Any recommendations as to which Stephen King’s book I can start with?
Hey guys! Planning to start reading Stephen King books. Any recommendations as to which book I can start with?
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Misery
I started with Carrie. Loved it
‘Salem’s Lot is my favorite so far! But I also liked “It” and if you aren’t into horror as much or you like sci fi I enjoyed The Dark Tower. It’s a series but I have only read the first book so far.
I’ve actually never tried horror as a genre. I think I should start though. ?
He is a great place to start!
I second Salem’s Lot
I think I’m going to start with The Outsider. I just saw his interview with Stephen Colbert and the plot sounds interesting.
The only book of his that I’ve read is On Writing.
@Laura will definitely check those out! Thanks for the recommendations! ??
The Talisman was his first venture into what he called “Twinners”. My fav SK book, co written with Peter Straub.
@Laura Good book, a peek into the way his writing mind works.
I started with The Mist because it was one of his shorter ones. I enjoyed it.
Great idea. That way I can find out if I am ready to start the bigger ones. Not liking a big book midway might make me slumber. Thanks! ?
Thank you so much guys! ??
Yea. Clive Barker books.
The Stand was my first. It’s post-apocalyptic, in that a virus kills about 95% of the US population and there is a struggle for good and evil. I’m pretty sure a demon was involved. Goodness I want to reread that book! It was SO good.
I recently read the extended version of the Stand, I really enjoyed it but it took so long to get through those 1200 pages.
It’s amazing book I knew nothing about it when I started, but it knocked my socks off
@Katie I read it when I was young, only 100 pages to the end and I gave up ? Don’t really know why, it was amazing.
I’m reading this for the first time and it is nothing like I expected. I have 100 pages left and so far…….,WOW.
I started with The Green Mile, then The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon, then read The Long Walk, then Carrie, then The Stand (super book), and am now reading 11/22/63. I am actively avoiding his scary stuff, but one day I might give it a go, as I have heard The Shining is very good.
I have actively (and successfully) avoided the scary stuff my whole life. 11/22/63 is great, so are Under The Dome and Hearts in Atlantis.
@Jennifer Thanks very much!
I very much liked The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon.
What a can of worms you’ve opened…
Really just jump in and you’ll find out eventually how much of a loaded question that is. ?
“It” is my personal favorite as far as scary goes. “The green mile” is an all around beautiful book — the first to make me cry. “The shining” is the only book that I read AFTER watching the movie that lead me to have more questions after reading it than I had before reading it. “Misery” is a great stand alone book (if there is such a thing for King) that might be a good bellwether for your enjoyment of King.
The Green Mile is the only movie I’ve *ever* enjoyed as much as the book.
The Stand, The Green Mile and Salem’s Lot.
What i did was went and found his first books he wrote as Richard Bachman such as Rage, The Long Walk, Roadwork and the Running Man all very good
Just bought this new book!?
Pet Cemetery, The Stand, Cujo, Misery, 11/22/63 is the most recent of his that I have read I think it’s excellent.
I loved The Cell!
11/22/63, then the Mr Mercedes series
Have read Mr Mercedes didn’t realise it was a series, must find the others.
Carrie
The Stand
I loved Rose Madder
Read his older stuff first, Carrie is a good place to start.
I agree, older stuff first. Carrie, Pet Sematary, Thinner (this was written using his pen name Richard Bachman), Misery, Cujo…they’re all amazing! Once you get the hang of his writing style, then you should try IT, Under the Dome, Salem’s Lot, The Shining, Desperation, etc…I am a huge SK fan!!! I also love his Bachman books the books he wrote using his pen name. But, try to avoid The Tommyknockers…even though I liked it I thought it was “meh” compared to his other stuff and he has said himself that that’s one of the books he knows wasn’t that great lol Happy reading!
The Shining
I loved all his books. The more recent ones are outstanding! The Mr Mercedes ones are thoroughly enjoyable and well done.
Carrie, Pet Sematary, Salem’s Lot, The Shining, The Green Mile.
I started with old classics like Carrie or Pet Sematary… You can never go wrong with these… I would also advise you to read The Dark Half and 22/11/63…
Eyes of the Dragon. Doesn’t get nearly the love it deserves
That’s my favorite of his!!
Just about to start his latest–The Outsider
The Stand!!!
The best is the Shining. Hated the movie so much, but the book is amazing.
