A new Stephen King Update for 2026

Hi, nice to see you so soon after the last post. After so long m.i.a, I can't believe I've managed to make 2 videos in less than 2 weeks! Go me ;D

In my latest ramble, I just thought that I'd catch you up on where I am with my Stephen King project. I've been reading his bibliography in publication order, and when I got stalled reading Christine (she was a problem), I honestly thought that I'd just have to give up on that plan and either pick the books up from another book further on, or just give up and read whichever book tickled my fancy - and considering I hate  TBRs, I really thought that I would end up choosing that path. However, I persevered with Christine, got through it... and then stalled on reading The Talisman. Ugh.

So, this was just a short (11min) video that I made to mainly remind myself where I am, and how much I enjoy making these kind of videos - even if I only have a small audience watching - and that this makes me want to get my home library finished sooner rather than later so I can have a consistent place to film and edit in (honestly, trying to find a nice bit of sunlight in this house takes work!).

That being said, I hope you enjoy the video, and let me know in the comments what you're currently reading, and if you have a favourite movie soundtrack. And until I see you next time, 

Dark Tower issue resolved

Well, hello there.  Hope you’ve had a wonderful day.  My day was pretty average. It was a beautiful winters day with a painfully blue sky that makes you think if summer - but it was way too cold to even consider leaving the house!

Okay, enough of the social pleasantries. You’re here for the book stuff 😁  Here we go...

As you can tell by the title of this post, my issue regarding a used book I purchased from AbeBooks was resolved... but I’m not sure how I feel about it.  As previously discussed on both my IG, and BookTube, I ordered what should have been the reissued edition of The Song of Susannah (Dark Tower 05) by Stephen King. I particularly wanted this book because on the matching covers that form a larger landscape image when put together. But anyhoo, when the book turned up in the mail on Thursday, 18/07/19, it was not the right edition.  Yes, I know that sounds shallow and smacks of consumerism, but I want the edition that I’d paid for.

Seeing the error, I emailed the seller. They were lovely to deal with (so this isn’t a drama queen post about shitty customer service) and after me supplying them with the details they requested, I woke up to an email stating I was being refunded the full cost of my order (inc. p&h).  Now, while this was expected, I would rather have received the correct edition.

So, the hunt for The Song of Susannah begins anew.

Wish me luck, and on that note I’ll bid you a fond adieu, and until I see you next time,

Bookmail Quickie

It was a beautiful winter's day yesterday, so I walked down to the post office.  Thankfully I live close by as I came home with a few parcels - and one of those was something I was very eagerly awaiting.

Things did not go according to plan (as the thumbnail hints) and I'll get into that in the next post, but until then, I hope you enjoy the bookmail unboxing ;-D

Thank you for watching, and until I see you next time,

 

The Dark Tower is coming

Like I said when I posted this on IG, Yah! My Dark Tower bookmail is starting to trickle in 😊

I read The Gunslinger about 18 months ago, and just never continued on with the series as I didn’t have the next books. There was also the very real book problem of trying to decide which edition to get. Unfortunately by the time I decided on these US ones (in this very odd, tall mass market paperback format), they seemed to be going out of print for some of the titles.

Thankfully, these two were easily obtained from Amazon AU, while the rest had to be sourced from AbeBooks, and Powell’s (from America), which is a whole other story.  Fingers crossed the used books I bought match this edition.

Okay, now to find space for these new books... 

Ooh, bookmail!

Yah! It’s here 🥰

I missed out on the first Barnes & Noble edition of the Stephen King omnibus, so this time round I was determined to get one. Sadly, it’s not available in Australia (well, at least from Amazon AU, Booktopia, Book Depository or any of the other online book retailers I’ve tried), so I had to go to the source and pre-order it from Barnes & Noble in the US.

The whole process was pretty pain free - although I was frustrated the 10% off coupon I had for signing up didn’t apply to international orders 🤨 - and after parting with over AU$50 all I had to do was wait for my order to ship, and then count the days till it arrived.

And today was that day, and I am delighted with it. I have yet to unwrap it, however the cover art, and the colour palette, are really eye catching.  Even with the book on the shelf, the spine draws the eye.  I’m not sure if there are any illustrations, but I’ll discover that when I get around to peeling off the plastic 😄

I did order one other B&N leatherbound edition, a 2011 copy of Jane Eyre, which arrived yesterday in fabulous condition, and in a twist which surprised me, this earlier leatherbound book was much smaller than the King omnibus.  Although not my favourite classic, I did enjoy Jane Eyre, and this edition is gorgeous. 

I’m not sure if I’ll be purchasing more of these leatherbound books as they are rather expensive here, but I would love to add a few more to my collection. I uploaded my ‘unboxing’ of the SK omnibus this morning if you’d like to see my reaction 😅.

