Books Stephen King Recommends discussion

For me, whenever I pick up a book to read I examine the jacket or cover, read all the blurbs inside and out, revel in that unique smell of paper and ink, and carefully read each page before starting with chapter one. When I reach the end of the book, I read any afterwords.

I'm wondering do others go through this ritual or one similar? Do you find all that additional text insignificant or are just too anxious to delve into the meat of the book itself?

Your thoughts?

I do read book jackets and am inclined to pick up a book by an author that I haven't read, If one of my authors has written a blurb about it. As far as all of the "stuff" before and after, it varies, sometimes I do and sometimes I don't.

I read things like prologues, etc. I never read the reviews inside. I don't particularly care what 18 different people have said about the book, I'll make that decision for myself. I do read the back cover/dust jacket for the synopsis.

After I read the book, yes, before, normally no, sometimes i read it with out reading it because I'm anxious about reading the book itself.

Great comments, everyone!

Debra wrote: "For me, whenever I pick up a book to read I examine the jacket or cover, read all the blurbs inside and out, revel in that unique smell of paper and ink, and carefully read each page before startin..."

That's exactly what I do, you hit the nail on the head. :)

I not only read the prologue but i also read the author's thanks at the beginning. Before i buy a book i read the back cover, all the reviews (especially insightful is to see one of my favorite authors giving a thumbs-up review)and the prologue. I sometimes will read the whole first chapter in a book store before i buy a book!

Cindy

Cindy wrote: "I not only read the prologue but i also read the author's thanks at the beginning. Before i buy a book i read the back cover, all the reviews (especially insightful is to see one of my favorite au..."

Yep! If there's words on it or in it, I read it. I even check out the publishing and cataloging info page, dedications, thanks, etc, etc. Even the info in the back about the typeface and setting. :)

Kit★ wrote: "Yep! If there's words on it or in it, I read it. I even check out the publishing and cataloging info page, dedications, thanks, etc, etc. Even the info in the back about the typeface and setting. :) ..."

I was hoping to answer this before anyone mentioned the typeface/setting, but Kit beat me to it!

I read all the blurbs and both front fly leaf and back fly leaf.

I read the copyright date to get my mind ready for the author's time perspective.

I study the map that is pasted to the board.

I start the introduction, but only finish if I find it interesting. (Some just ramble on and on. Yaddda, yadda, yadda...)

The thank yous are often hilarious, but I skip them if the only person interested is the one who looks for his name in print.

Sometimes I wish the "Afterwords" had been at the beginning, especially when it is revealed that a character was based on a true life person. I think if I had known that before hand, the knowledge would have enriched my perception of the story.

I always read the dedication. I want to know who that "important person" is in the author's life.

Here is one of my recent favortie dedications:

"Look, Mom, I made this! Can we put it on the fridge?" Hounded

I like to read everything that's on the front cover inside and out. Then I read all the pages that come before chapter one. Then I delve in and I keep going. I usually don't give up. After I finish the book I read everything in the back and the inside and outside of the back cover. Some books have a chapter from the author's next book. I could do without that but I read that too.

Almeta wrote: ""Look, Mom, I made this! Can we put it on the fridge?"..."

now THAT'S funny!

Cool to see others are as involved in the whole reading process as I am. Of course, I already knew my sister, Almeta, would have a full list! Love the quote!

You know what drives me nuts? I have a kindle and when you download a book and get ready to read, it starts right out at 'chapter 1.' DIdn't discover this until I had read about 3 King books. He always starts out with so much interesting stuff . . . and I shoulda known that being that they were re-reads. Now I back track and start at the very beginning with the cover because I love examining ALL the fun stuff mentioned above.

Dani wrote: "You know what drives me nuts? I have a kindle and when you download a book and get ready to read, it starts right out at 'chapter 1.' DIdn't discover this until I had read about 3 King books. He al..."

Thanks for the tip, Dani. I just got a Nook and would have been disappointed if I hadn't figure that out!

