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At the moment I am reading a book called Living Souls by Dmitry Bykov. It is translated from Russian. I started reading it in September but in mid-September I went back to university so I couldn't make any more progress with it. When I stopped reading it I wasn't enjoying it which partly explains why I hadn't got very far with it, but I picked up where I left of a few days before Christmas and I am enjoying it a lot more now.
 
Sounds cool indeed, but this scares me off a bit:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/11/22/63#Critical_reception
The review in the Houston Chronicle called the novel "one of King’s best books in a long time" but also "overlong" noting "As is usually the case with King’s longer books, there’s a lot of self-indulgent fat in 11/22/63 that could have trimmed." The review in the Bangor Daily News commented that the novel "[is] another winner", but provided no critical review of the plot construction. Lev Grossman, in reviewing the novel for Time magazine called the novel "the work of a master craftsman" but also commented that "the wires go slack from time to time" and the book wanders from genre to genre, particularly in the middle. More pointedly, Los Angeles Times book critic David Ulin called the novel "a misguided effort in story and writing". Ulin's primary criticism is the conceit of the story, which requires the reader to follow two plotlines simultaneously: historical fiction built upon the Kennedy assassination as well as the tale of a time traveling English teacher, adds a page load to the novel that Ulin finds excessive.

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Naturally there's a lot of positive criticism as well.

Did you like the book from start to finish, Night Prowler?
 
I did. It didn't feel very long to me, maybe because I'm a very fast reader.

Just to be clear:
1. This was the first Stephen King's book I read.
2. Before I read this book I only knew the name of JFK's murderer...and that would be it.
3. I can name few US presidents, but other than that I don't know anything about US politics.

Btw. I'm gonna start reading another Stephen King's book - Under The Dome.
 
I used to read a ton of King books, but stopped in the late 90s I think Needful Things did me in. I might pick this one up, it sounds interesting ....
 
Black Wizard said:
At the moment I am reading a book called Living Souls by Dmitry Bykov. It is translated from Russian. I started reading it in September but in mid-September I went back to university so I couldn't make any more progress with it. When I stopped reading it I wasn't enjoying it which partly explains why I hadn't got very far with it, but I picked up where I left of a few days before Christmas and I am enjoying it a lot more now.
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I finally finished this book last night. What a slog it was!
 
Stephen King is an underrated author who wrote popular, mass-appeal fiction for so long that eventually people started realizing it had merit as serious literature. I dare anyone not to read the first chapter of "It" and not resolve to finish the whole damn thing immediately (though, I will warn you, the ending is a bit of a disappointment -- let's just say the reference to the turtle in the first chapter is foreshadowing). "The Stand" has previously been regarded as his masterpiece, and his short fiction is great too. I have not read "11/22/63" but it was one of the New York Times' ten best books of 2011, so I've been interested in trying it. 900-page books are pretty impractical to me, though, since I have little free time.
 
Stephen King's "The Stand" ranks as my favourite novel ever... I read it as a kid and multiple times since. Inspired me to read everything he wrote, although things started getting pretty same-y by the early 90's. Agree that his short stories are superb... maybe even his strongest material...
 
I read a fair bit of King in my teens/early 20s, but it's been long time since I picked up anything of his — the last book in the Black Tower series probably.
You guys are piquing my curiousity.
 
I've read little of King, but I've read enough to know he once was great, now he's just good, but good is not good enough. My favorites are Cujo and Christine. I have The Stand and The Shinning qued up and I've been curious about It for a while. Who knows... one of these days.
 
I read 3 books in the last 4 days B)

1. Mustaine - A Heavy Metal Memoir
Obviously, Dave Mustaine's autobiography. It's a very interesting book. Pretty much everything you wanted to know about him is in this book. I wanted to know more about Chris Poland's return shortly before Marty Friedman entered the band, another Poland's return to record The System Has Failed and Gar Samuelson's death. Other than that, he pretty much explained why he kicked out each member :D

2. J.L. Bourne - Day By Day Armageddon
An ongoing journal depicting one man's personal struggle for survival, dealing with the trials of an undead world unfolding around him. An unknown plague sweeps the planet. The dead rise to claim the Earth as the new dominant species. Trapped in the midst of a global tragedy, he must make decisions...choices that that ultimately mean life, or the eternal curse to walk as one of them.
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Although a little bit short (only 200 pages), it's very interesting from start to finish.

3. J.L. Bourne - Day By Day Armageddon: Beyond Exile
The sequel. It's also written in first person journal format. IMO it's better than the first book, mostly because it's longer and better written. The third book will be written in traditional novel format.
Trivia:
J.L. Bourne is on active duty as a commissioned U.S. naval officer.
 
I bought Stephen King's Cell today. Books I'm gonna read in the next few days (in this order):
1. Enter Night - Mick Wall - Metallica biography
2. Stephen King - Cell
3. The Bro Code - tie-in novel to How I Met Your Mother (TV series)
4. Bro On The Go - tie-in novel to How I Met Your Mother (TV series)
5. The Playbook - tie-in novel to How I Met Your Mother (TV series)
 
Night Prowler said:
2. Stephen King - Cell
3. The Bro Code - tie-in novel to How I Met Your Mother (TV series)
4. Bro On The Go - tie-in novel to How I Met Your Mother (TV series)
5. The Playbook - tie-in novel to How I Met Your Mother (TV series)
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Read all of these in 2 days :) HIMYM books were fun, but nothing special really. I already knew most of the jokes from the show.

Cell was awesome, maybe a little short though. Haven't read Metallica biography cause some pages were missing.

Waiting for The Key by Simon Toyne to arrive in the next few days. Gonna order King's The Stand when I finish some books that I bought but haven't read.
 
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