Year 4, week 36: Stephen King twofer

 Two Stephen King books this week:

Joyland
By Stephen King

I have a confession, I love Stephen King. I will fully admit I haven’t read everything that he has written, but I have read a large chunk of his work. I originally picked this book up for a reading challenge that required a book about a circus, because apparently national circus day is April 17th. Well I had read most of the circus themed books on the list so I read this novel that includes an amusement park so I thought that was close enough. 

This novel is all told from the point of view of a 21 year old guy from the early 1970’s and the summer he worked at a small amusement park. This book reminded me of my dad in a lot of ways; the main character is a writer like my dad, and is working a summer job that doesn’t really suit him; my dad worked a lot of odd summer jobs that he used to tell my sister about when we were younger. The writing also just sounds like my father’s way of thinking and writing. 

The book is not one of King’s scary or gruesome horrors; it's more like one of his retrospective stories that are heartbreaking and sentimental. Of course, there are moments that are still a bit creepy, but for the most part the story is pretty straightforward. I will say that there are many King books that are a little too long for my taste, even though King can spin a real tale. This book tells a story while not going overboard with side stories and too much information. The book has no chapters, just page breaks, which would normally drive me nuts, but in this case it just sucked me into the story. 

I enjoyed it greatly and would recommend the novel.

Salem’s Lot
By Stephen King

I bought this book a while back, because I wanted to read something creepy for Halloween, and what is more Halloween like then the king (no pun intended) of horror, Stephen King? I finally got around to reading the book because I just wanted to read something not so hard-hitting. I read most of the book and finished it up via audiobook. The audiobook had an introduction from King and it’s always interesting to hear where authors get their inspiration from. This book is about vampires, and when King was a child he was terrified for vampires. 

If I’m going to be honest, this wasn’t my favorite of King’s books; it’s just too long. However, I’m glad I read it. If you are a fan of horror and King, you should check it out.