Happy Memorial Day, Bookworms!
I hope all the Bookworms out there in the USA enjoy Memorial Day with all due reverence to our lost veterans. The only appropriate way to honor them is by enjoying a barbecue, so, you know. Be patriotic. Eat too much. Get the goosebumps when you hear “I’m Proud to be an American” on the radio. For everyone outside of the states, sorry you have to work today. That sucks.
Since I’m off today, I thought I’d talk a little bit about peer pressure. You know you watched cheesy after school specials and/or Lifetime Original Movies warning teenagers of the dangers of peer pressure. Just say no! Hugs not drugs! Drinking will cause you to knock your two front teeth out! What they never tell you is that peer pressure isn’t always bad. Take for instance, Jennifer at The Relentless Reader. She may have mentioned to me that all the cool kids were joining a read-a-long this summer and that it might be a good idea for me to join them. I lasted about 5 minutes before deciding that she was right and I needed to read more Stephen King. Enter:
This bad boy is hosted by Natalie at Coffee and a Book Chick (which is another book blog and downright delightful.) The format is pretty unstructured, which is sweet, because things with too many rules annoy me. Basically? I’m going to read Stephen King’s Under The Dome with moral support. Then I’m going to talk about it. Pretty cool right? Since the mini series is coming out soon, it’s perfect timing.
I’m normally pretty leery of Stephen King, because of how I’m a giant chicken. Seriously. I read Bag of Bones as a teenager, and it creeped me out so badly, I couldn’t look at refrigerator magnets for weeks! It took me a good 10 years to get up the courage to try reading The Stand, and I ended up LOVING it. I decided that I could read King, I just needed to steer clear of the especially ghostly and/or demonic titles. A few months back I read 11/22/63 and while I didn’t love it as much as The Stand, it was pretty great. I’m a sucker for time travel. I read the synopsis for Under The Dome, and it sounded like it was more in the vein of “society has been dealt a really weird blow” rather than “DEMONS ARE COMING TO EAT YOUR SOUL, KATIE!!!!!” I may have a false sense of security here. Only time will tell.
I’m looking forward to trying out this whole read-a-long concept. I’m typically a one book at a time kind of gal, but there’s such a HUGE volume of things I want to read that I have a hard time committing to a behemoth of a book like this. I’m hoping I can tackle this bad boy in bite sized pieces while keeping up with the rest of my TBR list. I’ll keep you all apprised of my progress.
Anybody interested in joining?! Check out the details HERE. Already been Under the Dome? Send me words of comfort and/or warning!
Shannon
I’m excited to follow along with all of you Domers, though I won’t be reading this time (I’m doing Strange & Norrell and two chunksters just won’t work). Hope you enjoy it!
Words for Worms
Thanks Shannon! I don’t blame you. Two chunksters at once is a bit much. Glad to have your moral support!
therelentlessreader
Muahahahahaha! I gotcha and I’m glad!
I read It when I was way too young to be reading the really scary King stuff and I’ve been terrified of clowns ever since. Under the Dome is supposed to be more of a psychological ride. It might not make us scared in the AHHHHHHH! sense but I think it’s going to mess with our minds. I like that!
This is going to be a hoot and I’m super glad you’re along for the ride!
Words for Worms
I’m MUCH better with psychological stuff than I am with, say, evil clowns. Eeep! I think this will be awesome, I already started! (I’m feeling unnaturally sympathetic to the woodchuck…)
Sarah Says Read
Looks like so much fun! I’m not joining in on this one cause my reading pile at the moment cannot handle having one more giant book added to it, but I’m so excited for you to try a readalong! They’re the funnest! And if this book gets too scary, you can fellow readers being scared right along with you 😉
Words for Worms
Yes, I like the idea of not being scared alone. I can always take to twitter and commiserate!
mynovelopinion
I’m joining the #DomeAlong aswell. And I too don’t normally read more than one book at once but keep putting this one off since its so huge! Perfect excuse to finally read it and share thoughts with others along the way!
Words for Worms
Awesome! Glad to have you along for the ride, I think it’ll be great fun!
Lindsay Law
Spring Bank Holiday in the UK, so we’re good, off work too! I wish I had time to read today, but I’m desperately cleaning to get ready for my landlord coming round tomorrow – he wants to seek the flat we’re living in, sigh. Perhaps next week I’ll get a chance to catch up on s e of your recommendations!
Words for Worms
Yay for bank holiday, boo for cleaning for the landlord! At least you can go to sleep at night knowing your adorable children have the world’s cutest accents. 🙂
Karen H
“The Stand” is one of my all time favorite books. I’ve read it about 10 times. I started “Under the Dome” when it first came out. About 5 chapters in, I was bored, didn’t care about the people under the dome, and haven’t picked it back up. This is the first Stephen King book I’ve started and not finished. I’ve read everything he’s written except his Dark Tower series. This includes stories in magazines, anthologies and his Richard Bachman stuff. I’m disappointed in myself but every time I think about picking it back up, I just can’t muster the enthusiasm. I feel like I’ve let Stephen down…..
Words for Worms
Join the DomeAlong! You can commiserate with a group of us to keep up the enthusiasm!
Cindy
I haven’t read “Under the Dome” yet, but I had that same problem with “The Tommyknockers”. I came back to a while later and enjoyed it. Just thinking about those dolls is creeping me out right now. Anyway, my point is – maybe you should give it another shot? 🙂
Kayla Sanchez
Pet Sematary terrified me: I was a bit leery of King after that one… Under the Dome, though, as some people have already said, is more about the psychology of people when they’re faced with a crisis. Very interesting, and I thought King handled the large cast fairly well. This would be my favorite one of his that I’ve read, actually, though I haven’t read The Stand.
Words for Worms
You simply MUST read The Stand, but I’m very happy to hear that you liked this. A ringing endorsement for sure!
Kelly
As a King fangirl, I AM SO EXCITED YOU ARE READING THIS! I think you will love it. There’s a little bit of gore and lots of suspense, but I don’t think it will freak you out the way Bag of Bones did. It’s a good bet if you loved The Stand. Can’t wait to hear what you think!!
Words for Worms
I really like King- he’s a fabulous storyteller. I just think I need to steer clear of the excessively evil spirit/ghosty titles. Although, Randall Flagg was sort of the personification of the devil, and I loved The Stand, so I basically don’t understand myself.
Cindy
I love Stephen King so much! But, after having my daughter, I have had a difficult time reading his books. They had too many children in peril, I think. Maybe she’s old enough now that I can start again, though. I have been thinking about trying this one since the premise sounds interesting.
Words for Worms
You should join us! Twitter hashtag #DomeAlong. Hop on in any old time!
lostinliterature108
I plan to read The Stand this summer so I won’t be reading Under the Dome. But I do plan on watching the mini series!!! Have fun with the read a long!
Words for Worms
You simply MUST let me know how much you love The Stand. Knowing you, I have a feeling it will be a whole lot.