So, that’s all from me at the moment. I now have to find shelf space for these two beauties, so until I see you next time,

Weekend Reading + Bookmail

I tried to get this up last Friday, but thanks to more NBN maintenance - thanks Telstra! - I wasn't able to get it up. So I just ended up filming a wrap up of what I ended up reading instead. 

If you have read any of these books, leave a comment below as I'd love to connect with fellow Constant Readers ;-D

Thanks for watching, and until I see you next time,

 

May Wrap Up + Elevation Review

OMG, Winter is here.  This morning was so cold and I didn't even want to stick my nose out from under the blankets.  When I finally emerged it was to discover that the mercury had plummeted to -2.4°c (felt like -4.8°c) and that does not bode well for the next few months.  It's at times like this that I really wish all houses in Australia came with wood heaters or radiators, because OMG it's so freaking cold.

On the book front, I have just filmed my book haul for May.  Not sure if I'll use that, or re-film it on the weekend because those last stragglers could arrive in the next two days, couldn't they? ;-D  Anyway, I'm feeling more upbeat about things, so hopefully that will translate into filming more, and actually editing the footage I already have.

In the meantime, I'm off to play with the new floof that I adopted on Sunday.  Earl Grey, or EG (as I've already dubbed him), is such a ball of energy. He can be so relaxed and chill and then be zooming off somewhere to chase a leaf.  Such a cutie.

Let me know what you thought of Elevation, and do you think King should stop publishing these novellas and just concentrate on his big ass novels? But I digress.  I'm out. Thanks for watching/reading this, and until I see you next time,

 

King-ly Reading Update: Part One

Hi, and welcome back!

I am so glad to be back at the computer, and finger's crossed, there will be no NBN or power maintenance holdups for the foreseeable future.

Now, as you can see from the title of the video, I've gotten back into my Stephen King groove and have been watching - and buying - a whole lot of King stuff.  Firstly, I blame this on finding Needful Things had dropped on STAN (Australian streaming service) and from there I bounced over to Netflix to partake of Gerald's Game.  I had been putting off watching Gerald's Game because I had wanted to read the book, as I mentioned in this video, but alas, I caved and on a hot afternoon I got myself comfy on the bed, snuggled down into the pillows with my iPad, and pressed PLAY... and OMG! did I love this adaptation.  Won't go into spoilers because I want to read the book and compare it to the adaptation in a video, but dang, it was amazing!

I have also been trying to track down some of the US hardcovers of Bag of Bones, Pet Sematary, Night Shift, Carrie, The Shining, and a few others that I just can't seem to find for a reasonable price.  I do have some more editions in the upcoming PARTS TWO and THREE of my King-ly Reading Update videos, because I got a little 'click happy' this month.

Anyway, I've got to get back to editing the new footage so I can get something up during the week.  Thanks for your patience, and until I see you next time,

 

Just a little hiccup is all

Currently reading Pet Sematary 

Oh, boy.  Just when you think it’s safe to go back in the pool, Murphy’s Law strikes.

So. I had two videos that I was hoping to finish editing and get uploaded this week, but the internet gods have thrown a spanner in the works and I received notification that not only was my NBN Broadband going to be down this week, you know, for maintenance (yeah, right), but my power supply would also be in question this week as the electricity company also wants to do some maintenance... seriously, what are the odds for this?

That means that I’m not going to be editing diddley-squat because I do not want to loose any of my footage thanks to an ill timed outage, not that I will be able to upload it anyway. So, I’m falling back on my reading, and to my delight, I’ve been burning up the pages. I’ve already surpassed my goal of 100 books for the year (28 February), and I’m now chasing my highest page count of 45,000+ (set in 2017).  I’ve been discovering a lot of great new authors and series - thanks to the free books on Amazon Kindle - so I think I’ll try to put together a list of my favourite new authors/series.

Then there are the books that I’m trying very hard to read because a) they’re on my personal reading goals list for this year, and b) because I want to watch the adaptation, so I need to read the book.  So far I’m working my way through Pet Sematary by Stephen King, and I’m expecting The Meg blu-ray in the mail tomorrow so I’m downloaded the ebook.  For my #aclassicamonth challenge, I’ve decided to go with Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie so I can get it off my list.  However my #bigbook2019 progress has floundered because I have yet to pick up The Count of Monte Cristo.  Oops.

I’m currently flying through some new urban fantasy and paranormal cosy mysteries, but I’ll catch you up on those in a future post.  Now, I think you’re all up to speed on what’s happening, or not happening, so I’ll leave you here, and until I see you next time,

Early February Reading Wrap Up

Phew, just got this up in time ;-D

Trying to keep this post nice and short, so all I'm going to say is that I'm trying a slightly different format for my end of the month reading wrap ups (to try and keep the run time down), so I hope you like it.

