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Roland, Jake, Susannah, Eddie, and Oy- bound together in a quest for the Dark Tower. Their quest was considered to have been finished nine years ago with the publication of the seventh volume, titled The Dark Tower. Although only Roland made his way to the Tower, the series finale made for an exciting read, and it is a fitting capstone to a fascinating and thrilling series.

... Except it's not the final book. Last year, King wrote and published another book chronicling the quest for the Tower. Although published eight years after the The Dark Tower, it acts as a sort of bridge between the fourth book, Wizard and Glass, and the fifth book, The Wolves of the Calla.

I can't wait to read it. I absolutely love the characters, even though this time I know what their fates are. Eddie will still be shot to death, Jake will still be run over by a van, Susannah will still abandon the quest for New York, Oy will still die protecting Roland from Mordred, and Roland will still climb the Dark Tower, only to be sent back to the beginning of the series.

It will be awesome. Why not? It's a Stephen King novel... It's guaranteed to be good.

Long days and pleasant nights,
Neal

Review: 11/22/63

      Time-travel can be quite a complex topic to write on, and with Stephen King's interpretation, it is just plain fascinating and downright exciting (for me, at least). The startling differences between the America of 2011 and the America of 1958 through 1963 are easy to see. For one, people seem to be much more trusting, and there is less paperwork when making purchases. For example, when Jake goes to buy a gun, he receives it on the spot, sans-paperwork, or even a background check. Several times. Also, the cars are amazing, such as Jake's Ford Sunliner.

      I could go on and on about these differences, but this is a book review, not a cultural comparison. The idea behind this story is: A high school GED teacher, Jake Epping, reads a story penned by the janitor about the night his father massacred his family- just over fifty years prior. Later, Jake is taken to another time when a friend of his reveals a portal to 1958 in his trailer closet. What does Jake's friend want him to do? Spend five years in the past, follow Lee Harvey Oswald, and prevent the Kennedy assassination.

      This portal comes with conditions (of course). Say one were to travel to 1958, change something, and travel back to 2011. If this person were to take a second trip, everything that you changed in the first trip would be reset. Also, no matter how long one were to spend in the 'past', he/she will always come out two minutes later in 2011 then when they entered the portal.

      This 800-page behemoth will grab you with the first word, and keeps you through to the end. It might seem daunting, but the story is worth going through all 800-something pages.

      I don't want to spoil the ending, so I'll cut this review short. I strongly recommend this book for casual readers and those who like to look into deeper meanings.

Long days and pleasant nights,
Neal

Winter Break!

      The air is chilled, snow falls in parts of the country, and kids everywhere are starting their winter breaks. Christmas shopping is at its peak as parents rush for last-minute gifts.

      I finish my first day of break with a running nose and stuffed head. I should be able to get through quite a bit of the four books I have to read. I'll spend a day or two laying low, reading and resting, before homework is due to be finished, among other things.

      Sorry for the short post today. I'm not at my top form today.

Long days and pleasant nights,
Neal

Overbooked With Books

      As is usual with me, I am reading several books at once. The Diary of Anne Frank, 11/22/63, Dune (I'm just now getting around to reading more of this), and Empire of the Sun. In addition, I have several books on my Christmas wishlist, which I outlined in an earlier post.

      I sit at the kitchen table, hot apple cider to my left, Dune and 11/22/63 to my right, wondering how I'll finish these four books by Christmas. Empire of the Sun is relatively close to being finished, so it should be easy to finish off by Christmas, but with the other three I am about halfway finished. What do I do? (I just downed the remaining third of my apple cider...)

     With a week and a half left of school before break, I'm trying to hope that I won't have too much homework, which will give me more time to read - but that probably won't happen. I didn't have any work today, as my government class went to see Lincoln. My second time seeing it: still just as amazing!

     Also, I should mention that I can't wait for the release of Stephen King's new book, Sleep Doctor, which is a sequel to The Shining. It should be awesome (just as anything done by King).

Long days and pleasant nights,
Neal

A Few Book-Baths

      Today I left 11/22/63 in my locker (it was pouring outside, I didn't want to get it wet), and it's got me thinking about the books I've destroyed or mangled over the years.

1. Eragon- I loved this book sooo much (even after figuring that it was essentially a mash-up of Star Wars and Lord of the Rings)... I read it so many times that it literally fell in two! I was naturally scared to death for a bit (okay... that's a bit of an exaggeration, but it's true nonetheless) before I brought the two uneven halves to school, where a teacher did some fancy stuff with tape. To this day I don't know how it put it back together. About a year later, I sat and read on the swings, went in for dinner, forgot about it, and found it the next day, a wet heap of paper. Why I didn't think of rain, I don't know, and I was left with two halves of a soggy book haphazardly held together by peeling tape.
2. Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers- My first time reading the book, on a trip to Disney World with family, I decided to bring the book down to the pool. We (we being me and my dad) sat at what I thought was far enough from the pool so that what we had would not get wet. Evidently that was not true- it received a light drizzle of water, enough to crinkle the pages, but not enough to cause the ink to spread. I was miffed, but it didn't ruin the vacation.

Long days and pleasant nights,
Neal

This Year's Christmas Book List

      This year, my list for Christmas consists almost entirely of books (the two items that aren't books are a couple music albums that I've been waiting for). Here's the list:

1. The Wind Through The Keyhole, Stephen King
2. Carrie, Stephen King
3. The Catcher In The Rye, J.D. Salinger
4. The Grapes Of Wrath, John Steinbeck
5. 1984, George Orwell
6. Les Miserables, Victor Hugo
7. The Stand, Stephen King

     

An Accidental Time Traveler

   

     I did it again... I bought another book without finishing several others. 11/22/63, by Stephen King, a time travel story about, if you didn't guess by the date, the Kennedy assassination. Yesterday, I went to Target to shop for an iPad Mini. They had sold out, so I wandered about the store, before finding myself in the book section of the store. The first item I laid my eyes on, the new edition of the Hobbit (which is pretty awesome indeed), I decided not to get as I already have two copies. I did the same with the new editions of Lord of the Rings.. although I have only one copy of The Two Towers.

      Then I saw the 11/22/63 sitting by its lonesome on the bottom shelf, somewhere about halfway down the aisle. I ran down and snatched it up before anyone else could get to it (even though I had been the only person in around).

     This brings me to a total of four books underway.. and still a few yet to get around to. When will the madness end?

Long days and pleasant nights,
Neal