Well, April is finally here! Ahhhh, Spring…it actually snowed today which was really strange but yes, now the sun is out and it is finally Spring. I just wanted to write my super exciting plans for reading this month. I do not have any reviews currently that I am in a mental space to write so we will do a general status update today.
This weekend I finished my reread of The Shining by Stephen King which is one of my all time favorite books. I have to say, I think it was even better the second time round or maybe it is because I am so much older now I can appreciate it more. I first read The Shining in high school, so over 20 years ago, and I was so freaked out through the whole thing that I think I may have missed a few details. I did remember my favorite chapter though when I got to it, almost paragraph for paragraph. Chapter 36, The Elevator. Wow. A chapter that could be a total workshop in horror writing – but honestly, this book is a masterpiece. I think people forget just how groundbreaking it was for psychological horror when it was first released. The year was 1977, people! This book is a classic. A timeless classic and I will always love it.
This leads me in to my reason for rereading it now – I am joining a readalong through Instagram called the #traintoteenytown which is a large group readalong of Doctor Sleep. For those of you who may not know, Doctor Sleep is the sequel to The Shining which King released in 2013…quick math = 36 years later. Little did I know when I bought it upon release day that it was the book I had been waiting for my entire life! Danny Torrance, all grown up. After I finished Doctor Sleep, I thought to myself, ‘man, I would love to read them back-to-back someday’ – as it turns out, today is that day. So, I finished The Shining on Saturday night and started my reread of Doctor Sleep this morning before work.
Quite literally, The Shining/Doctor Sleep combo is the most brilliant duology ever penned and I will stick to that! I am excited to be reading it this time with a group as well. We have a certain number of pages to read each week, for four weeks, with discussion questions sent out on the Sunday of each week to discuss via group chat. Most of the people reading it are reading it for the first time so I am really looking forward to hearing their thoughts on it. I will be annotating it this time around so am hoping to bring some insight into the discussion as a 2nd time reader.
Also this month, I will be participating in a buddy read of Justin Cronin’s, The Passage, with a group of my book buddies (we are lovingly called the Floatin’ Troopers) – really looking forward to diving into this post-apocalyptic horror trilogy as I have heard nothing but good things about it. It’s a pretty long book, the paperback edition coming in at 766 pages, so we are reading this one into May. Our group usually picks one book a month that we all try to read – it is very informal though and discussions are usually steered more towards how the book is making us feel, what our thoughts are on a particular author’s writing style as opposed to plot points; that way we aren’t spoiling things for our buddies who may not have gotten as far in the book.
I have a couple other books I am hoping to get to this month. Firstly, I hope to finish all of the 9 books I am currently reading! I have some ARCs I really need to get to this month and I definitely want to get to Tomi Adeyemi’s, Children of Blood & Bone. What are you looking forward to reading this month? Anyone else doing any buddy reads or book club reads? I would love to hear about them in the comments below!
Happy reading!!!