved it.

This is what I wrote in my Goodreads review:
I must agree with my friends and say it was one of the best books I've read in quite some time.
That's it.


I first saw the book on Christmas morning, when my daughter-in-law, Sadie, opened a gift from her husband, my son, Mark.   I hadn't even heard of it.  I was totally out of the loop!!   She loaned it to me in Feb and I read it in April.  Why did I wait so long?  I'm not sure, as it really was one of the best books I've read in quite some time.

The thing about SK is how varied and talented he is in his writing!  Sadie and I have discussed this a few times.  You MUST like character development tho.  He is so much more than his horror persona.
Yes, there was an element of Sci-fi  (not horror tho ),  in this book, but it was really interesting and thought provoking,  and...and...also, it's a love story.   Not a mushy, chick-lit  (no offense intended)  love story, but a Stephen King kind of love story, filled with great character development and great detail and tenderness and  suspense. oh...and what could be an altered future.
Truly if you have been putting off reading Stephen King--don't put  it off any longer.  This is the book for you.

If you had the chance to change the course of history, would you?
Would the consequences be worth it?

That's the great question of all time, and Stephen King writes about his take on it.  I happened to love it.

(as a postscript,  my middle son's girlfriend's dad was born on that day,  11-22-63.  I find that interesting. )
(on the day I was born?  NOTHING.  I just Googled it.)