Books Stephen King Recommends discussion

I'm constantly looking for more books to add to my "sai-king-recommends" bookshelf so we will have plenty to choose from for our group reads and for each of us to read on our own.

So, if you don't see a book you know was recommended by Stephen King on that list, let me know here and I'll add it. I'd appreciate if you could include your source for the recommendation and if King wrote a review or blurb, please add the complete text here, also. In most cases, you should just be able to copy and paste the text, although I've found myself sitting in front of the computer typing the blurb off a book I'm reading.

Also, in many cases Stephen King gives a blanket recommendation to all of an author's work. Perhaps in time I will be able to add every single work of these authors to my list, but it may not be feasible and many authors are very prolific. So if don't see a book by an author Stephen King recommends which you'd like added to the list, just let me know.

You can view my list here:
sai-king-recommends bookshelf

Thanks, all!
Debra

Thanks Kyle. I had seen that list and thought I had them all added, but I must have missed that one. I just started a discussion thread for Bentley Little since he is one of King's favorite authors.

As I've mentioned before, I'm still adding books to my "sai-king-recommends" bookshelf. I'm behind on adding books by King's favorite authors, so if you see an author on my list with a review that says something like: "Stephen King recommended author," feel free to suggest books for that author you'd like me to add.

Always looking for books and authors to add to the list on the sai-king-recommends bookshelf.

I changed this topic name to "Calling all blurbs!" If you find a book with a SK blurb, add it here AND the blurb here, so I can add it to the list.

If you read something where SK recommends a book to read, please let us know here AND site the source information (source name, date, etc.).

Thanks all!
Deb

I just picked up the print edition of "Book Page", October 2012. On Page 22 the book Breed by Chase Novak is featured. Book Page states, "...author Scott Spencer changes his name to Chase Novak and bursts out fully armed as a knight of horror, dubbed by none other than Stephen King in the cover blurb. King is justified in his enthusiasm for Breed : It's hard to imagine a more twisted or timely riff on the theme of lycanthropy, whereby the monsters must fend off a desire to devour their own children." You can view this print edition online at http://issuu.com/book_page/docs/bookp... .

I'm going to have to read that one and add it our list. Good catch, April!

I like Book Page.

I just checked Breed out of the library and will be starting it in a couple of days. The blurb on the cover by SK definitely helped me decide to grab it.

Tracy wrote: "I just checked Breed out of the library and will be starting it in a couple of days. The blurb on the cover by SK definitely helped me decide to grab it."

Tracy, I, too, have checked out from the library.

Linda, I LOVE Book Page! :)

I've got it on order, too.

April wrote: "Tracy wrote: "I just checked Breed out of the library and will be starting it in a couple of days. The blurb on the cover by SK definitely helped me decide to grab it."

Tracy, I, too, have [bookco..."

April, did you know that there is an app for it for the Iphone?? I pick up my copies at Books-A-Million.

@ Linda...NO, I sure didn't! I wonder, then, if there is an iPad app???? I will check! I usually pick my copy up at the library. But an app would be fun!

My daily BookBub e-mail informed me that The Fifth Avenue Series Boxed Set by Christopher Smith was available for free download through Amazon Kindle. When I checked it out on GRs I noticed that Christopher Smith is King recommended author. He has been quoted, "Put me down as an enthusiastic Christopher Smith fan. Smith is a cultural genius."

Sooooo......OF COURSE, I downloaded it! :)

Amber wrote: "I've noticed on both Goodreads and Shelf Awareness that the ad for the new Joyce Carol Oates book called The Accursed (I can't link it right now, sorry), includes a blurb from King. . . "Joyce Caro..."

I saw that, too!

Thanks for the blurb alerts April and Amber. I've added the books to my bookshelf and Almeta will be adding Christopher Smith to our fav authors list.

Good catches, ladies!

I want to start the Fifth Avenue series now. With the Accursed, I want to read the previous books in the series first. So many books...

exactly!

The Shadow Tracer by Meg Gardiner has been blurbed by King. 'The next suspense superstar' Stephen King. It's mentioned in both the book description on Goodreads and on Amazon in the "Praise for M.G Gardiner". Looks interesting!

Thanks for the blurb, Sarah. We've got Gardiner on our favorite author list from her Evan Delaney series. I've added Shadow Tracer to my sai-king-recommends bookshelf.

On Jan 26, 2014, Steven King tweeted, "DOMINION, by C.J. Sansom: Great alternate-history novel. The Nazis win, occupy Britain. On sale this week. Check it out." And then on Jan 27, 2014, he added, "
That book DOMINION is terrific. And no, this isn't one of those publisher-sponsored blurbs. I just fell in love with it. Nice and long, too."

Thanks for the blurbs, Janice. Adding this one to our list!

Forgive me if I missed this above -- Alex Marwood The Wicked Girls -- SK named it one of his top 10 books from 2013.

