I haven’t read a Stephen King novel since From a Buick 8, and I hadn’t really been interested in any of them until I spied 11/22/63. I might actually be one of the few people around that has enjoyed his later books, like From a Buick 8 and Hearts in Atlantis, more than his earlier works. Most of my friends that read Stephen King’s books cannot stand these later writings. They’re too different from his early works. We generally refer to the split as the pre-rehab era and the post-rehab era. 11/22/63 is, of course, post.
11/22/63 explores the idea of what might have happened had someone gained the ability to travel back in time and change a few things. The main goal, of course, is for the main character, Jack Epping, to go back in time and prevent the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. It all starts when Jack’s not-quite-friend, Al. Al owns a diner that contains a secret, a “rabbit hole” into the past. Continue reading
I picked up Veronica Roth’s book entitled 
My husband and I have both been reading Naomi Novik’s Temeraire series and we’ve been quite pleased with its characters and imagery. The idea that dragons provided integral air support during the Napoleonic War with England and the rest of Europe is an interesting one for both of us. Temeraire is a dragon without equal- or so it was thought until a little ways into the series when it was discovered he is of the rarest of all Chinese Breeds, a Celestial. We’d been waiting for a while to be able to read the new installment in the series, Crucible of Gold. Beware… there may be a few minor spoilers in the text to follow, but no major plot points. 
I was, once again, at a complete loss as to what to read next. I read too fast and sometimes it’s a problem. A friend of mine said that I should check out this Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy. I grabbed the books and started to read them. Three days later, I was finished and thinking about the ideas, the plot, and the overall feel of the books. As someone who has had many dealings with BDSM and the community in which it lives, breathes, and thrives, I found that I was sort of annoyed with some of the ideas presented in these books. Some of us have jokes about “internet dominants” and the character of Christian Grey initially struck me as one. 
After reading Reamde, I felt the need to re-read Legend, the First Chronicles of Druss the Legend, and the Waylander series. I’ll probably dive into The Swords of Night and Day and White Wolf as well because I adore the character of Skilgannon. There wasn’t anything that really connects Neal Stephenson’s writing to David Gemmell’s. I just simply had an overwhelming urge to revisit stories that have entertained me for years. Maybe I’ll even finally get around to reading the Rigante novels, but I’ve waited this long already. 
I’ve read several books by Neal Stephenson and I’ve enjoyed his “alternate reality” or “alternate history” pieces, despite the fact each of the books I’ve read would almost put the Bible to shame in terms of length.