Books Stephen King Recommends Novels & Stories

"I need the book to summon demons.” Some books fell on my lap and straight to the floor, and Vraxlon started to pick up some to study the title, but retracted his lips to each of them. "Try to ask for the book of the dead," he suggested. I moved uncomfortably in the chair and one of the books that had fallen on my thighs momentarily caught my attention.

"Before it was illegal to turn a human into a vampire." She says her last words with a finality that doesn't welcome more questions, so I don't say anything and finish my food, though I'm dying of curiosity. The omelet is delicious, and I thank her profusely, hoping she believes me. Then I head to the library and navigate Ronan's filing system to try to find Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. I've been wanting to read it ever since my father gave me a copy, but I never got around to it.

But then, why were all her belongings still here? She stepped toward the shelves and ran an index finger horizontally across the spine of each book, noting the authors. Stephen King. Paul Tremblay. Lauren Beukes. All horror, violence, and morbid. Certainly not what Jade preferred to read. The magazines held a different texture, they were smooth but thinner, and her fingertip snagged every crevice. She plucked a random one out and examined the cover. Vogue. Flipping through the magazine, she noted several of the corners were folded as a bookmark. She glanced over the articles on those pages: Interviews with influential people, food and drink reviews, and beauty products.

“Well, the check cleared, I’ll say that much.” “I hear you. Didn’t Stephen King say something once about how a bad movie version of one of his books can’t actually tarnish the book; that it’s still fine up on the shelf, something along those lines?” “Actually, I think he was quoting James M. Cain.” “I’ll take your word for it. You’re the writer, after all.” The young man held out his hand. “By the way, I’m Tobias Silver, but my friends call me—” “Let me guess, Toby?”

“Anything really. I like thrillers, horror, fantasy… and my favorite book… well, that depends, I guess.” “On what?” “What genre we’re talking about? In fantasy, I have to go with the classic Lord of the Rings. Neil Gaiman is another favorite, and of course, in horror, you can’t go wrong with Stephen King.” “Wow, impressive,” I replied, and Shaun looked almost bashful. “Yeah, my mom got me into a lot of that. She’s a big reader too.” We talked a little more about books before leaving the small restaurant. “Now, let’s see if we can fix our broken book,” Shaun said as he held my hand to the car.

Probably a rebellious phase, but she was intriguing. I took her advice, I let Seyi be. Noah kept me company with a chess game. I taught him how to play, and after the third trial, he won me in every game. I started to get exasperated, amused and honestly impressed. This little boy with the one sided dimples was a genius!! I saw him reading the other day, Divinity and Logic by Stephen Hemmingway. Back on earth, Stephen King was a notable writer and Ernest Hemmingway was a writer beyond writing. The author of the book was in a reality I had no idea about, probably a rip off of both authors. But taking the book from Noah, I saw a few lines that made me realize exactly what it was.

He looked relaxed, laid-back in a way I hadn’t seen him before now. “Okay, what about books?” he asked. “My turn again.” “Oh, that’s a tough one.” I furrowed my brow. As a librarian, it was difficult to come close to narrowing it down to one or even ten. “I don’t know. But I’ll always love Stephen King.” “Right.” He nodded.