11-22-63 is amazing.
11/22/63 is the first King I’ve read in years and made me remember why I enjoy him. But at 1000+ pages, it might be a tad intimidating. Carrie was the first King book I read, EVER, in high school and it started me on a mini marathon of reading everything I could find by him. To this day, I remember reading Christine in my room, at night, and freaking out when I heard a car coming down the street. ?
No one mentioning the Dark Tower series? If you want to read Stephen King but maybe don’t want horror those are good. Of course it’s a long series but totally worth it. And reading this thread reminds me how many things this man has actually written. You could pretty much pick up any of his books and not be disappointed.
I don’t like horror, what is the Dark Tower Series about?
It’s a fantasy series. Don’t watch the movie. Not even like the books. It starts with the gunslinger. It actually ties in with things from Eye of the Dragon someone mentioned above. If you like fantasy check it out. The first book isn’t really long compared to his other books. It’s about a quest across different worlds.
I love King and I think you should read them in order from his first, Carrie, to his latest, The Outsider. And don’t forget his books written under the name Richard Bachman and the ones he’s cowritten with his son.
11/22/63
The shining is a popular classic for a reason! 🙂
President and VP blocked him on Twitter which Supreme Court reversed. Love his comments and wit. Books are so very entertaining to say the least. Gerald’s Game kept my toes curled throughout. Would take breaks to calm down.
11-22-63! The best!
The Stand … it stands as my favorite book ever.
Read the book more than once, listened to audiobook on cassette, and watched every filmed version of the story. New version starring Trump camp and Bernie camp, maybe?
I’d start with the oldest ones, first … work my way up to the most recent.
The Talisman, and The Stand.
Tommyknockers, The Body (Stand by Me), The Green Mile, The Gunslinger, The Dark Half, The Shining, Needful Things
All these!!!
The Stand
The long walk!
The Shining is my favorite. Or Salems Lot.
I started my Stephen King journey with Salem’s Lot. I recommend starting with the OG though, Carrie.
The stand
Revival
11/22/63 – so good!
Love his work.
The Hodges Trilogy starting with Mr Mercedes
The Stand
My all time favorite. IT
Mr. Mercedes. It is book 1 of a series. #2 Finders Keepers. #3 End of Watch.
Bag of Bones
I loved this one. Not sure what it was but i remember loving it so much.
What’s drawing you to read his books – are you leaning to any participation la r title?
I’ve never really read horror as a genre. I thought it was time I tried it out. Looking for some variety.
Pet Sematary was my first and I loved it!!
The Stand but be prepared to be glued to it. It is hard to put down.
The Stand was great!
I suggest Carrie
avoid The Tommyknockers….hands down his worst book
Disagree. The alien aspect was very scary. From a Buick 8 is his worst book IMO: a bad rewrite of Christine.
definitely agree with you on from a buick 8 I don’t think I even finished that one
@Melany It was pretty bad for a King book, but even his worst is an average read.
The Stand
Depends on if you want terrifying or not. If you want to ease into King, I would start with Firestarter. King really writes child characters very well and the main character is about 10 if I recall. It is also not 900000 pages long like many of his books but a relatively short 400 page novel.
Salem’s Lot scared the absolute hell out of me when I was in college so if you want scary I would start there or with The Shining or Pet Sematary. The Green Mile would also be an excellent starting place.
The Shining or The Pet Sematary. Both absolutely brilliant! Incase you don’t want to start with something as horrifying as these two, start with either Green Mike or Dark Half.
I would say definitely not Eyes of the Dragon.
The stand, the shining, 11-22-63, pet cemetery
I love them all but the Stand, the Shining, 11-23-63, and Duma Key are my favorites
I agree with The Stand or The Shining. Very good start. Also his short stories are awesome, I think it’s called The Four Seasons. 4 short stories that were made into movies Not all his books were made into good movies, but 3 from that book were. Also The Green Mile. Excellent
The Green Mile
Shawshank redemption is very good.
I read The Dead Zone a long time ago and it was really scary and good!
“The Stand” is great, but I (recently) picked it as my first King novel and found the length pretty intimidating/discouraging. Wish I had started with something shorter and worked my way up.
Pet Sematary
Christine was one of my favorites. I just finished 11/22/63 and absolutely loved it. The Shining ranks very high on my list as well. So many good ones to choose from. Delores Claiborne is another great read.
Salems Lot