I keep thinking I’ll actually read more books now that I’ve committed to posting once a month.

Not happening. May seemed to be a particularly busy month. Leaving not much reading time.

Probably I’d get more books finished if they were shorter. These two books were BIG. With lots of WORDS.

(Next month. Short books. I’ve already got them picked out.)

Anyhow, I read “The Shining” by Stephen King. This is a re-read. Because I wanted to read “Doctor Sleep” but decided that I should revisit the main character from both books–Danny Torrance. And I wanted to make sure that I hadn’t mixed up the movie with the book. The book does not have Jack typing “no work and no play makes Jack a dull boy” nor does Jack Torrance take the axe through the door and say “Here’s Johnny!” Incidentally, I read that Stephan King did not like the movie “The Shining”. I loved both the book and the movie. Both VERY SCARY!

Funny to read and relate. Published in 1977, Jack (the bad guy) had to use payphones, there were NO CELL PHONES. How did we live without them? Of course, even with a cell phone, Wendy would most likely not have had service up there at the Overlook. Or Jack would have tossed the phone into the snow which he did with the snowmobile keys or smashed it like he did the radio. Definitely had to depend on Danny’s special skill (the shining) to get rescued. Like most of Stephen King’s books, it’s a lesson on good vs. evil.

I have been to the mountains of Colorado and all those small towns mentioned in both books. I love the state and its cool vibes. Some of the action in the book is in Boulder, a lot of it is in Sidewinder. I’ve been to Boulder several times but I don’t think Sidewinder exists. I have also spent a lot of time in Estes Park (definitely my favorite place in Colorado) and visited the Stanley Hotel which some claim the Overlook was based on. The Overlook is definitely grander than the Stanley.

I did enjoy re-reading “The Shining” after so many years. (The only complaint—too many words.)

Then on to “Dr. Sleep”. Danny who was the small boy in “The Shining” is the main character again in this book published in 2013. It really took me a long time to get into it. Perhaps because I have read way too much Stephan King the year? Or perhaps because Danny is not a good guy when the book starts out. As an adult he’s an alcoholic just like his dad Jack in “The Shining”. But he finds friends who are recovered alcoholics and goes to AA and is then a good guy. Of course, he was drinking to cover up his special talent–the shining.

Anyhow, now he’s a good guy and he connects with a young girl that also has the Shining and there are some really bad guys that want to eat her and her shining and they all go back to the location of the former Overlook and there’s a big battle and …..

There you go. Good vs. Evil.

Different books next month. And I should have more time to read. It’s summer! Time to relax, read, vacation!