Thanks for watching, and drop me a line below if you have any ideas or book recommendations for me ;-D

And until I catch you next time,

 

Reading Update, November 2018

Hello, my lovelies!

It's been a bit longer than I'd anticipated.  Things are just all over the place here.  At the beginning of last week I undertook the massive task of scrubbing all the floors in the house - and promptly started paying for it with my Achilles troubles flaring up, as well as my back issues roaring back to life... and we won't even talk about what happened with my carpal tunnel.  

Results... clean floor,  but I was stuck in bed for a few days.

This did, however, lend itself to getting some more books read.  I had already earmarked an Agatha Christie or two to pick up, and with some of my most anticipated books coming out, well I was perfectly content to become a hermit for a few days ;-D

Luckily, by the end of the week I was feeling pretty good, and was able to resume normal day-to-day activities.  Picked up some boxed sets of Poirot (series 4, 6 and 7&8 which are combined), and had a great weekend just flaked out on the couch with the AC running (mini-heatwave here in QLD), while I enjoyed revisiting with Poirot.  We won't even talk about the new remake of Murder on the Orient Express, because I just can't.

Anyway, I have some plans for future videos that I'm trying to nail down at the moment.  Still, there's always time to pick up a book, and I have quite a few I'd like to get read before the end of the year - but that's another video ;-D

Thank you for watching, and until I see you next time

 

Back in the swing of things

This heatwave is ridiculous!

Hi there, my lovelies!  This is only going to be short so I can get hurry back to the AC in the living room as it's getting very very hot and muggy.  Seriously, what's up with this weather?

Anyway, I don't have any hauls planned for the next couple of videos, but I'm hoping some Top 5, or perhaps a bookshelf tour might be on the cards.  Let me know below if there is a specific video you would like me to do, and I'll put it on the list ;-D

Okay, I'm roasting in this room.  Thank you for watching, and until I see you next time...

 

Halloween Reading Fail

Yep, I'm calling it.  October was a dud of a reading month.  I only got one book from my Halloween Reads/Victober TBR read, Jane Eyre, and that was it until the last two days of the month when I picked up Trail of Lightning and The Palace Job.

What happened?  I had such plans... well, Netflix happened.  Yes, I joined the Netflix cult and became engrossed with all the Halloween goodness that was on offer.  I binged Ghost Wars, Superstition (great premise), The Haunting of Hill House and The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina when they dropped, and whatever spooky movies or series that caught my eye.  Let's face it, Netflix is addictive.

Thankfully, I seem to be past the first flush of the Netflix thrill, and have already read a few more books since I filmed this on the 2nd of November.  Perhaps I'll even pick up a King book this month? ;-D

Anyway, with a heatwave on the horizon here in QLD (predicting 37°c today) I should be able to get a bit more reading done while I sit in the comfort of my lounge room and bask in the wonder that is the AC.  The weather is just all over the place at the moment.  Usually not this hot until end of December, start of new year.

Is anyone else finding the weather unseasonable?  Let me know below if you are, and until I see you next time,

More Stephen King bookmail

When I went up to the post office this morning, I didn't expect to get a pile of Stephen King stuff.  It makes me so happy when I can add more Kingly items to my collection ;-D

Although some of the items mentioned in the video were bought from Amazon (US), they were actually ordered through Amazon AU as Amazon still won't let Australians order from any of the international Amazon sites.  I've got to say, being geoblocked from all the other Amazon sites sucks severely.  The small pool of items Australia has access to from overseas on the site is very frustrating - especially when an item is available on just about every other site, but Australia's!

Anyway, that's a rant for another day.

Of the film adaptations that arrived in the mail today, I'm most excited to watch 'Salem's Lot (1979), and Silver Bullet (with Corey Haim).  I've now read both the books that these movies are adapted from and I'm intrigued to see how the adaptations used the source materials.

There are still more items winging their way to me, but I just couldn't wait to tear into the packages so there will be another haul towards the end of October, early November.

So that's it for today.  Let me know what your favourite Stephen King movie is, or what book would you most like to see adapted.  I always love to hear what fellow Constant Readers think about any screen adaptations.

Thank you for watching, and until I see you next time...

King Book Mail (+ one)

Hello, and welcome to my newest Kingly book mail video!

Sorry this will be quite short.  There are some major storms brewing so I need to get off the computer ASAP.  All of these items arrived in the last few days, so I just had to film a book mail video - so I could get them off my desk!  I have left links for all the editions mentioned in the video in the description area.

I hope you enjoy this, and until next time...

Reading Progress July

Just keeping it short today.  It's been almost 2 weeks since I even turned on my computer, so getting it filmed and edited in a few hours was tiring.  I haven't read as much as I would have liked to, but what I did read I enjoyed, so that's a bonus.