I have one! Brutal Youth (Anthony Breznican):

“If you thought high school was hell, has Anthony Breznican got a story for you … Every bully who stalked you, every sadistic teacher who ever terrified you, every stupid prank, every hopeless crush and false friend: they’re all here, along with a few kids who hang together and try to do the right thing in a brutal environment. By turns funny and terrifying, Brutal Youth is an unputdownable tour-de-force, a Rebel Without a Cause for the 21st century.”
—Stephen King

carolyn wrote: "I have one! Brutal Youth (Anthony Breznican):

“If you thought high school was hell, has Anthony Breznican got a story for you … Every bully who stalked you, every sadistic teacher who ever terrifi..."

Anthony Breznican actually joined our group in March.

His book Brutal Youth: A Novel and the blurb have been added to the Sai King Recommends bookshelf.

I hope he joins us for the Something Wicked This Way Comes, as well as our other discussions!

Kristi wrote: "Forgive me if I missed this above -- Alex Marwood The Wicked Girls -- SK named it one of his top 10 books from 2013."

Thanks Kristi! I've added it to my sai-king-recommends bookshelf.

Anthony, that is so exciting! You must be head-over-heels elated!

Now, how do I get a signed copy of it!? (wink)

I've added SK EW 2013 picks to my sai-king-recommends bookshelf. Here is what SK said:

Okay, friends, you know the drill: For this list, I didn’t restrict myself to the best books published this year. Instead, I named the best books I read this year, which gives me a little more latitude than most year-end list-makers. As it happens, the majority of those below were published this year, and all are recent. The ones you haven’t read already would make a great way to start 2014.



10 The Good Nurse
Charles Graeber
You think Annie Wilkes was bad? Check out this chilling nonfiction account of Charlie Cullen, a friendly nurse who may have killed several -hundred patients before he was caught. Now, there’s a real cockadoodie brat.



9 The Shining Girls
Lauren Beukes
No, not the twins from the Kubrick movie, but the targets of a serial killer who finds a time portal in Chicago during the Depression and jackrabbits his way through recent American history, killing women and taking trophies. Until, that is, he encounters a tuff girl who’s not so easy to do away with. It’s the black-hole version of The Time Traveler’s Wife.



8 The Wicked Girls
Alex Marwood
Obviously, 2013 was the year of girls gone wild. Bel and Jade are the 11-year-old wicked girls, so dubbed by the British press when they’re convicted of murdering a 4-year-old left in their care. Finally paroled, they’re told they must never see each other again. Years later, with new lives, they come together in a run-down seaside amusement park where a killer is running wild. The suspense keeps the pages flying, but what sets this one apart is the palpable sense of onrushing doom.



7 The Casual Vacancy
J.K. Rowling
Not since Peyton Place has a writer so enthusiastically stripped the lace covers from small-town life to show the maggots of greed, lust, snobbery, and ambition squirming beneath—only Grace Metalious didn’t have Jo Rowling’s wicked sense of humor. The village of Pagford may be British, but the human foibles there are universal. Like the best social comedies, The Casual Vacancy features wit on top and outrage simmering below.



6 City of Women
David R. Gillham
The city is Berlin, 1943, and the woman we care about is Sigrid, whose husband is fighting on the eastern front. Sigrid is seduced by two very different men (the sex in this book is hot-hot-hot), but the real seduction involves her reluctant participation in a scheme to ferry Jews to safety. You haven’t experienced such gray skies since season 1 of The Killing, but the feel is all Casablanca. I can’t wait for Gillham’s next novel—play it again, Sam.


5 The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet
David Mitchell
In this historical novel, an unassuming Dutch bookkeeper named Jacob de Zoet falls in love with a beautiful midwife in 18th-century Japan. When Miss Aiba-gawa is spirited away to a mountain monastery, Jacob finds the heroism in his soul. Here is a bygone secret world full of charm and horror. Mitchell is best known for Cloud Atlas, which was a literary stunt in this correspondent’s opinion. The Thousand Autumns is far better.



4 The Goldfinch
Donna Tartt
Theo Decker’s mother is killed in a bombing that rocks the Metropolitan Museum of Art; Theo, unharmed, escapes with a valuable painting called The Goldfinch. He carries this symbol of grief and loss from early adolescence into an adulthood fraught with danger and beset by addiction. The long middle sequence, set in a housing development on the seedy, sand-blown outskirts of Las Vegas, is a standout. Tartt proves that the Dickensian novel—expansive and bursting with incident—is alive and well.



3 Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies
Hilary Mantel
Together they form one long novel (with a third to follow) about the life of Thomas Cromwell, King Henry VIII’s political and financial adviser. Mantel takes a -figure history has cast as a calculating villain and throws a warm glow over his family, his motives, and his implacable resolve. The language is rich, and the scenes leading to Anne Boleyn’s execution are unforgettable.



2 The Interestings
Meg Wolitzer
A group of adolescents—little more than children, really—meet at a camp where kids explore their creativity. Ethan, Jules, Cathy, Goodman, Ash: All believe they are meant for great things. This assumption of huge talent where there may be little or none lies at the heart of Wolitzer’s novel, which sweeps across a span of decades. There’s sentiment here, full and wholehearted, but little sentimentality. Like The Corrections,The Interestings addresses one of fiction’s great themes: how we make peace with our own shortcomings and make the best of ordinary lives.



