Stephen King 2025 read-along discussion

(Full disclosure...I hate myself for the title, but it made me lol)

Happy July Constant Readers and welcome back to another fun filled month of reading the King! We are fully in the thick of summer in the northern hemisphere and fully in the thick of BooksandLala's Buzzwordathon Challenge (cover edition). For July the theme is "technology" meaning any type of technology on the cover. None other would be more fitting than our pick for July...Cell!

Cell is a 2006 apocalyptic horror novel. The story follows New England artist, Clayton Riddell, struggling to reunite with his young son after a mysterious signal broadcast over the global cell phone network turns the majority of his fellow humans into mindless vicious animals. Along the way he is thrown together with multiple characters including middle-aged Thomas McCourt and fifteen-year-old Alice Maxwell. They trek north across a devastated New England, having fleeting encounters with other survivors and catching hints about the activities of the phoners, who attack non-phoners on sight.

The book generally received positive reviews from critics. Publishers Weekly described it as "a glib, technophobic but compelling look at the end of civilization" and full of "jaunty and witty" sociological observations. Stephen King scholar Bev Vincent said, "It's a dark, gritty, pessimistic novel in many ways and stands in stark contrast to the fundamental optimism of The Stand".

Before it was published a role in the story was offered to the winner of a charity auction for the First Amendment Project, sponsored by eBay. Other authors like Peter Straub also participated in the online auction, selling roles in their upcoming books. The King auction ran between September 8 and 18, 2005 and the winner, a Ft. Lauderdale woman named Pam Alexander, paid $25,100. Ms. Alexander gave the honor as a gift to her brother Ray Huizenga; his name was given to one of the zombie-slaughtering "flock-killers" in the story, a construction worker who specializes in explosives.

Originally, shortly after the book released in 2006 Eli Roth was slated to direct an adaptation after he finished Hostel: Part II. By 2009 however, he had exited the film stating creative differences. In 2016 a movie adaptation was released starring John Cusack and Samuel L. Jackson, the second time they had acted alongside each other in a King property after 2007's 1408. It was released on June 10, 2016, to video on demand, prior to opening in a limited release on July 8, 2016. Overall, it was panned by most critics. However, I am out to watch every Stephen King adaptation, so I'm not deterred. Right now, it is available to watch on Pluto TV, Sling TV, Philo, Plex, and Amazon Prime.

I haven't read a good zombie book in a long time and I'm thinking it's just the ticket to escape this heat. Can't wait to have you join us!

Hi everybody hope you’re all doing well. I’m ready to reread this one because it’s been many years:)