The Order in Which to Read Stephen King Books

CONTINUITY CONTINUITY CONTINUITY

To the average reader it is understood that unless a book is part of a series, It is simply a standalone. When it comes to Stephen King books however the rules don't apply. No one Stephen King book is a standalone, even his book series' connect to the rest. In fact the Dark Tower itself is known among King fans to be at the center of it all. 

I have said before that I have come into it late in the game. I have only started to collect King's works within the past year and a half, I but have always been a fan of the movies. I had gotten my first king book when I was in middle school but I never finished it. The truth is I wasn't ready. I may have been tested to be several grades ahead in reading but Middle Grade books consumed all of my free time and I wasn't ready for real substance yet. 

It wasn't until my second year of college that I realized my reading tastes had graduated to classics and fiction that didn't come from the Children's or YA sections of bookstores. It was around this time that I decided I would try again. When I find I like something I tend to become obsessive. Not in a bad way but I did research what would be the best way to start reading King and got relatively the same answer everywhere I looked. START FROM THE BEGINNING. The beginning of course being 'Carrie'. 

Now I've found that the reason behind this is that the linking of the books, characters, towns (that only exist in his works), and events starts right at the beginning. If you were to jump around, you would be drowning in Easter eggs you didn't even know were right in front of you. My first King book that I mentioned above was 'Cujo'. So...the very first page of 'Cujo', completely gives away the ending to King's book 'The Dead Zone' which was published two years before 'Cujo' and who's characters also play a role in both books, which both take place in CASTLE ROCK. This is just one example and that is only the first page of one book. Both stories have had Easter eggs in the show by the way! 

I bring all of this up for two reasons:

1. Its something that anyone who wants to start reading King should know.
2. I get asked by people who don't read King why I have 17 King books but have not read them all. The thing about that is I want to read them in order because I want to make those connections, but I also have a personal goal to own them all in hardcover. for anyone who knows, King paperbacks practically get their own couple of bookshelves at second hand book stores and when they do have the hardcovers, the better looking the copy the higher the price.

If you would like a list of Stephen Kings books in publication order, I have made my own list in another post that I update with every new book release/release date announcement. 

The link to that post is here --->  Stephen King Book Checklist

King has effectively built his own universe and its ours to roam, just be careful there is a lot to fear out there and remember
ALL THINGS SERVE THE BEAM

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