Finished: The Outsider, by Stephen King

Started: The Gunslinger, by Stephen King (Dark Tower series)

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I started reading again about 2 weeks ago before bedtime, and now I'm hooked, not playing video games anymore (or not as much at least) and reading whenever I can.

The Gunslinger is a difficult read because I'm from Belgium and speak Dutch and I bought the box set in English. i'll get through it, just slower.

Had a good time reading this week. Early on I finished Mrs. Dalloway, by Virginia Woolf (1925) and it was awesome. Amazingly written. I was a little lost in the beginning because she brings out a lot of characters and it's a little unclear where she's going, one of those books you get a better handle on the further you go. Glancing at the endnotes I'm sure I missed some of the social satire. But it was still a lot of fun to read. The ending was subtle and strange and surprised me, the book suddenly stopping about fifty pages before I thought it would (because of the extensive endnotes) and stopping right in the middle of action. Of course after some thought her story feels complete, the ending correctly significant, the last lines memorable.

Definitely coming back to this one later this year, and reading more of Woolf's work in the meantime. After finishing, I read the foreword which said it was influenced by Ulysses, so I'll probably be climbing that mountain too in the near future.

After the challenge of Mrs. Dalloway I wanted something easy to read, so I started and finished The Gunslinger, by Stephen King (1982, The Dark Tower #1). Not sure I would put it among his best but the concept and setting are great, and it was enjoyable enough that I blasted through it over a couple days. Will definitely continue reading the series. Did not like the Pocket Book format, but I found it for a dollar so I can't really complain.

After that I started and finished Last Exit to Brooklyn, by Hubert Selby Jr. (1964). I knew this guy had written Requiem for a Dream so I expected something kind of dark and fucked up. Boy howdy, mission accomplished. Skimming reviews I was laughing at the tenor of words that popped up ... "hellish", "obscene", "sadistic", "an assault." Selby does escalation so well, his typical type of story building in pitch, his characters spiraling out of control, losing their identity and bottoming out on an horrific high note.

Over the weekend I started Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë (1847). I was worried this would be a sort of boring symbolist Hawthornish Romantic type of situation. Then I was surprised by the modern quality of the writing, the energetic opening, the thick tension between Jane and Mrs. Reed (Jane's transgressive speech making me nervous), and the easy sort of Dickensian plot that establishes itself. But I don't think Dickens could have written a character like Jane. She's really something.

Recent Acquisitions: Elmer Gantry, by Sinclair Lewis. Artemis, by Andy Weir.

Just finished:

My Best Friend's Exorcism, by Grady Hendrix

and just started

The Gunslinger, by Stephen King

I've read and loved practially everything be Stephen King since I was a kid but never really got into the Dark Tower series, I'm going to change that.

Last week I finished:
The Gunslinger, by Stephen King
Artemis, by Andy Weir
The Time Machine, by H.G. Wells

This week I started:
I, Robot, by Isaac Asimov

Finished The Gunslinger, by Stephen King

I think I might be in the minority that just doesn’t like his books. I’ve tried the Stand, the Shining and this one. Is book 2 worth a shot? I just get so bummed that all of his characters are the worst versions of themselves.

Started The Girl in the Tower, by Katherine Arden

Still reading Guns, Germs and Steel, by Jared Diamond Fascinating stuff. I’m surprising by how engaging this is.

I finished

Moby Dick by Herman Melville

I loved it, but it was a hard read. There was for sure a bunch of stuff I missed, so I'll have to reread it at some point.

The Gunslinger by Stephen King

Eh... it was okay.

Today I started

The Drawing of the Three by Stephen King (sequel to The Gunslinger)

Started up The Gunslinger, by Stephen King. Its reputation was impressive, so I decided "fuck finishing Le Morte" (for now) and started it up. While I'm not too far, thus far I can't say that that reputation was unfounded.

Finished:

On Writing, by Stephen King

Started:

The Gunslinger, by Stephen King

I got inspired to give King another chance after finishing On Writing. That book was super good. I read Gunslinger last year and, well, I didnt understand anything. I read the whole thing and got no idea what happened other than the main guy having guns, the bad guy being dressed in black, and them walking in the desert. Hopefully I have better luck this time!

I have continued to read War and Peace, by Leo Tolstoy. I just haven't been able to really get invested in it, since it is so hard to carry around when I am traveling. The 200 pages or so i have read are fantastic. I was impressed with the language, and overall elegance of writing despite being translated from russian.

Another translated book, this time from Polish, I read was The Last Wish, by Andrzej Sapkowski. I absolutely hated it. I wasn't super into the Witcher video games, so i thought I would give the books a try. I enjoyed the ideas, but the actual writing was incredibly lousy. It wasn't even a translation issue, the sentences just weren't there. I was very disappointed by a series I thought I would really enjoy.

However, a series I am incredibly excited about continuing is The Dark Tower. I just finished The Gunslinger, by Stephen King today, and it was very enjoyable. I like King a lot for casual reading, and this is definitely an intriguing story so far.

I'm thinking of camping out on War and Peace for the rest of this week, but by next week I'll have decided on which of a few books I want to read.

Started:

The Gunslinger, by Stephen King

The Invisible Empire; racism in canada, by Margaret Cannon

Finished (last week or the week before?):

Ender’s Game, by Orson Scott Card

Last week I finished New York 2140, by Kim Stanley Robinson and The Gunslinger, by Stephen King.

Yesterday I started The Wild Things, by Dave Eggers

Just finished Suttree, by Cormac McCarthy which took 74 days, according to my post history.

I went on a trip to Portland, ME recently where I picked up a pre-revision copy of The Gunslinger by Stephen King at Strange Maine. Starting that tomorrow.

Finished reading the pre-revision version of The Gunslinger, by Stephen King

Started The Gunslinger by Stephen King this week. It is the first book in the The Dark Tower series. Only about 75 pages in but really liking it so far. Few really uncomfortable and weird scenes, and the events that happened in the Tull town has me excited to keep reading it.

Technically been reading this for a week or so, but really enjoying The Gunslinger by Stephen King

Finished The Gunslinger by Stephen King my first King book and loved it. I ordered the rest of the series before I was even finished. Not even a huge fantasy fan, but something about this book really clicked for me.

Started How to Stop Time by Matt Haig. I picked up The Humans a while ago for a quick holiday read but actually really enjoyed it. Found it was a much more enjoyable, deeper novel than I thought it would be. Hope this book is as good!

Finished The Gunslinger, by Stephen King - It was a fun read though I felt it dragged at times, with first and last parts being my favorite. I am excited to continue with The Dark Tower series and may read other of King's novels that are in the same universe i.e The Stand, Salem's Lot and others.

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Before starting the second book in The Dark Tower series, I decided to start The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle, by Stuart Turton. It is described to be a murder mystery in style of Agatha Christie and that's all that I needed to decide this was going to be my next book.