Stephen King - top 10 best books

I waited a long time to write about one of my favorite writers, because I love most of Stephen King's works and it's very difficult to pick his best works from over fifty books which he wrote. 

Almost all of them I read with great pleasure and I think that most deserves attention. But to encourage people, who don't know his books at all or are wondering what to read next - this is my top ten Stephen King's best novels.

I think that each book written by Stephen King have memorable characters, excellent atmosphere and dialogues and great plot. Without hesitation I can even say that some of his works (such as The Stand) are the most important novels of the twentieth century.

Why I love King? For his passion, hard work and that he always surprised me, because each book brings something new. That's why I encourage everyone to read his books!

After a long struggle with myself and looking over and over his bibliography, here is the list of top ten best novels by Stephen King:

1. The Stand (see description)

2. Misery (see description)

3. The Shining (see description)

4. It (see description)

5. The Green Mile (see description)

6. The Dead Zone (see description)

7. Duma Key (see description)

8. Under the Dome (see description)

9. Carrie (see description)

10. Salem's Lot (see description)

And special mention: The Dark Tower series.

Of course, it would be easier to write which King's novels you shouldn't read (for example: The Regulators, Dreamcatcher or Roadwork), than which ones you should, because where are so many good books written by Stephen King – e.g. I didn't mention the Firestarter, Pet Sematary, Lisey's Story, Bag of Bones, The Long Walk, Cujo or 11/22/63, which I recently finished reading. All whose titles you should also read, because they are great!

My list also don't include collections of short stories (I recommend them all, but especially Night Shift, Nightmares and Dreamscapes, Skeleton Crew, Full Dark, No Stars, Hearts in Atlantis and Different Seasons). In my list of best books I chose only between the novels. 

About non-fiction - Danse Macabre and On Writing - I will write in in the future, because these titles require "special treatment" :).

If you are looking for full Stephen King's bibliography – visit his official website :). 

Which is your favourite book by Stephen King? And those of you who haven't read any book written by this author I encourage to do so. Check the Amazon website which Stephen King's books are available today!

Review: Between by Jessica Warman - great mystery book for teens

Jessica Warman is an author of Breathless (2010 Best Book for Young Adults) and Where the Truth Lies. Between is her third well written novel for teenagers.

Some writers begin to write their books by asking "what if". Others reach for the memories of their childhood – and that's what Jessica Warman has done. In the description of her biography (e.g. on the Amazon) we can find the information that "The idea for Between came from an incident in her childhood, when a local boy went missing after a party on a yacht (Eventually he was found, alive)."

But the plot of the novel is quite different. The main character Elizabeth Valchar - very pretty and popular girl - wakes up the morning after her eighteenth birthday party on her family's yacht, where she'd been celebrating with her friends. Elizabeth quickly realized that no one sees nor hears her. Why? Because she is dead and now a ghost.

From publisher's description: "Critically acclaimed author Jessica Warman displayed brings readers along on a roller-coaster ride of a mystery, they also that is a heartbreaking character study, a touching romance, and ultimately a hopeful tale of redemption, love, and letting go."

We are dealing with a major mystery (what happened in the night, whether it was an accident or not?), but as we read the book there are more unknowns, secrets come to light and it turns out that everyone had something on their conscience.

It's not an outstanding book, nor especially surprising (fairly easy to guess the ending). This said, I think that Between is a good book, well written and with interesting plot. Especially for teens, but not only. I finished high school ages ago ;-), but also I like it.

The author skillfully shows how Eliza is evolving under the influence of new events, how from the spoiled child she becomes mature and wiser. There are also some touching moments :). But - in my opinion - the main advantage of the book is that it forces us to reflect on how we ourselves treat others in school, family, work, etc.

Therefore, if you are wondering what to buy for some young adult (close friend, aunt's daughter, etc.) - you should definitely look up this novel.

Reviews on Amazon also confirm that this is an interesting book. On 35 reviews 16 people gave it 5 stars, and 17 gave 4. So I encourage you to read Between by Jessica Warman! :)

Top 10 best novels by Dean Koontz

Dean R. Koontz is an extremely hardworking American writer. He published dozens of novels, short stories, graphic novels and how-to books. That's why it's worth to know where to start with books written by Koontz to come to like him like I do :)

I have great respect for Koontz and I'm full of admiration for his work. Of course, I did not read everything he wrote. Maybe when I will be retired, I manage to do that :). But I have read his novels with pleasure for years.

I think Koontz as a writer is quite uneven. He writes either a bad novel or a great one. So many of my friends says that they don't like Koontz at all. During the conversation, it turn out that they simply read one of his weak novels, and that's why they have such opinion about him. So I decided to create a list of my favorite novels, to help all of you read Koontz's books and have fun. The choice was really difficult, because he wrote so many good novels, that it's hard to pick only ten. But after much thought, I have finished the list.

This is my list of top ten great novels by Dean Koontz:
1. Lightning (see description)

2. Watchers (see description)

3. Whispers (see description)

4. The Voice of the Night (see description)

5. Hideaway (see description)

6. The Face (see description)

7. Velocity (see description)

8. The Vision (see description)

9. Cold Fire (see description)

10. The Bad Place (see description)

From the list you can see that I like older novels by Koontz from ones published recently. I think it is so, because they have more action, better plots and less journalism. Characters are also more interesting (e.g. I didn't like Ryan Perry, the main character in novel Your Heart Belongs to Me, the book itself is also not very good in my opinion).

So if you don't read Koontz and you're wondering where to start, take into consideration the titles listed above. Certainly you won't be disappointed!