Debra wrote: "Dani wrote: "You know what drives me nuts? I have a kindle and when you download a book and get ready to read, it starts right out at 'chapter 1.' DIdn't discover this until I had read about 3 King..."

I haven't noticed this on the Nook. Mine seems to start out with the cover.

Maybe it's just a Kindle quirk.

I read the prologue and afterword, usually skipping the dedication. I do check copyright dates, it's always neat to see if you've gotten ahold of an older copy without realizing it.

Karina wrote: "I read the prologue and afterword, usually skipping the dedication. I do check copyright dates, it's always neat to see if you've gotten ahold of an older copy without realizing it."

Good point, Karina!

I like to at least skim the intros because many times there are interesting facts about the authors. But when it rambles on I tend to get bored with it and just want to get into the story already. I recently started Villette by Charlotte Bronte and started the intro but it began to go through the story and examine it. If I had already read the book it would be fine but since I haven't it felt like it would spoil it for me and it ramble for 40 pages. Those kind of things I tend to skip.

Amanda wrote: "I like to at least skim the intros because many times there are interesting facts about the authors. But when it rambles on I tend to get bored with it and just want to get into the story already...."

Yep, some introductions can go on and on, ad nauseum!

Laurin wrote: "I read things like prologues, etc. I never read the reviews inside. I don't particularly care what 18 different people have said about the book, I'll make that decision for myself. I do read the ba..."

i'm with you on this one.

Erin wrote: "Laurin wrote: "I read things like prologues, etc. I never read the reviews inside. I don't particularly care what 18 different people have said about the book, I'll make that decision for myself. I..."

I may read the reviews if they are written by someone I know and respect, otherwise I might just skim over them.

Debra wrote: "For me, whenever I pick up a book to read I examine the jacket . . . revel in that unique smell of paper and ink, . . . I'm wondering do others go through this ritual or one similar?"

I most certainly do, which is one reason it bugs the doo-dah out of me when an offering is made only in ebook; even if it comes our First as an ebook I feel somehow cheated, having been loyal to real books my whole life. Who are these 'newbies' to tell us . . .
Yes, I read every blurb on the jacket, preludes, even the cataloging data (I'm a geeky Librarian). Nonfiction, I'll at least skim the index and bib. Increasingly, even some fiction includes an index and/or bib (think Grisham & a few others). I'll also read peer reviews, even an author's bio if especially interesting. I guess that comes from doing research & reading reviews in College. Maybe they forgot to tell me that part wasn't supposed to be fun?
Having found an author I especially liked, I often go back to day one and read their work in chronological order, sometimes finding early pseudonyms (think Dean Koontz who probably used over a dozen pen names, starting by 1965; his very early work was hard SF - hated it).

Karina wrote: "I read the prologue and afterword, usually skipping the dedication. I do check copyright dates, it's always neat to see if you've gotten ahold of an older copy without realizing it."

Or a FIRST/FIRST!
I found a 1/1 copy of _Thinner_ by mistake; actually walked past it thinking nah, couldn't be. Turned around at the end of the row and went back & it WAS! NO mention of Sai King & I guess it took a year or more for it to finally come out.

Tom wrote: "Karina wrote: "I read the prologue and afterword, usually skipping the dedication. I do check copyright dates, it's always neat to see if you've gotten ahold of an older copy without realizing it."..."

Thinner came out after the Bachman Books. The Bachman Books collection is the one that a bookstore employee first speculated they were written by Stephen King. Thinner was released after all the hoopla. Still, I bet there are still people who don't know Richard Bachman is Stephen King!

Good find on that first/first!

when it comes to Stephen King, absolutely yes i take all the time in the world to read his books cover to cover.

I almost always read a book completely, cover to cover. I am more certain to do so with an author I especially like (like Sai-King) ☺

I read everything from cover to cover. That includes all the comments. I love it when Stephen King writes the forward like he did in The Dark Tower series. I feel like he is writing me a personal letter.

Yep, I agree with you guys about Sai King. I want to experience every word... and yes, it does feel like he is talking to me personally. That's what makes him such a great author and person.

