when I saw Stephen King had recommended the book "YOU"
358638
Oh Caroline Kepnes!! I found this author, when I saw Stephen King had recommended the book "YOU". I bought the audio books for both YOU and Hidden Bodies. I'm a hard critic and I'm blown away by the Authors writing.. and the Narrator, WOW!! I want to read books that make me feel a little uncomfortable and Caroline Kepnes has done that perfectly. I finished Hidden Bodies a few days ago and I'm still thinking about it!! Bravo!
3375601
In any years ago I was an avid Stephen King fan - he is such a great writer, no matter what he's writing about - so I never tired of him - but slowly got tired of the scary supernatural themes.  Years later I picked up Under The Dome - which wasn't easy in  itself, especially since I lugged it around everywhere,  That book did two things for me - convinced me to buy a Kindle, much easier to lug around - and more importantly, renewed my interest in King' s .books - under the Dome was so much more than a scary book - so many great elements to it - but I digress.
So when Dr Sleep came out - I jumped on it immediately, ( especially being a big fan of the Shining  many years ago. I guess I should have known it would be over the top with  supernatural  happenings, so my bad - but the bottom line is, I  still think King is a terrific writer - but I think I ' 've outgrown his books  I couldn't'- wait to finish it - & not in a good way..
2043313
It was like the "real" Stephen King returned.  I had always loved his books but then for a while they just got weird.  So "Doctor Sleep" is a lot more like "The Shining", "Salem's Lot"...that generation of King books.  I truly enjoyed the story and it scared me in a way only a King book can scare.  There are parts toward the end that I had to focus on because I thought maybe I had missed something.  I think this one takes a bit of imagination on the reader's part because of the mind games everyone plays.  But not to give the story away, if you are a King fan, it is a must read.  I would love to see it as a movie as long as they don't ruin it as Hollywood seems to do with the best of them.

It is a lengthy book but I couldn't put it down.  Totally worth the time!  I was kind of sorry when I was finished.
4475256
This is the first book I've ever read that after I was finished, despite it being a daunting 850 pages, I wanted to immediately start over at the beginning. Now normally, I'm not a huge Stephen King fan. Not into demonic possessions and stuff like that. But this is a book filled with suspense, drama, action, science-fiction, romance, and pretty much everything else you can imagine.

Along with the obvious coolness of time-travel, it adds a whole new dimension with the question of-If you go back in time with the intention of accomplishing a job and going back, what do you do if you fall in love? It gives you an interesting look into the period of time that most of the book was written in if, like me, you weren't born yet. King's characters were well crafted, and he gave a rather interesting idea of what it would be like to a person of THIS generation living in 1960. But the most gripping aspect to me was how time was literally trying to prevent itself from being changed throughout the book.

Interesting, thrilling, nail-biting, whatever you want to call it, add it to your collection immediately or I will personally hunt down each and every one of you who read this review and don't buy 11-22-63 and beat you with all of its 850 pages until you fall over unconscious.
961808
This is Stephen King at his finest  the best I have seen from him since his magnificent novels "It" and "The Stand."

I got this book on Audible initially, fell in love with it immediately, and went on to buy a copy of the actual book itself (just so I could hold it in my hands and feel its heft ... and look up favorite parts to read myself).  I even went on to buy copies of the books for three other people, just because I couldn't contain how incredible this book has proven.

Today I finished.  And I felt physically WIPED OUT.  That's how powerful it is.  I don't think I have felt this strong of a reaction to the completion of a book since Confessions of Nat Turner (Styron), Sometimes a Great Notion (Kesey), and A Prayer for Owen Meany (Irving).  It's that good.  You just sit there afterward.  Shellshocked.  And all you want to do ... is go back to the beginning to start through it again.

The Audible version of the book was spectacular.  The voice of the narrator was perfect.  The accents he gives to the various characters are truly masterful.  I've listened to a lot of recorded books, and this narrator was one of my favorites by far.  If you can get it on Audible, do so.  I think it made what was already a 5-Star novel into a 10-Star performance.

If you are looking for a truly awesome book that will utterly captivate you  this is it.  Magnificent work!

