In Which We Discuss Books I Read in my 28th Year, Weeks 37/52

Only two books this week (22nd to 28th April), both audiobooks that I'd read before.

Last week, I started watching Dr Who for the first time, ever.  I started with the tenth Doctor, and I will never accept any other.  Though David Tennant is fun.  Weirdly, I'd read stories from the extended Whoniverse before I'd ever watched the show.  Rereading Time Lord Fairy Tales having seen it, I do feel like I got more from it!

The third book in the Fire Sermon series will be released at the end of June.  That's not why I re-listened to this book now; I just felt like it.  I might wait a bit before listening to the second part of the trilogy, so there's less of a gap.

The most obvious thing about The Fire Sermon is that it's a book of foils.  Everyone is born twinned, with one alpha and one omega.  In this specific story, specific alphas aren't contrasted only to their omegas, but to other pairs of alpha and omegas.  The two key pairs face the same problem, but a different half of the pair is ultimately the more ruthless.  That's quite interesting.

In Which We Discuss Stephen King

First, an update as to where I am with this project right now.


- 15/6/13

Carrie - 1974 -  June 15th 2013
'Salem's Lot - 1975 - June 30th 2013
The Shining - 1977 - July 28th 2013
Rage - 1977 - July 31st 2013
Night Shift - 1978 - August 28th 2013
The Stand - 1978 - March 20th 2014
The Long Walk - 1979 - March 23rd 2014
The Dead Zone - 1979 - June 2014
Firestarter - 1980 - August 16th 2014


- 15/6/13 to 17/8/14 - 9

Roadwork - 1981 - 23rd August 2014
Danse Macabre - 1981 - 7th September 2014
- BONUS: Small World (Tabitha King) - 10th September 2014
Cujo - 1981 - 20th September 2014
The Running Man - 1982- 22nd September 2014
The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger - 1982 - 30th September 2014
Creepshow - 1982 - 1st October 2014
Different Seasons - 1982  - 24th October 2014

- 17/8/14 to 25/10/14 - 8 (17)

Christine - 1983 
Pet Sematary - 1983
Cycle of the Werewolf - 1983
The Talisman - 1984
Thinner - 1984 

- 25/10/14/14 to 14/07/2015 - 5 (22)

Skeleton Crew - 1985
It - 1986
The Eyes of the Dragon - 1987
The Dark Tower II: The Drawing of the Three - 1987
Misery - 1987 

- 14/7/15 to 18/10/2015 - 5 (27)

The Tommyknockers - 1987
Nightmares in the Sky  - 1988
The Dark Half - 1989 

- 18/10/2015 to 22/12/2015 - 3 (30)

Four Past Midnight - 1990
The Dark Tower III: The Waste Lands - 1991 
Needful Things - 1991
Gerald's Game - 1992
Dolores Claiborne - 1992
Nightmares and Dreamscapes - 1993

- 22/12/2015 to 24/4/2016 - 6 (36)

Insomnia - 1994
Rose Madder - 1995
The Green Mile - 1996
Desperation - 1996
The Regulators - 1996
Six Stories - 1997
The Dark Tower IV: Wizard and Glass - 1997
Dark Tower: Little Sisters of Eluria (Legend) - 1998
Bag of Bones - 1998
Storm of the Century - 1998
The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon - 1999
  
- 24/4/2016 to 14/11/16 - 6 (47)

Hearts in Atlantis - 1999
Blood and Smoke - 1999
"Riding the Bullet" - 2000
On Writing - 2000 
Secret Windows - 2000
The Plant - 2000  
Dreamcatcher - 2001

Black House (with Peter Straub) -2001
Everything's Eventual - 2002
From a Buick 8 - 2002
The Dark Tower V: Wolves of the Calla - 2003
The Dark Tower VI: Song of Susannah - 2004

The Dark Tower VII: The Dark Tower - 2004
Faithful - 2004
- BONUS: 20th Century Ghosts (Joe Hill) - Jan 2005
- BONUS: Josie and Jack (Kelly Braffet)  - Feb 2005
- BONUS: We're All in This Together (Owen King) - 2005

The Colorado Kid - 2005
Cell - 2006
Lisey's Story - 2006
Blaze - 2007
Duma Key - 2008

Just After Sunset - 2008 
Stephen King Goes to the Movies - 2009
Ur - 2009
Under the Dome - 2009
Blockade Billy - 2010

Full Dark, No Stars - 2010
Mile 81 - 2011
11/22/63 - 2011
American Vampire (with Scott Snyder) - 2011
"Throttle" (with Joe Hill) - 2012

The Dark Tower: The Wind Through the Keyhole - 2012
A Face in the Crowd (with Stewart O'Nan) - 2012
"In the Tall Grass"  (with Joe Hill) - 2012
"GUNS" - 2013
Ghost Brothers of Darkland County - 2013

Joyland - 2013
The Dark Man: An Illustrated Poem - 2013
Doctor Sleep - 2013
Mr. Mercedes - 2014 
Revival - November 2014

Finders Keepers - 2015
The Bazaar of Bad Dreams - 2015
End of Watch - 2016

I realise that I've not written a post since The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon, and since my copy of Secret Windows arrived today, I should probably get on with that.

Hearts in Atlantis is a series of loosely interconnected stories and novellas set in the sixties, at the time of the Vietnam War.  The titular Hearts in Atlantis is about a college student who becomes addicted to playing Hearts and risks dropping out.  The theme of the collection is failure, and the idea that the baby boomer generation didn't live up to their potential.  There are a few links to The Dark Tower, mostly in the first novella, Low Men in Yellow Coats.

I started writing this post quite a while ago; since then, I've finished Secret Windows, which is a collection of introductions and various other bits of collected writing from Stephen King.  I quite enjoyed it, particularly his thoughts on fantasy.  He pointed out that fantasy stories are about gaining and losing power, except for the bad ones which are about someone who just maintains their power.

I've just started The Plant, and I'm quite disappointed that it's unfinished because I'm enjoying it!

After this project - probably after I've finished my degree - I think my next project will be to read the entirety of the sci-fi masterworks series.  That or the fantasy masterworks.  That way, I'll complete my collections as well.

In Which We Discuss Books I Read in my 28th Year, Weeks 36/52

Five books last week, since the Forbidden Game is a trilogy!  The only new one, and the only non-audiobook is The World of Poo, a defictionalised Discworld book.  I borrowed that from the library.

That triggered a desire to read more Discworld books; I actually wanted to reread Witches Abroad, but I can't afford to buy new audiobooks at the moment, so Maskerade it was.

I'm trying to use a schedule to cope better with my ADD, and it includes time for blogging, so hopefully my entries will get a little longer than they have been recently!

In Which We Discuss Books I Read in my 28th Year, Weeks 29-35 of 52

Up to the 14th of April.