1 The Orphan Master’s Son
Adam Johnson
In a stunning feat of imagination, Johnson puts us inside Jun Do (yep, John Doe), a North Korean orphan who stumbles from poverty to a job as body double for a Hero of the Eternal Revolution. The closed world of North Korea revealed here—where businessmen are conscripted to work in the rice fields and the ruthless Kim Jong-il is still the Dear Leader—goes beyond anything Orwell ever imagined. The Orphan Master’s Son veers from cold terror to surrealistic humor with ease, and succeeds as both a thriller and a social satire. Put it on your shelf next to Catch-22.

Debra wrote: "Anthony, that is so exciting! You must be head-over-heels elated!

Now, how do I get a signed copy of it!? (wink)"

lol!!!

You can register to win an advanced copy! Book Giveaway For Brutal Youth: A Novel, but you'd better hurry. The giveaway will be closing in 3 days.

Crab Monsters, Teenage Cavemen, and Candy Stripe Nurses. - there is a blurb on the cover by Stephen King

Tara Rose wrote: "Crab Monsters, Teenage Cavemen, and Candy Stripe Nurses. - there is a blurb on the cover by Stephen King"

Really? What did he say?

I just saw it on the cover and the pic was small, just checking it out from my phone.

It said "fantastic" and "treasure"

I enlarged the book cover and saw the blurb. Have added it to the sai-king-recommends bookshelf. Thanks, Tara Rose!

Tara Rose wrote: "Crab Monsters, Teenage Cavemen, and Candy Stripe Nurses. - there is a blurb on the cover by Stephen King"

Very fond of Corman's original "Little Shop of Horrors". So bad it's good. It later became an off-broadway musical and still later a musical film.

The musical is a riot BUT nothing like the original.

I think I will read this one.

Thanks for pointing it out Tara Rose.

I'm a huge fan of B movies! I learned about most from a little show called mystery science theater 3000. This is how I can across the book, as a recommendation after liking MST3K!

Tara Rose wrote: "I'm a huge fan of B movies! I learned about most from a little show called mystery science theater 3000. This is how I can across the book, as a recommendation after liking MST3K!"

Love Mystery Science Theater! :D

Hilarious show!

One of the Goodreads featured books which pops up on the side The Three by Sarah Lotz has a Stephen King Blurb which says: 'Really wonderful' - Stephen King

'The Three is really wonderful, a mix of Michael Crichton and Shirley Jackson. Hard to put down and vastly entertaining.’ – Stephen King

http://www.hodderscape.co.uk/the-thre...

Thanks for the heads-up, Sarah.

Thanks for letting us know, Sarah. And Almeta, thanks for finding the full blurb. I've added it to my sai-king-recommends bookshelf.

It does look good!

Black Cross Greg Iles King says 'on fire with suspense'. They are actually in a band together. Rock Bottom Remainders. Read it. it was really good

Thanks for the heads-up Tom. Have added it to my sai-king-recommends bookshelf.

Amber wrote: "Is The Shadow of the Wind on the shelf? My copy has a couple blurbs on/in it."

Stephen King says: "If you thought the true gothic novel died with the 19th century, this will change your mind. Shadow is the real deal, a novel full of cheesy splendor and creaking trapdoors, a novel where even the subplots have subplots. There's a haunted house (ah, but by what?) called the Angel of Mist, and the only horror greater than the thing rotting in its bricked-up crypt is (but of course, senor) the horror of doomed love."


What are the blurbs on your copy?

Shadow of the Wind is an awesome book.

I'll add the gorgeous read blurb to my review. Thanks, Amber!

"The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. It is referenced at the end of Just After Sunset as the best overt example of obsession and compulsion in the author's notes regarding "N."

Frankenstorm by Ray Garton

I am reading the above book. On the back of the book is a blurb, but I'm not sure if it's for the author in general or this particular book.
It says,
PRAISE FOR RAY GARTON
"Scary...involving...mature and thoughtful."
-Stephen King on Dark Channel"

Thanks Jaye! Added it to my sai-king-recommends bookshelf.

I believe Meg Gardiner has been discussed in another thread as being recommended by Stephen King.
I just started The Shadow Tracer . At the book link it says, "An explosive stand-alone thriller from the Edgar Award–winning writer Stephen King called “the next suspense superstar”."

Inside the book are the blurbs for her other books and the one for China Lake says, " Do me a favor, okay? Lay your hands on ...China Lake It had me at page one. Miss Gardiner makes it all work...amazingly entertaining. - Stephen King".

And another for Crosscut: "Full of classic Gardiner one-liners...but mostly there's a serious freezerload of scare-you-silly chills. - Stephen King"

I won the third book in the Southern Reach Trilogy by Jeff VanderMeer on Goodreads. I t arrived today which I was very excited about and on the front cover was a blurb by Stephen King as follows:

"I'm loving the Southern Reach Trilogy...Creepy and fascinating." - Stephen King

So the Southern Reach Trilogy consists of the following three books (all published this year):
Annihilation
Authority
Acceptance

Now I'm really excited to carry on with the series after this endorsement!