Is it healthy to only want to read Stephen King?

[Tim D.]

Of course you have to read books by other people just so you know how much better SK is than everyone else, lol But if you like to stick with scares and suspense you can't go wrong with Clive Barker, Dean Koontz and Robert McCammon. And King's son, Joe Hill is quite good too. Just don't read John Saul.

[blunthead]

Of course you have to read books by other people just so you know how much better SK is than everyone else, lol But if you like to stick with scares and suspense you can't go wrong with Clive Barker, Dean Koontz and Robert McCammon. And King's son, Joe Hill is quite good too. Just don't read John Saul.

John Saul it is, then.

[agartner]

OK, so you are not weird and I was thinking the same thing the other day. I had left King for a while. I came back again about three years ago and with full force. I can read others, which I have. However, you always come back. He is so amazing in his words and ideas. He has laugh out-loud moments, places where you cringe or make you want cry. I guess I am weird because I traveled three states over to see him talk. I honestly felt like I wanted to cry during the event because I was so happy.....to see an author. Ha! If you are weird, I guess we all are in some ways. I think King is odd too and that's what makes him so fascinating to read and listen to. Just an FYI. King audiobooks rock! D Re-read (or listened to) Dolores Claiborne. which was one and my favorite because the lady who read brought Dolores to life. I still hear her voice when I think of the book.

[Lina]

Me too, I do not think it is weird. It is the same with me. Yes, I read books by other authors, but then again I return to Mr. King, I miss reading his books when I read something else, miss his style... I do not think any other author is as good as him. Well, I like many writers - Thomas Harris, Neil Gaiman, Dean Koontz (some books). But still no one can be compared to Stephen King.

[mjs9153]

Always come back to King..currently reading three novels by Mccammon,Boys Life,Swan Song and Speaks the Nightbird,good,but gosh there are some awful coincidental similiarities to SK's works..Have read all the Prey series by John Sandford,good myster/suspense.A former professional hunter in Africa,Peter Hathaway Capstick,beginning with Death in the Long Grass, true experiences of himself and others through history,good descriptive writing of the continent,people,and animals,and also quite funny at times.Theodore Roosevelt,Ray Bradbury,Robert Ruark,Stephen Ambrose,Tom Clancy,Leon Uris,Stephen Hunter,the list goes on and on,and numerous short story anthologies..As a youngster cut my teeth on the Louis Lamour westerns,the Edgar Rice Burroughs Tarzan,John Carter and other series,sports,scifi,Tolkien's Rings books,and just too many to mention.As others here have already opined you are definitely doing yourself a disservice if you don't explore what is out there..enjoy!

[irons]

When it comes to fiction I realy only read SK. I do read a fair bit of non fiction thou, mostly about cinema and history.

[Drumbum]

There's nothing wrong with you. Most of us have a preferred storyteller. Stephen is my first choice, but I have other literary tastes such as Star Wars novels and Jonathan Kellerman's Alex Delaware adventures. Stephen isn't going to send Them to your house if you read material from another storyteller. I think he would encourage you to read stories other than his own. "There are other worlds."

[SharonC]

I like certain authors. King definitely, then there's Koontz and Patterson. Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child starting with their wonderful Relic. I am a big fan of these two! Kathy Reichs for her Tempe Brennan novels. Tom Clancy - another good one. Just so many. More than enough so you won't quickly run out.

[blunthead]

Considering that I spend all my free time these days chatting and texting and never reading anymore, and that I started reading sK late in life and there's a plethora of his stuff yet for me to read, I think he may be the only author I ever read from now on.

[carrie's younger brother]

@mrblonde
You ask is it "healthy" to only want to read SK and to that question I will have to say "no" and I am certain SK would agree with me. When you read only one author, whether fiction or non-fiction, you are not exercising your mind. You are getting only that one author's view of things. Yes SK writes across genres and even worlds, but in the end a SK book is SK book, just as a Dickens book is a Dickens book, etc., etc., etc.

I have no problem with reading and rereading everything SK, but I strongly suggest to everyone that they read as many different authors as possible. There is such a rich literary world out there and all it takes is reading a book to explore it; how lucky we are!