PS:  If you haven't yet read Stephen King's incredible novel "It," you may want to read that before going on to 11/22/63.  The crossover is delicious.
4556547
Oh man! This book has heart man, it has heart! I loved it! There was one spot where it slowed down a little more than my liking, but for the tone and style of the book, it did a surprising job of pulling me through most of it. It's told in first person, which is pretty rare these days - and I thought it worked brilliantly. It has such a personal feel because the protagonist is the narrator. I bet first person is going to come back. Don't believe me? Ever heard of a novel called The Hunger Games? Yeah I thought so :) I really cared about these characters. I think King's biggest strength is writing good characters. I didn't know how he was going to end this huge story leaving me satisfied, but he did - and he did it in a way I wasn't expecting. I liked this book so much, I know it is one that will join the few books I will most certainly go back and read again someday. If you've never read King because you're not a horror fan like me - you owe it to yourself to give this one a try. I think you'll find that there's a reason Stephen is the King when it comes to speculative fiction. Also, I wasn't too sure about the narrator Craig Wasson at first, but as the story came alive through his voice it grew on me to the point where I can't imagine another voice telling this story. He has the perfect voice for the main character, and his accents were great too! I really enjoyed his read of this amazing novel.
883365
I have a deep desire to write and I enjoy reading Stephen King's novels.  So this book seemed like a dream come true.  Stephen King uses his style throughout the book of growing up amid terrors and trials with the baby-sitter, straight from "Misery." His way with words astounds me and makes me aware that I need to read more.
Stephen King talks about his near fatal accident and describes it with the same clarity and horror that he uses in his story-telling.  You can almost feel the troubled breathing and the pain that he experienced when he was life-flighted in a helicopter for his emergency treatment.  Thank heavens that he made it through this experience!
I like the way that he guides us through his writing techniques: write 4 to 6 hours daily; use your intuition; the story comes before any plot; stay away from adverbs; watch that grammar and write 3 drafts before you finish your story.  So now all I have to do is start to read the 3 pages of recommended books that King lists at the end of his memoir and begin to write.  Now I know that writing can't be that easy; and his talent can't be imitated.  But I agree with Stephen, writing can be therapeutic!
1680450
This is one of the scariest books Stephen King has ever written: he de-mystifies the terror of writing - anything - for those of us who are authors but haven't been published.  In these 291 pages I have laughed, cried, groaned, cursed, cried some more, and then stood on top of the house and shouted to the world that I AM AN AUTHOR!!! which made me feel absolutely wonderful until my wife came out and said dinner was ready, get my ass off the roof. And yeah, dinner was delicious.

King takes the Art of Writing out of the plodding swamps of lectures, how-to books, and the disgustingly wrong advice of friends who think you're not talented enough to write a grocery list, much less a decent romance/sci fi/ mystery/you name it. And they're almost always saying that "to protect your feelings," because they don't want to see you cry or get really depressed. And of course they don't write nor do they read much - their idea of great fiction are the "reality" shows on TV. Oh, well.

My advice is to get this book (it's not expensive) and just read it. Don't highlight or underline or even fold down page corners. Just read it - straight thru if you can. And put it down for a week or two. Then go back and start over, starting wherever you remember there was something that smacked you between the eyes. Highlight, put those little colored sticky-tabs on pages, turn corners down, stop and copy out his words, make recordings, get markers and make huge signs for your wall (bathroom's best, you see it more often), and carry one of his lines around on a 3x5 card and read it aloud as often as possible so you can memorize it . . . DON'T put it on your iPad, you'll forget after you hear it a couple of times and Metallica will come up, followed by classic George Jones/Willie Nelson, and you'll be singing along like you usually do and forget all about Stephen's words of wisdom: SnifferKix latest rap words will replace that wisdom.

This book exceeded my expectations right wow. I've been told to get it and read it for at least 9 years, and after all that procrastination, I'm so glad I took that first step. Look for my three latest novels in stores everywhere, I'm still trying to record my audio book.
1758320
Read this book the first time in 1976 or so and it scared me so much that I've read every word Stephen King writes. Loved it as much now as then.
465519
NO Stephen King did not actually eat my brain, thats the title to one of the stories in this fun collection. of course with a title like that, i read it first. as a King fan, i would say HE'd approve.  give a new writer a chance and try this book, i didn't regret it im sure you wont.  i hate long winded  reviews, im no critic, but i know what i like. this is good reading.
938278
My FIRST King book!! I never thought I would like this genre,or Stephen King's type of stories. Although I may have gotten a bit of beginner's luck with this particular book. Either way,I WILL be reading King again,to find out. As far as this book:I thoroughly enjoyed it. Read it for hours at a time. It reminded me of The Twilight Zone,(very much).Like I said,gonna find out if it was just a lucky choice when I read another King book. Until then,this one was GREAT.!!!!
395903
I read a lot of Stephen King books back in the days. I have not read any for a long time. And I liked it. Not much supernatural stuff apart from the initial time travel. After that it becomes sort of a reflection of how things were, not so long ago, and quite romantic. Totally not Stephen King as I remember him. I enjoyed the book and finished it.
4865290
I decided to read It by Stephen King before the movie is released later this year (2017). I haven't liked too much of the Stephen King stuff I've read, but I never learn my lesson, and I keep reading his books anyway.

