Doctor Sleep by Stephen King

Book Title: Doctor Sleep
Author: Stephen King
Genre: Horror
My Rating: ♥ ♥ ♥
Source: Audible

Goodreads, Amazon UK

Plot Summary: Stephen King returns to the characters and territory of one of his most popular novels ever, The Shining, in this novel about the now middle-aged Dan Torrance (the boy protagonist of The Shining) and the very special 12-year-old girl he must save from a tribe of murderous paranormals.
On highways across America, a tribe of people called The True Knot travel in search of sustenance. They look harmless - mostly old, lots of polyester, and married to their RVs. But as Dan Torrance knows, and spunky 12-year-old Abra Stone learns, The True Knot are quasi-immortal, living off the "steam" that children with the "shining" produce when they are slowly tortured to death.
Haunted by the inhabitants of the Overlook Hotel where he spent one horrific childhood year, Dan has been drifting for decades, desperate to shed his father's legacy of despair, alcoholism, and violence.
He meets the evanescent Abra Stone, and it is her spectacular gift, the brightest shining ever seen, that reignites Dan's own demons and summons him to a battle for Abra's soul and survival.

What did I think?

I love Stephen King. He's been one of my favourite authors for a long time now. It all began with It. Sadly, me and Doctor Sleep did not get along as much as I would have liked.

If you've ever wondered what happened to Danny Torrance after he and his mother escaped the hotel and are curious to find out what kind of an adult he becomes, then this is for you.

Nobody that has read or watched The Shining will be surprised to hear that Danny did not turn into a functioning adult but rather into a huge alcoholic mess.

The characters are fleshed out in ways only King can flesh out characters. However, the book lacked punch, and I struggled with the pacing throughout the first half. It starts out in an intriguing way, then loses momentum and doesn't regain it until far later in the book.

For once the villains weren't as scary as they ought to be. In fact, I think alcoholism and Danny's eternal demons were much scarier than the actual vampire like creatures who feed on children with the Shining. I really liked the character of Abra Stone, though. She was definitely a great addition to this book.

All in all, definitely worth a read but not one of King's best.

5 Books I Love

I've been wondering the other day which five books I'd choose if I'd absolutely have to... for example if there's a fire and I only have time to grab five. (And... there's no more bookstores in the entire world. The horror!)

The thought was a stressful one and I would like to point out that I'd rather not choose, at all. But, I had a long think and these are the five books I came up with:

Flowers for Algernon. I only read it the other day but I'm already certain this is one of the books I'd save in case of fire. It had such a huge impact on me and I can't stop thinking about it.
I've reviewed it here.
The book looks at various aspects of humanity that are very important: disability, mental illness, what it means to be human, intelligence, what makes a person a person.
I think the author handles these subjects with great care and I'd like to be able to re-read this gem frequently.
5/5 - I'd walk over hot coals to get to this one.

The Count of Monte Cristo. Possibly one of my favourite books ever written. Ever since I first read it when I was about 12 years old I was madly in love with this book. I think the plot is flawless. I admire how Dumas managed to intertwine all the subplots and to tie them together into a masterful act of revenge.
If you don't know the story: Edmond is doing well in life, he has the girl and the job, sadly he also has envious friends. An intrigue sends him to prison and after losing far too many years of his life he finally manages to flee. Thanks to an inmate he befriended he finds an almost endless treasure and can go back to Paris as the Count, serving revenge to those that ruined his life. And as they say, it's best served cold.

Pride and Prejudice. This book will always be in my list of five books. It's possibly no longer my favourite book and objectively it might no longer belong onto this list. But... I've read this book 25 times. I'm not even kidding. From the age of 13 to today, I've re-read this book at least once a year. I fell head over heels in love with Mr. Darcy and Elizabeth. I think Austen's writing is refreshing and hilarious at the same time.
You know how my love story with Austen started? My parents watched BBC's 1995 adaptation with Colin Firth without me... because it was late at night and I was only 12. Then they bought all of Jane Austen and declared it's brilliant. So, I picked the books up as soon as they were done... no regrets!

Foucault's Pendulum. Wow. This book... It's filled with words and concepts I didn't understand when I was 15 but I persevered and it's actually possible to enjoy the story without following all of his intellectual orgasms and Umberto Eco has a lot of intellectual orgasms while writing. If you ever decide to start this book and think you need a PhD to understand it, well maybe you do for certain concepts, but the story remains brilliant and readable without being able to follow everything the man decided to bring up.
So in this book... Eco rewrites history, starting way back in the Middle Ages up until today, based on a conspiracy theory and the best part? It's all believable. Suddenly almost every historical event is presented in a new light. Read it, you won't regret it!

IT. I've been going back and forth on my decision to include IT in this list. But the way I got to meet this book will always be special to me. I was eight. Yes, eight. And I read a fairy-tale about a man who wanted to learn fear. And I then decided, I too wanted to learn fear. I asked my father to bring me a scary book. He brought me scary tales for children. They were not scary one bit. I told him those were for babies, I wanted to find out what it means to be really scared. The next day IT was waiting on the dinner table.
That night I slept with the light on.
I love Stephen King's writing. I think he paints characters in a beautiful way and he's really great at giving them depth with just a few paragraphs. Most of his stories had a huge impact on me. IT will always be special to me.

What are the five books you'd pick? Let me know.