Dark Matter by Blake Crouch

It seems like whenever I read a new book with lots of great reviews that I always end up disappointed. Did I read the same book as all those people on goodreads that gave this five starts? Dark Matter does have a pretty good plot. It isn't the most intricate story but I'm sure some day it will make a passable movie. It passed the time and I didn't not enjoy reading it. But there isn't much that sticks out as being especially memorable. The writing is flat and style-less and most of the characters are one dimensional.

The plot follows this guy with a happy family life that gets kidnapped and wakes up in a reality that isn't what he knows. He quickly figures out that an alternate universe version of himself has created a box that allows one to travel to alternate realities. This alternate reality version of the guy isn't happy that he followed his career and didn't start a family so he basically switches places with another happier version of himself. It is a nice plot but there's too many plot holes and dead ends to make it a classic. It was enjoyable but forgettable. B

Horror Book # 13 - Misery by Stephen King

So only twenty six years after purchasing a paperback copy of Misery I finally got around to reading it. Progress has been made on my stack of King novels that I purchased as a teenager for the first time in decades! Since I've seen the movie the book didn't have too many surprises except that I think the whole foot hobbling thing is more gruesome in the novel. By reading it well after its release I was able to read about some of the influences on King while writing it (his increasing drug dependence and feelings that his fans only wanted horror novels) and that made the story a bit deeper. As in most books about a writer this one mentioned a lot of list book : The Count of Monte Cristo, The Lord of the Flies, The Lord of the Rings, Alice in Wonderland, Tess of the D'Urbervilles and The Sound and the Fury. This is one of his better works... A-.

The Dark Tower II: The Drawing of the Three by Stephen King

The first book in The Dark Tower series is kind of weird and has a bit of a dreamlike quality to it. The world the gunslinger finds himself is similar to our own in a few ways but is also completely different. The second book, The Dark Tower II: The Drawing of the Three picks up right after the end of the first book and has Roland the gunslinger finding different portals in his world that open up into our reality (and to the usual Stephen King type characters). I enjoyed it because there's really no way to predict what is coming and I had no clue what would happen. I just hope that the future volumes explain the how/why those magic doors just appear... Also I find it kinda funny that this book does nothing to answer the huge questions of why Roland is going to the Dark Tower in the first place and what exactly the Dark Tower is. By the end he pretty much makes no progress at all. Anyway, I guess I'll say it is an A-. Also, somewhat unexpectedly, the book mentions Gone with the Wind.