Books of November 2025

• 11/6/2025 - Bowling Alone by Robert D. Putnam(Audible - Narrated by Arthur Morey: The author argues that American social capital has been declining for decades, as people participate less in civic groups, community organizations, and shared social activities. Putnam warns that this erosion of connectedness weakens democracy, community trust, and the overall health of society.
• 11/11/2025 - The Lottery or, The Adventures of James Harris by Shirley Jackson:  This is a collection of Shirley Jackson’s short stories that reveal the unsettling darkness beneath ordinary American life, often showing how fear, cruelty, and conformity emerge in everyday settings. Linking many of the stories is the mysterious figure James Harris, whose quiet presence highlights the fragile line between normalcy and horror.
• 11/14/2025 - Carrie by Stephen King(Audible - Narrated by Sissy Spacek & Margaret Atwood): Carrie tells the story of a shy, bullied teenage girl with telekinetic powers who, pushed to her breaking point by relentless cruelty at school and abuse at home, begins to lose control of her abilities. When a humiliating prank at prom triggers her rage, her powers unleash a catastrophic vengeance that transforms her small town forever.
• 11/29/2025 - The Stand by Stephen King: The book follows the aftermath of a devastating superflu that wipes out most of humanity, leaving the survivors to choose between rebuilding a society based on compassion or falling under the sway of a malevolent figure named Randall Flagg. As the forces of good and evil gather, the surviving heroes must confront Flagg in a final struggle that will determine the fate of the new world.

Bowling Alone was inspired after hearing it referenced in commentary about current politics and American society. I listened to it as an audiobook, which would be better as a physical book to really get in-depth. The narrator was fine, but I lost track of how many times I heard "as referenced in the PDF in a download," which I couldn't do while driving, where I listen to most of my audiobooks.

My first recollection of Shirley Jackson was by Stephen King, who mentions her as one of his influences as a writer and storyteller. It wasn't until Netflix series The Haunting of Hill House was adapted from Shirley's book of the same name. This inspired me to read the book, and I was blown away. I've heard the short story The Lottery mentioned a lot, so when I saw this book at my local library, I picked it up. I usually use library picks to check out books, and if they're interesting enough, I'll either read or pick one up. I read this one. 

Carrie was the first Stephen King book I read as a youth in the late 70s. I seem to recall that the hit movie starring Sissy Spacek (and John Travolta in a supporting role) most likely inspired me to read the book. Hitting puberty around the same time probably enhanced my interest in a high school-age girl getting bullied, and she wreaks havoc upon her classmate bullies after a prom prank with telekinetic powers. I would go on to be a fan of the book and Stephen King. I've read it a few times, but this time around, I listened to the audiobook version narrated by none other than Sissy Spacek (Carrie in the original film). Sissy Spacek also narrated the iconic book "To Kill a Mockingbird" and was amazing, so I knew it'd be great, and it was. I recommend it. 

The Stand is another Stephen King reread. A book so long that I was able to listen to Carrie on audiobook while reading The Stand(not at the same time, literally). The edition I read was the early 80s with a mere 817 pages. This was what I had read 40 years ago, before the "Complete and Uncut" edition was released, with approximately 1,400 pages. This has become the de facto edition these days, and the early edition is no longer published and is only available used. I found my paperback on eBay, and to the best of my memory, it is the edition I read decades ago. I have read both versions. I've seen debate about the two, and although many do love the uncut complete version, this is worth your time, too. The longer one presents more detail and depth to existing characters. It features minor characters that only make relatively short appearances. They are both the same story, though. This is a more concise version of the story without the extra 400 pages to plow through, which may be intimidating to some when they look at the brick the longer version looks like, which could deter some from diving into it.   If you love one, you'll love the other. I recommend reading both. 

Currently (re)Reading: Carrie by Stephen King

 Carrie was the first book I read by Stephen King. I can't pinpoint the exact age I was. It was some time after the movie came to theaters in 1976, starring Sissy Spacek as Carrie and a young John Travolta in a supporting role. I probably saw it when it came on TV, as I was only 10 at the time. Being a hit movie there was a lot of hype about this. It probably stirred my curiosity, and somehow I obtained a paperback and read it. 

Being 11 or 12, reading an "adult" novel was a big deal, at least it was for me. Now for clarification, I mean adult novel in a sense, as an 11-year-old, the most mature thing I probably read was Charlotte's Web by E.B. White (which I still love). I just mean something that's usually for adults or older kids and not something pornographic. 

For those unfamiliar with the book, it is about Carrie White, a 16-year-old girl who discovers she has telekinetic powers. She lives with her religiously fanatic mother in Chamberlain, Maine. She's an awkward, slightly overweight, and pimply teenager. She is the constant focus of bullying in school. 

The story begins with Carrie having her first period in the school shower after gym class. We find out that she has no idea what is happening to her when she starts bleeding because her repressive mother never told her about menstruation. So understandably, she freaked out. The other girls in the shower tormented her by taunting her and throwing tampons at her. The gym teacher eventually puts a stop to it. It is this event that seems to make Carrie aware she can control her telekinetic power, which up to this time had only occurred under extreme duress. The story goes from there. 

The mid-1970s were a big time for horror films like The Exorcist, The Omen, and the iconic Rocky Horror Picture Show. The movie adaptation of Carrie, directed by the legendary Brian De Palma, fit the moment.

