Tag Archives: Bookish Chatter

Chatter about books, reading and anything related to either one.

Bookish Talk

The Anticipation is Killing Me, Part 2

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Mr. Mercedes
Look at it. Just LOOK at it. Doesn’t quite weigh-in as a chunkster at just 448 pages but I am going to be all over this one as soon as it comes out. The projected release date is June 3rd. Mark your calendars!

Here’s a tiny blurb about the book:

In the gloomy pre-dawn hours of a distressed Midwestern city, hundreds of unemployed hopefuls are lined up for a job fair. Without warning, a merciless driver plows through the crowd in a roaring Mercedes. Eight people are killed; 15 are wounded. The killer escapes into the early-spring fog never to be seen from again. Until now… (stephenking.com)

Sounds a little different from his typical fare but I will be drinking the water, for sure.

Stephen King

He has another book coming out in November titled, Revival. The cover for that one has not been released yet, but here’s a little bit about the story:

A dark and electrifying novel about addiction, fanaticism, and what might exist on the other side of life.

In a small New England town, over half a century ago, a shadow falls over a small boy playing with his toy soldiers. Jamie Morton looks up to see a striking man, the new minister. Charles Jacobs, along with his beautiful wife, will transform the local church. The men and boys are all a bit in love with Mrs. Jacobs; the women and girls feel the same about Reverend Jacobs—including Jamie’s mother and beloved sister, Claire. With Jamie, the Reverend shares a deeper bond based on a secret obsession. When tragedy strikes the Jacobs family, this charismatic preacher curses God, mocks all religious belief, and is banished from the shocked town.

Jamie has demons of his own. Wed to his guitar from the age of 13, he plays in bands across the country, living the nomadic lifestyle of bar-band rock and roll while fleeing from his family’s horrific loss. In his mid-thirties—addicted to heroin, stranded, desperate—Jamie meets Charles Jacobs again, with profound consequences for both men. Their bond becomes a pact beyond even the Devil’s devising, and Jamie discovers that revival has many meanings.

This rich and disturbing novel spans five decades on its way to the most terrifying conclusion Stephen King has ever written. It’s a masterpiece from King, in the great American tradition of Frank Norris, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Edgar Allan Poe. (stephenking.com)

This one sounds a lot more like what I’ve come to expect from King, but the topic never really matters because the story telling is always top-notch.

I love that he has one coming out right before summer and then one coming out right before the holidays. All, GREAT times to read, if you ask me.

What books are you looking forward to?

Bookish Talk

When is a kid old enough for this classic?

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Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret.

If you are a reader, and happen to be female, you’ve probably read this book at some point in your childhood. I think I read it around age ten, possibly even sooner. I remember it making the rounds on the playground. Not that the subject matter was taboo or anything, but it was a hot title and money wasn’t easy to come by and the library had like two copies in circulation. That being said, many of us shared the copies we had, folding down pages for discussion later.

Let’s face it though, reading it was better than learning the stuff from our parents.

The other day, I got to thinking about whether The Girl is old enough to read it. I remember reading it as a kid and saying to myself… aha… now I get it. Blume takes all of that tween angst and somehow makes sense of it. But what was good for us back in the day, is not necessarily right for our kids today. It is a book that I absolutely want her to read, but is ten old enough?

I think I will probably re-read it, just to be sure. Plus, I heard that it has been updated for today’s tween but if you remember the book at all, do you think ten is old enough?