Jenna > Recent Status Updates

“Here’s your book, Annie.”
Suffocating.

“All I ever did was…” proceeds to list an entire horror novel’s worth of atrocities
Staring into the void. Screaming internally (and externally). AS IF THAT’S ALL SHE EVER DID.
Stephen King really said: behold, the understatement of the century.

Starting another round of Whole30, and I always come back to Whole30 Day by Day. I love using it as a simple way to track my days and reference the timeline to stay grounded in my experience and my intention.

This is one of those books I start, put down, forget about… then remember and pick up again. Rinse, repeat.
But this time feels different. Starting another round of Whole30 tomorrow, and Food Freedom Forever feels like the exact companion I need. Intending to finish it, finally.

“Well, if it bothers you so much, I’ll just have to give you something to take your mind off that…”
Me, realizing I am no longer reading Misery — I am being held hostage by it.

“She detested most things about Sir Richard, she had found.” Ughhh. This story is causing my heart to ache.

“No. Annie was not the waiting type. Annie would have watched all twenty episodes in one night, even if they gave her eyestrain and a splitting headache.” Annie Wilkes walked so binge-watchers could run.

Did you hear that sound? The sound of me screaming? Never! Never has a book made me cover my ears and scream… until today.

“No need to be coy…” *screaming* STFU!!

“She felt like an afterthought, and remarkably alone.”

Memory Lane. The Laughing Place. All such joyous names for such a dark reality.

“There was a photo of a balding, bespectacled man who looked to Paul like the type of fellow who might eat boogers in secret.”

“Paul stared at her, stared at the rat as it squeaked and struggled, and realized that he had actually believed that things could get no worse. Untrue. Unfucking-true.”

“This was no dream. Just another day lost in the funhouse with Annie.”

I’m not fond of the sections where Paul writes in Nondumian (the faux “ancient” Romance language). It is difficult to follow along and pulls me out of the story. That said, the premise of Misery’s Return interests me enough to keep going. I definitely did not expect this direction.

Spoiler warning! I would have loved if this installment opened with confusion over whether Misery’s death was a dream or reality. That disorientation could mirror Paul’s fractured state and deepen the unease. It could allow ideas from the final book to echo forward into this one. This could transform it into something intimate, unstable, and written exclusively for Annie.

Reading Misery has me thinking less about horror and more about the process of writing itself. I learned early on that writing starts with mind mapping and outlining. The idea that Paul can simply sit down and write the next installment of a long-running series feels strangely unsettling. Don’t you need a plan rooted in the previous books?

Part Two and I am not okay. The tension in the smallest scenes is unreal. Sweaty palms, shallow breathing, full Paul Sheldon cosplay. Am I Paul and is Annie lurking around the corner in my own house? Why is this stressful?!

*SCREAMING*

“‘It looks good,’ he said, uttering the biggest lie of his life with perfect ease…”
Misery, but make it customer service.

I’m so happy this story returns to the Fairylands, alongside the Fairies and Nanny. I’m curious to finally learn Lady Tremaine’s story.

And there it is. The first “You… you… you dirty bird!”

“I say that sincerely. As your number-one fan.”
Said no one normal ever! ..and yet here I am, adopting it as a lifestyle.

“If the forecaster in charge of that storm had been half as good at his job as Annie Wilkes is at hers, I would not be in this fucking jam…”

“Everything she said was a little strange, a little offbeat. Listening to Annie was like listening to a song played in the wrong key.”
This is my first Stephen King novel, and Misery already feels perfectly unsettling. I chose it after watching Castle Rock multiple times, so Annie’s voice is fully alive in my head as I read — “Joy!” IYKYK

“I love that I have a handsome, muscular husband. But also, sometimes I wish he would let himself get fat and out of shape.” LOL!

“If I had my way, my entire house would be filled with patients whose families didn’t want to take them home.”
This line made my chest tighten. It speaks to souls left behind not because they’re unloved, but because love sometimes isn’t enough to carry the weight of care.

I love reading about people’s everyday lives. Just walking through a regular day on the page feels so soothing to me… even though this is a thriller. Millie’s sixth sense really shines through, and I find myself resonating with her perception and intuition.

Freida McFadden knows exactly how to end a chapter so you think, ‘Just one more chapter.’ Before you know it, the sun has set and you’re nearly halfway through the book!

“Well, let me tell you my version of the story.”