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Stephen King proves once again that when he sets out to write a quartet of novellas, he knocks it out of the park. Mr. Harrigan's Phone is deeply unsettling, Life of Chuck is a delightfully bittersweet tale told in triplicate and reverse, If It Bleeds is an incredible Holly Gibney story that is an excellent follow-up to The Outsider, and Rat is a quintessentially Kingian modern adaptation of the classic Monkey's Paw premise. 5/5

Sorry #LosersClub and @BarkingMadRead ! I‘m still on If It Bleeds (the novella). I‘ll catch up with you soon!

Taken today…✂️ Got an hour in at the hairdresser!

Welcome to the #LosersClub open discussion for #IfItBleeds
 Please be mindful of spoilers. We have new readers to King who haven‘t read all of his books. When referencing his other work, please keep this in mind for our new-to-King friends. Don‘t forget to tag each other in the comments so your friends can see your reply. Have fun!
#StephenKing #StephenKingInOrder #KingFromTheBeginning #ConstantReader #ReadAlong #BuddyRead #BookDiscussion

#hailthebail - read 4 and bailed on 4 this month. Bailed on good books - definitely a me not you moment. Almost embarrassed to bail on “good“ books - but I have to be honest - they just aren't cutting it for me right now.

Due to the bails I did complete my goals for the #BooksinBloom readathon 🤣

Make a great day everyone 💐

I am always astounded by King‘s ability to write shorter works. He admits to having “diarrhea of the mouth,” but his short stories and novellas usually prove him capable of reigning himself in. He does so admirably here. I especially liked the first story - Mr. Harrigan‘s Phone and the title story, featuring Holly. I‘m not so sure he quite knew what to do with the second story. Murder Mystery Book Club was my #audiowalk book. #LosersClub👇

Thanks for the tag @TheSpineView

Here is what I'm reading this week - spring break so I hope to enjoy a lot of reading time!

Make a great day everyone 🙂

This month‘s book is #IfItBleeds Grab your copy and check back at the end of the month for open discussion! Don‘t forget to tag me so I can see which version you have! #LosersClub #StephenKing #StephenKingInOrder #KingFromTheBeginning #ConstantReader #ReadAlong #BuddyRead #BookDiscussion

#TLT #ThreeListThursday thanks for the tag and for hosting @dabbe -

1. Harry Potter series
2. A Court of Thorns and Roses (just finished 2nd book in series)
3. It - Stephen King's #LosersClub are hero's on a quest in my book!! (pun intended 😅)

Make a great day everyone 😊

Just a reminder that March‘s #LosersClub read is #IfItBleeds Put your library holds in now, search your shelves, or buy a new copy, and check back on or about October 1st, when we begin reading this one. Discussion will be at the end of the month! #StephenKing #StephenKingInOrder #KingFromTheBeginning #ConstantReader #ReadAlong #BuddyRead #BookDiscussion

I only wanted to read the Holly novella, interesting 🤔 I‘m not sure I love Holly as a character but the story intrigued me enough, Stephen King also has an interesting writing style, there was a lot of Poopy this Poopy that in this 🤔 💩

Read for reading challenges.

Library book 📖

4/5

Sooooo pretty 😍🖤

I haven‘t read a lot of recent Stephen King titles but have heard good things about the Holly Gibney character. I‘ll get to this in a few years as I progress through my chronological read! #scarathlonphotochallenge #cat #blackcatcrew

#scarathlonphotochallenge #cat #teamcryptkeepers

⭐️⭐️⭐️ King got me considering shapeshifters. 🫣 I‘m not sure if I would‘ve picked up this four-novella collection otherwise, but I‘m trying to be a Holly Gibney completist as quickly as possible. Hoping to dive into her final story, Holly, in the next couple of weeks. Of these four, “If It Bleeds” was the strongest followed by “Mr. Harrigan‘s Phone.” I didn‘t care much for the other two.