I'm rereading it on Audible this time. It is narrated by Sissy Spacek with an introduction by Margaret Atwood and a foreword by Stephen King. Sissy Spacek was Carrie White in the original hit film. I've also listened to her narrate To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, and she was incredible, so I had extreme confidence she'd do a great job here. Margaret Atwood, author of The Handmaid's Tale, is fascinating to listen to. She has her own way with words and thoughts that I always find intriguing. Stephen King retells the story of the origin of the book, which his wife Tabitha retrieved from the trash, who urged him to continue. The rest is history, as the saying goes. 

 

The Stand Revisited (Part 1 of 2)

And they started to fly....

She had taken his hand...

Come on, Mary,

Don't fear the reaper...

-Blue Öyster Cult 

When I first read Stephen King's The Stand in the 80s, it was already a daunting 817-page colossus. This was the story as I, and all readers, knew it until 1990, when Stephen King released the 1441-page Complete and Uncut edition of The Stand. It was after that it became the de facto version of the story. At the time, fans of the book, like me, devoured this version. It went deeper and farther with characters. The base story and characters remain the same, but the narrative expands in certain areas. 

Why were 400 pages cut from the first anyway? As King explains, and I paraphrase, his publisher didn't think the market would bear a 1400-page dystopian novel. So they said, 'Do you want us to edit 400 pages or do you?'. Stephen opted for the latter.  

The Complete and Uncut version was amazing. King didn't change the characters, but he added to them.  Some additional characters with bit parts in the book were included. Included are people who were survivors of the initial wave of deaths from the superflu but died in other tragic ways, either by accident or on purpose. The most notable cut character is the colorful beer-swilling hot rodder called "The Kid" who has his moment in the latter half of the book. Other differences are only to do with the time setting and the corresponding cultural context. The first hardcover takes place in 1980, the paperback I'm reading now is set in 1985, and the Complete version is set in 1990. 

The complete version became the only version available. I did love the new version, but each time I read it, I felt a yearning of nostalgia for the early version. Much of it had to do with pop culture references, which King, being a music fan, often uses popular music. These were adjusted for each version. As many of us do as we get older, we gravitate to music we knew in our youth, so I missed that in the complete version. The trouble with this dilemma was that the original version was no longer available to buy new. It's much like Star Wars creator George Lucas updating the Star Wars movies (original trilogy) with CGI and stopping the sale of the original version. 

To go back to the book I originally read, I had to search through used book sources. I found the one I'm reading now on eBay for a reasonable price and in good condition. To the best of my recollection from 40 years ago, the version and cover I read in the 80s. My book looks its age, the edges a bit worn away, and it doesn't close all the way. The spine isn't cracked, as I know that's a thing for some I've seen from certain readers on social media; I don't get into that. It's not a pristine show book; it's been read and loved in its life, as it should be. 

I wrote this as I was just starting this book. I will do the other half when I've finished. 

To be continued....

Books of October 2025

 Books I finished in October 2025.

• 10/3//2025 - The Elements of Style (4th Edition) by William Strunk, E.B. White (Audible, Narrated by Frank McCourt): This is a concise guide to clear, effective writing that emphasizes simplicity, precision, and proper grammar. It offers practical rules of usage and composition, encouraging writers to express themselves with clarity and style.
• 10/11/2025 - The Devil and the White City by Erik Larson: This story intertwines the true stories of architect Daniel Burnham, who masterminded the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair, and serial killer H. H. Holmes, who used the fair’s allure to lure his victims. The book contrasts the grandeur of human innovation and ambition with the darkness of deceit and murder lurking beneath it.
• 10/18/2025 - The Demon of Unrest by Erik Larson(Audible, Narrated by Will Patton) : This story chronicles the tense months between Abraham Lincoln’s election and the outbreak of the Civil War, revealing how fear, pride, and miscommunication pushed America to the brink of conflict. Through vivid portraits of figures such as Major Robert Anderson and secessionist Edmund Ruffin, Larson illustrates how personal ambition and national division sparked the first shots fired at Fort Sumter.
• 10/29/2025 - The Outermost House by Henry Beston: The Outermost House by Henry Beston is a poetic reflection on the author’s year living alone on Cape Cod’s outer beach, where he observes the rhythms of the sea, the seasons, and the wildlife around him. Through his solitude, Beston discovers a deeper connection to nature and argues for a more spiritual, respectful relationship between humanity and the natural world.

Currently Reading: The Lottery by Shirley Jackson

  

 

The Lottery, or the Adventures of Jamie Harris by Shirley Jackson

Each Halloween season some authors always come up each year around this time like Mary Shelley, Stephen King, Bram Stoker and the author of one of my current books I'm reading, Shirley Jackson. She is most well known for her classic book The Haunting of Hill House. I read this a few years back and it blew me away. It's amazing and I can't recommend it enough. 

The Lottery is Shirley Jackson's first compilation of short stories first published. The book title, The Lottery, is a short story at the end. It was first published in New Yorker magazine and the response was enormous. It is the last story and I'm only about a third of the way through so I haven't read it yet. It is her most well known short story. Jamie Harris is a a returning character in some of the stories who is also described as "Daemon Lover". In later editions of the book Jamie Harris " is replaced with Daemon Lover" in the book title.