12 meses, 12 libros: January: Carrie by Stephen King

As I mentioned here, I'm going to do this reading challenge thing to make sure I keep reading a lot.  I think it's important to my development as a writer, plus it's a better way to pass time than just slumming around on social media, lol.

Anyways, the prompt for January was a book you own but haven't read yet.  Like most book lovers, I have way too many of those, so I had a few to choose from.  Several years ago I got an old paperback copy of Carrie from a thrift store, and I believe it's the first paperback printing.  I mostly picked it up because it was old and nice looking.  Up until recently, I'd never read any Stephen King, and I'm not really a horror person, but I'm still glad I picked this book up.

I really enjoyed it.  To me it felt more suspenseful than truly scary (but I'm often not scared by the things some people are and the conversely really bothered by stuff other people shrug off, so take that with a grain of salt lol), but the conclusion is intense and emotional.  You get to know quite a few of the characters better than I would have expected you would.  There are snippets from articles and books sprinkled through out, written as if they were actual publications discussing the actual events of "Prom Night" and it makes the whole thing feel very real, plus it's an effective way of breaking up the narrative.

I started reading this on January 24 and finished on January 27.  It was a fast read.

I have a hard time assigning grades or stars to things when I review them, because that's so subjective.  Would I recommend this book? Absolutely.  Even if you've seen the movie(s).