Mr Harrigan's Phone: Texts from beyond the grave. 5 ⭐️
The Life of Chuck: Surreal novella split into 3 parts. The first part is perfect. The second part is pointless. The third part is good, but what is it doing here? 3 ⭐️
If It Bleeds: Holly Gibney. One of my fave King characters. I wish the bad guy here wasn't so like the one from The Outsider, but 🤷‍♀️. 4 ⭐️
Rat: Writer goes to isolated cabin to write novel. Disturbing times are had. 5 ⭐️

9-4-23: My 84th finished book of 2023! This is a collection of 4 stories. The title is the name of the 3rd and best of the stories. If you are a King fan and have read the Mr. Mercedes trilogy and the book The Outsider, then you know who Holly Gibney is. This is a continuation of The Outisder and leads to his newest book Holly. I thoroughly enjoyed this one but the other 3 were just ok. ⭐️⭐️⭐️📖#️⃣8️⃣4️⃣

As a compilation - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️1/4
Mr Harrigan‘s Phone ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Life of Chuck - ⭐️⭐️⭐️
If It Bleeds - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Rat - ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I think my favorite is Mr Harrigan‘s Phone, it was classic SK!

But I also loved If It Bleeds because I love The Outsiders. The audio took the rating down a little because I‘m not a fan of Holly‘s voice.

I started this on holiday but a fiercely fought scrabble game with my wife (I lost) meant I didn't finish until today. King's novellas are so well told and touch on modern themes as a 1st version iPhone is involved in a haunting, a 3 act tale of a businessman who find joy in a dance, a rat who helps a blocked writer and of course the wonderful return of a favourite character Holly Gibney as she returns to confront a new old monster.

I started this on holiday but a fiercely fought scrabble game with my wife (I lost) meant I didn't finish until today. King's novellas are so well told and touch on modern themes as a 1st version iPhone is involved in a haunting, a 3 act tale of a businessman who find joy in a dance, a rat who helps a blocked writer and of course the wonderful return of a favourite character Holly Gibney as she returns to confront a new old monster.

I started this on holiday but a fiercely fought scrabble game with my wife (I lost) meant I didn't finish until today. King's novellas are so well told and touch on modern themes as a 1st version iPhone is involved in a haunting, a 3 act tale of a businessman who find joy in a dance, a rat who helps a blocked writer and of course the wonderful return of a favourite character Holly Gibney as she returns to confront a new old monster.

I started this on holiday but a fiercely fought scrabble game with my wife (I lost) meant I didn't finish until today. King's novellas are so well told and touch on modern themes as a 1st version iPhone is involved in a haunting, a 3 act tale of a businessman who find joy in a dance, a rat who helps a blocked writer and of course the wonderful return of a favourite character Holly Gibney as she returns to confront a new old monster.

I started this on holiday but a fiercely fought scrabble game with my wife (I lost) meant I didn't finish until today. King's novellas are so well told and touch on modern themes as a 1st version iPhone is involved in a haunting, a 3 act tale of a businessman who find joy in a dance, a rat who helps a blocked writer and of course the wonderful return of a favourite character Holly Gibney as she returns to confront a new old monster.

I started this on holiday but a fiercely fought scrabble game with my wife (I lost) meant I didn't finish until today. King's novellas are so well told and touch on modern themes as a 1st version iPhone is involved in a haunting, a 3 act tale of a businessman who find joy in a dance, a rat who helps a blocked writer and of course the wonderful return of a favourite character Holly Gibney as she returns to confront a new monster.

I started this on holiday but a fiercely fought scrabble game with my wife (I lost) meant I didn't finish until today. King's novellas are so well told and touch on modern themes as a 1st version iPhone is involved in a haunting, a 3 act tale of a businessman who find joy in a dance, a rat who helps a blocked writer and of course the wonderful return of a favourite character Holly Gibney as she returns to confront a new monster.

In this installment my girl Holly is getting over her experiences in Texas and Oklahoma when she realizes something isn‘t quite right with an incident in Pittsburgh. Holly is one of my favorite characters and I really loved to see her growth in this story.