Debra wrote: "For me, whenever I pick up a book to read I examine the jacket or cover, read all the blurbs inside and out, revel in that unique smell of paper and ink, and carefully read each page before startin..."

Debra, I am like you. I read everything in print. I consume the book, and love the texture and beauty of the book before I actually begin to read. I consider the jacket, blurbs, preface, and any endnotes to be part of the reading experience. If there is an author's page, I always read that, and I read the dedication page and see if I can figure out the relationship of the person to the author. I feel it gives me an insight into the author. Everything on or in the book is important.

Like minds! Thanks for your comments, Connie!

I hope people won't throw things at me when I mention The Da Vinci Code BUT.... I enjoyed the book because it was one big puzzle. There were clues everywhere - the cover, the table of contents, the beginnings of the chapters, even individual words in the text. The clues took one on a quest online to solve the puzzle. For me, that was utilizing every bit of the book in a unique way.

I also enjoyed The Da Vinci Code. Don't know why people razz on it so much. It was a fun ride. You are right about the fun clues, Janice.

I love puzzles of any kind, so that was the allure for me.

Yes, puzzles are fun! Almeta love logic puzzles. I like jigsaw puzzles, and fill-in puzzles. Don't like crossword puzzles tho.

I'm addicted to an app I downloaded for my iPad called "Nanogram". You have a grid (5x5, 10x10, 20x20, etc) with numbers along each side. The numbers tell you how many spaces are filled in. Logic problem - one for Almeta.

sounds cool!

Acknowledgments and introductions? Yes always. I read from first to last page.

Same here, Salina!

Janice wrote: "I'm addicted to an app I downloaded for my iPad called "Nanogram". You have a grid (5x5, 10x10, 20x20, etc) with numbers along each side. The numbers tell you how many spaces are filled in. Logi..."

Janice, if you like nanograms (I first came to know of them as "hanjies"), you'll love the Conceptis Puzzles site. Conceptis Puzzles. Here they're called Pic-a-Pix. There are many other fun puzzles here but hanjies are still my favorite. I prefer to print the hanjies as opposed to doing them online as it's more challenging and you can't "cheat" that way. I enjoy doing the really complex ones especially the ones with many colors. I love seeing the picture slowly unfold. I haven't been doing too many this year though as I've been too busy reading!

If it's Stephen King hell yes sir I do I give him all the respect in the world

I devour every word like they are precious gems when I'm reading SK!

Yes, I read every morsel when it's a King book. With respect to other books it varies.

Josee, I don't know how I missed your post to Janice about Pic-a-Pix puzzles and such. I just checked out the website. What fun. I may find myself addicted to something new! Oh boy, like I need ANOTHER addiction! lol

I have a Penny Press puzzle book right now that I'm working on when I need a rest from reading. It's a variety book and the puzzles are really fun and challenging, for the most part. I'm so glad I bought the book; I may buy the next edition of it!

I've ordered specific puzzle books from Penny Press in the past; ones that I found in a variety book like the one I have now. I know I'm going to order some of my favorite puzzle types again.

Debra, I think it might be in such a book that I first saw a hanjie . It could also have been in Games magazine. Have you ever bought it? The first section consists of some really fun unique puzzles in color on glossy paper while the second has more typical puzzles such as found in Penny Press books. You won't usually find it with other puzzle books on the magazine rack but rather with hobby and craft magazines.
Good luck with your new addiction!

I don't remember if I've ever bought Games magazine. I'll have to look for it. And I'll look in the other magazine sections, too.

Games Magazine was where I initially found the paint by number games. I can't remember what they called them. They have a great selection of games as well as other interesting articles.

I'm going to have to check that out!

You know what I love about King's books prior to the first chapter? His epigraphs. The dude loves epigraphs, which is probably why I love to include epigraphs in my own novels. They're such an amazing opportunity for the author to do any number of things. And in my opinion, no one uses them more strategically than Mr. King.

I agree, Jonathan. The man's a genius!