The Stand by Stephen King

The Stand by Stephen King

 

Having just finished Gerald’s Game by Stephen King and The Host by Stephenie Meyer, I was in the mood for more horror and apocalyptic stories.

 

There’d been many Stephen King fans who have said that their favorite King book is The Stand, and I happened to have had this book on my shelves for a while now.

 

I realize that I’ve never really bothered to find out what his books are about, only buying the ones whose titles are familiar because of their popularity. So it happened that I had no idea what this book was about.

 

My copy of The Stand is the Uncut, Extended Edition, which is great, because I prefer to know the whole story, and is divided into three parts.

 

The first part talks about the plague and its effects, the second part talks about the aftermath and how they try to rebuild, the third part is the showdown between the forces of good and evil.

 

This book didn’t have the intensity of Gerald’s Game, and it was slow at parts, but it was nevertheless still exciting. I love the characters, and I felt their loss, their pain and confusion, their uncertainty, their fear. It’s one of the scariest, saddest, and most tragic story I’ve ever read, but at the same time, so full of hope, strength, courage, and love.

 

I believe there’s a film based on this book, and I’d be interested to watch it too. I finished this book two days ago, and I still think about the characters and wonder what happens to them.

 

It may sound strange, but the truth is, I find myself missing them as if they were real, actual friends that I haven’t seen in a long time, and I really wish they would get back in touch, or at least, I wish someone would tell me if they’re alright. 

 

That’s probably why so many people have said this is their favorite King book. I barely remember the characters in his other books, but I think the ones in this book will stay with me for a while.

The Host by Stephenie Meyer

The Host by Stephenie Meyer

 

This is another book that intrigued me because of another blogger’s review.

 

Ms Ulat Buku from Ulat Buku in the City reviewed this book a while ago, and I thought, hey, it sounds like a much better book than Meyer’s more famous Twilight series.

 

So I read this recently and what I thought is that it is definitely a much better book than the Twilight series. (I’ve only read the first Twilight book, and though I enjoyed it, I have no plans to read the other books in the series.)

 

In fact, I love this book so much that I think it’s one of the best books I’ve read this year. As Ms Ulat Buku said to me, Meyer isn’t the best author, but she writes compelling books, and you can’t help but get sucked into the story.

 

I don’t think that the characters are similar to Bella and Edward at all, but perhaps I didn’t read enough of the Twilight series to be a good judge of that. All I can say is that this book is beautiful, and it lingers on my mind long after I’ve finished it.

 

I especially love the storytelling sessions, and the descriptions of life on other planets. I love how the story flowed, and how the people changed, and how beautiful the love the characters had for each other were.

 

I was happy with the ending, but so sad because it was ending. I wanted more, I wanted to know where they went from there, how they were going to live, what would happen next. I wish there was more, but if there isn’t, I’ll reread this book again one day, and enjoy it all over again.

Gerald’s Game by Stephen King

Gerald’s Game by Stephen King

 

Ever since I read a teaser about this book from Nicholas at A Gentleman’s Domain, I became so curious that I just had to read it.

 

I started looking for it all over, every bookstore I went to, I looked all the shelves with Stephen King’s books, and they always had Stephen King’s books. Just not this particular one.

 

I finally found it, a couple of weeks ago, at Kinokuniya in KLCC, a place I seldom ever go. I bought it immediately and started reading it as soon as I arrived home.

 

Whoa, was it intense! I’d read a couple of King’s books before, and I know this isn’t one of the more well-known ones, but so far, it’s been the most intense one for me!

 

Like Nicholas, I won’t say much except that this book is about a woman who’d been handcuffed near to her husband’s dead body and unable to escape. What I love about it is how King uses psychology to create the horror instead of relying on gory and bloody scenes.

 

Oh, there’s blood and gore, alright, but the masterpiece is in the way he describes what goes on in her mind while she’s handcuffed and stuck in the same room with her dead husband. We all know how our minds can play tricks on us.

 

Still, I have to say that while I like the psychology angle, my favorite part of the book was the “wrist” scene. You’ve got to read this to find out what I mean, I’m afraid, but let me just say that no movie scene could ever replicate how King writes that scene in the book.

 

I read this book in bed beside my husband, and let me tell you, my reaction while reading that scene piqued his curiosity so much that he wants to read the book now. He’s not much of a reader, and it’s a chore to get him to read even a short storybook, so him getting interested in this book is a miracle!

 

Read it, but only if you’re a fan of horror, and only if you’ve got a strong stomach.

Harvest for Hope by Jane Goodall

Harvest for Hope by Jane Goodall

 

When I reviewed The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan, I said a lot about eating right and eating healthy, and very importantly, keeping our food, our lands, our water, and ourselves, healthy.

 

Jane Goodall’s Harvest for Hope is more of the same. Sustainable living is so important, making sure that what we do today to produce our foods, will not end up causing our children and our children’s children to starve in a world that can no longer produce good and healthy food for them.

 

Goodall gives us more information about what’s happening with our foods, our water, and our lands, and personally I think that educating ourselves with more information on this subject is one of the most important things you can do for the Earth.

 

We talk about green living, saving water, saving electricity, planting more trees, reducing our carbon footprint… Well, Goodall tells us more ways we can make a difference. And yes, each individual does make a difference.

 

The destruction of the earth is not some far away science fiction idea that we’ll never live to see. It’s happening right now, and we’ve closed our eyes to it. It’s affecting our health already, and still we choose to be ignorant. We can do something about it, and we should do something about it, before it’s too late.

Floating in My Mother’s Palm by Ursula Hegi

Floating in My Mother’s Palm by Ursula Hegi

 

I read Hegi’s Stones from the River some years ago, and I thought it was hauntingly, heartbreakingly, beautiful. That was my first Hegi book.

 

Floating in My Mother’s Palm is my second book from Hegi, and supposedly, it can be read as either a prequel or a sequel to Stones from the River.

 

The truth is, I have a habit of forgetting details of the books I’ve read, and since I read Stones from the River so long ago, I’ve forgotten most of the details.

 

I remember Trudi Montag, of course, but honestly not much else at all. Hanna is lovely, and I enjoyed most of Floating in My Mother’s Palm, but I must admit to being a little lost when I finished the book.

 

I felt that it ended a little abruptly. Or maybe abruptly isn’t the word I’m looking for. I think it ended a little too soon. I expected more. I wanted more. I felt like Hegi left me hanging. Perhaps it’s because I have to re-read Stones from the River to tie up the loose ends, I don’t know, but I do feel a compulsion to revisit the book again, that’s for sure.

 

I do think that Floating in My Mother’s Palm would not make a great standalone book, though many fans of Stones from the River love it, I’d think it’s only good if you read it with Stones from the River. In that case, I recommend reading both. Because Floating in My Mother’s Palm is charming, and Stones from the River is amazing.