Constant Reader

My Stephen King Reading Quest

Stephen King is one of my favorite authors of all time. I’m on a quest to read every single book and story he’s ever written.

Now reading: Christine Novels 48/82 Stories 5/34 Non-fiction 2/7

Christine

  • 1983
  • 1958 Plymouth Fury
  • Libertyville, Pennsylvania
  • John Carpenter’s film came out the same year

Arnie Cunningham is seventeen, bullied and invisible, until he buys a rusted-out 1958 Plymouth Fury off a sour old man’s front lawn. Her name is Christine. His best friend Dennis watches the car get newer and Arnie get stranger — and her radio only ever plays the oldies.

No spoilers, please. I’ll tell you how it ends when I get there.

See it on the wall Read along ↗

Up next Pet Sematary

My favorites so far

The whole King shelf, in the order he wrote it. Lit spines are read; tap one to find its cover.

1970s
1980s
1990s
2000s
2010s
2020s

A third of the way there. The Tower is still a long way off.

Where to start with Stephen King

82 books is a lot of doors. Pick the kind of reader you are and try one of these three.

Never read King? Three of my favorites, and three good first doors into his world.

Just want to be scared The ones people name first when you ask for his scariest.

Short on time Story collections: one sitting, one story.

More heart than horror King at his most human.

Not a horror fan? Quests, kingdoms and other worlds.

The long road The Dark Tower, where so many of his books meet, and two to read before it.

Novels & collections

48 of 82 read

The bright covers are the ones I’ve finished; the faded ones are still ahead. Click any cover for more: tick it on your own list, make it your favorite or the book you’re reading now, see where to watch the movie, or find it on Amazon.

Uncollected stories

5 of 34 read

The stories that never made it into one of his collections: college magazine pieces, deleted scenes from The Shining, anthology one-offs, and a few PDFs King gives away on his own site. The hardest part of the quest is finding them.

Non-fiction

2 of 7 read

From page to screen

42 of his books became movies or series

Some of the best-loved movies ever made started as a Stephen King book, often a story tucked inside a collection. Tap a ticket to watch the movie, see it on Letterboxd, find the book on the wall, or show only the .

“Books are a uniquely portable magic.”
Stephen King, On Writing. His desk story from the same book is the one passage I keep on my office wall.

Constant Reader?

Every Saturday morning I send one short essay on optimism, purpose, and enough. Free, three minutes, no noise — and no clowns.

No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.

I tick books off on my own dashboard as I finish them, and this wall follows it. Titles link to Amazon, where a small commission helps pay for the next book. Covers belong to their publishers. Stephen King is also on my wall of inspirations, and the rest of my favorite books are on Books I Love.