For those not familiar with the story, It is a book about a bunch of kids who live a town that is haunted by a monster. That monster, often referred to as It, manifests in the form that is most terrifying to you, and often in the form of Pennywise the clown. I would describe the overall book as an R-rated Stranger Things on crack.

It was 1153 pages long, which makes it among the longest books Ive ever read. Despite its length, the story actually flowed well. I never got tired or bored, despite several subplots and too many characters that are difficult to keep track of or understand their place in the story. That said, It is truly an epic and the scariest book Ive ever read.

It isn't a perfect book, though. There are some serious questions about the rules for Pennywise/It. At times, It seems all-powerful, able to do great things - powerful enough to destroy everything and anything it wanted to relatively easily. At other times, It seems significantly less powerful. I will avoid saying anything more to avoid spoilers, but this is something I couldn't help but notice.

That said, I would still recommend It to anyone who likes Stephen King or horror. It is one of my favorite Stephen King books, but definitely not for everyone due to graphic violence and how disturbing it is. I give it four stars, mostly taking away the last star for over description of the mystery behind It near the end of the book, the previously mentioned inconsistencies of the powers of It, and one weird scene that didn't make any sense to me.
656324
Fantastic, But that's Stephen King for you, He could never let me down, Will always read his books, and now I have it on my Kindle and Hardback Book.
3965219
I chose this as my first kindle book -fitting methinks as The Shining was the first Stephen king work I ever read. Mom gave it to me to read when I was eleven or twelve. I had trouble putting this one down and it's the first book to scare me before bed in a long while. I haven't read a Stephen king story in years and am glad I chose this one to restart.
293047
Just finished Dr. Sleep.  I had preordered in March, and when it magically appeared on my Kindle, I was thrilled.  As with all of King's books, I promised myself that I wouldn't gobble it up in a weekend, and this time, I was able to stretch it out for 2 weeks.
I truly enjoyed the story.  Dan Torrance, all grown up, was as endearing as Danny Torrance the 5 year old.  It was great fun to read all of the references to "The Shining," which I first read as a teenager.  I don't know if Mr. King is still capable of writing stories that could scare me into keeping the curtains closed and the radio on, like "'Salem's Lot," but he definitely can still write a story with characters I care about, nifty little plot twists and scenes that wrench my heart (spoiler!), like the dying orderly at the end of the story, worrying about his little dog. Scenes like that, inconsequential slices of life that are so real it brings tears to my eyes.  Sure, the guy was a jerk, but at the end he was scared and concerned about the things he loved, and Mr. King can still capture that fear and concern with a spooky, Everyman realism that brings such a "wow-could-this-really-happen?" quality to nearly everything I've read that he's written.  Good stuff, great stuff, and I'll continue reading everything he writes.
2864183
Whew! I know that Stephen  King himself has called REVIVAL "A nasty piece of work," and that's pretty accurate. Those people who are just enjoying it as a nifty piece of horror writing must be on the young side. When you're nearing the last third of your life (King and I were born the same year), and if you have many doubts and insecurities about the possibility of an afterlife, this is a book to darken your days for a long time! (I guess I'd better re-read Machen's THE GREAT GOD PAN, which King said has haunted him his whole life, and which seems to have inspired this book - Maybe it will reassure me that King hasn't actually had a glimpse of anything remotely like the discovery made at the end of REVIVAL.) The book itself is a fascinating journey through some fifty years of a man's life - but the terrible concluding experience that has been building ever since young Jamie first meets the Reverend Charles Jacobs wipes out all of the joys and learning and living that have preceded it. Every once in a while King goes REALLY dark - this is, I think, his darkest - others that come to mind are PET SEMATARY and THINNER. Once I recover from REVIVAL (assuming I do) , I'll need a good dose of the more optimistic King - To works like THE GIRL WHO LOVED TOM GORDON, 11/22/63, the beautiful JOYLAND, - and even IT!