King calls this a short story but for anyone else not quite so wordy it would probably be a novella.

#MarchMagic #PublishedIn2020

Ironically I finished listening to this on my drive to the town he did a lot of his writing in. I couldn't resist snapping a photo of his former house while there. (It now houses their nonprofit.) All 4 stories are good. There is one that takes place after the Mr. Mercedes books and The Outsider so I'm glad I already had those under my belt to know the characters in it. My favorite of the 4 was Mr. Harrigan's Phone. A solid collection.

This book is a collection of 3 short stories and 1 that is the main portion of the book. The main portion is a continuation of a previous book which kinda annoyed me. I personally enjoyed the short stories more because there was less useless information and by the end it really gets you thinking. There's a common theme in the short stories of death and about how unpredictable and unexpected dying can be.

Sadly the narrator on Mistborn was not music to my ears. I did listen long enough to know I'm interested in the story however. I've listened to Will Patton several times before and I do enjoy his narration.

Four good, creepy (not scary) and very different novellas. ‘Mr. Harrigan's Phone‘ (now on Netflix) struck me as spooky YA. ‘The Life of Chuck‘ was fascinatingly experimental and my personal favorite. ‘If It Bleeds‘ is especially fun for King fans as beloved character Holly Gibney returns as the main character. The final story, ‘Rat‘ gives us King writing fiction about someone writing fiction, which I love.

Great audiobook

More creepy than scary. We liked it. 11 points #scarathlon #teammonstermash

#scarathlon2022 #scarathlondailyprompts #blackcat #teamslaughter @Clwojick

Meh 🤷🏼‍♀️. Really wasn‘t very scary and was more sad than anything else. I read the short story and remember liking it better than the movie. Either way more points for #teamslaughter 😉. #scarathlon2022

#OminousOctober @Eggs @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks #Scarathlon @Clwojick #TeamSlaughter

The #Cat design on this cover has always been a favorite.

I haven't read any short Stephen King in a while, so I was delighted when Jim waved his hardback copy down the video screen from America and said, 'I've got the new Stephen King, and I'll bring with me'.

When an old man dies, a library burns.

This collection of novellas is a mixed bag. The best are “The Life of Chuck,” which swings hard and sends the ball farther into the twilight than you expect, and the title work (a sequel to “The Outsider”). I‘m a lifelong Stephen King fan, so I know what I‘m getting with his late-career work: A quick, spooky read in a comforting, familiar style. The old magic is gone, but there are still moments when he sneaks up and scares the shit out of you.

big Stephen King fan. liked this collection of short stories. love that he came back to holly and that story line. got this book from the library and it reminded me how much i love libraries. libraries are a small example of the best we can be as a society.

If It Bleeds by Stephen King contains four stories from the master of the modern horror story.

#March2021

I mean of course! #TheKing is my favorite of all authors, so it's only natural I would love anything that he produces.

#12BooksOf2021

I really liked the first short story in this collection, but the second resonated with me immediately! Marty‘s world is going to hell in a hand basket, but all he can think about is his grading! “All those spelling errors waiting to be corrected. All those dangling subordinate clauses and conclusions waiting to be red-inked . . . Just thinking of it made him tired” (96). Been there, done that, Marty!! 😂

Finished! #TeamSlaughter 16 pts great series of short stores and novella loved the main titled story, didn't know that it had characters from two different stories. I have Mr Mercedes on my TBR shelf. I'll have to move that up. Great book 5 stars.

#TeamScarathlon Do short stories count for 15 pts per story or is it just 15 pts for the book it's self ? @Clwojick

Here are my choices for group h. If anyone has any other suggestions feel free to let me know. I can order something else but I would have to place the order this week. Up here in the sticks Prime delivery is 5-6 days.

#TeamSlaughter #Scarathlon2022 #PointsWeekTwo
@Clwojick

#AHS #HHS @wanderinglynn Boxes are Shipped. Should arrive by next Friday. #Halloween

#OutstandingOctober #TeamSlaughter #Goals