I will be continuing on with my The Green Mile read-a-long next week.  Almost half way through and I'm loving it.  Will definitely have to watch the movie afterwards.  It's one of the few Stephen King film adaptations I've never watched - even though the blu-ray has been gathering dust on the dvd bookcase for nearly 18 months *hangs head in shame*

Anyway, I hope to start The Palace Job this weekend, or perhaps next week, and I have to film an unboxing because some bookmail arrived after I had edited this video.  Isn't that always the way? But I might start one of those books first.  Decisions, decisions....

So that's all for now.  I hope you're enjoying your reading and until I see you next time,

 

Hey, I actually finished a book!

It's been a boring couple of weeks where I just have not had the inclination to pick up a book.  This does not happen often, but when it does, it's a real problem. Thankfully, my mum lent me her copy of Nora Roberts new book, Shelter in Place, and that did the trick.  Roberts is an almost guaranteed good read so... 'Thank You, Mum!'.

However, I only picked this up after finishing The ABC Murders by Agatha Christie.  I don't know what it was about this book, but it took me three reading sessions to get through this teeny, tiny, little book of 192 pages.  I know, right.  I've read three books in a day (1000+ pages worth) and done it again the next day!  Yet, trying to get through this Poirot was like pulling teeth.  Which is silly considering I actually liked it, and I can't wait to see the new BBC adapation.

Yes, April to mid June has just been the pits.

Thankfully it looks like that slumpy, grumpy, not-reading time is over and I've been enjoying rereading some old favourites which I will be talking about in my next video.

So until I see you next time,

 

May reading wrap-up

Hello there!

It's been a hot minute since I got my butt in gear and got a video edited and up, but everyday life - and not having read much - might have had something to do with it ;-D

I'm still working on Mansfield Park which is kind of strange since I plowed through the first two volumes in two days, but for some reason the final volume just has me procrastinating.  I've binge-watched both seasons of Wynonna Earp - and started rewatching Charmed!  Anything but pick up MP and finish it.  Grrrrr, very frustrating.

However, I am enjoying the book more than the adaptation.  Edmund is a dick, Fanny is very bland and wishy-washy, and the Crawford siblings are actually not as shitty as the adapations make them out to be.  Maybe Fanny will grow a spine soon because the big fight about her not wanting to marry a certain caddish gentleman has yet to happen, so finger's crossed.

I also mention the couple of new books I have acquired and a great new bookmark that I just could not resist buying.

Anyway, my fingers are freezing off at the moment.  It's the first day of winter and boy, has it arrived right on schedule.  I had all three cats hogging the bed with me last night, and since it's still really cold at the moment I will be heading straight from the computer to the couch and my blankets while I watch some more Charmed (baby W just born), and warm up with some chilli con-carne.

See you guys later,

Eff-all Reading Update

Well, hello there stranger!

Yep, once again I got caught up in real life and two weeks have flown by before I've had a chance to turn on the desktop computer to edit and upload a video.  Thankfully nothing much has been happening reading wise.  I've been more dedicated to watching the latest season of Wynonna Earp that I picked up at Sanity just over a week ago.

I have a few reads planned.  I need to read The Island of Dr. Moreau before the end of April for my A Classic A Month challenge, of which I have fallen behind, and then in May it's time for everyone's favourite Austen, Mansfield Park - saying yah sarcastically.

Thankfully it looks like the weather has finally decided to behave and act like we're heading in to Winter.  It's almost May and I'm still walking around in singlet tops and shorts!  Which means that it's nearly time to get comfy on the couch with a good book/movie, a warm cosy blanket, a cat - or three - and a hot cup of tea and spend some quality time indoors out of the cold.

So now that my video is finally up and live (after internet dramas this morning), I'm now going to catch up on some of the household chores I was supposed to be doing this afternoon.  So, until next time,

Reading Update

Well, hello there!

It has been a hot minute since I posted something here (or on BookTube), so after filming 2 other scrapped reading updates over the last couple of weeks, I finally sat down in front of the computer and just got to it.

I'd like to be able to say that my reading over the last couple of weeks has been amazing, and intellectually uplifting and that is why I've taken so long to post something... but the truth is that everyday life has been getting in the way of my bookish wants.  Had to call the plumber in last month - on a Sunday no less! - because the hose under the kitchen sink ruptured and I had water EVERYWHERE!  A complete nightmare.

Then the car had to go in for a service, and of course it needed stuff done (well, she's 17 years old so it's only to be expected).  I've had the battery replaced as well as the plugs and leads so we're good for the moment, but it is still stressful to have all this happen within about three weeks.  Never mind the damage it's doing to my bank account ;-D

Meanwhile for the most part, my reading has dropped of significantly and I've been watching more TV.  Free to air programing is abysmal, so I have been falling back on TV series like The Murdoch Mysteries and Threshold, with a little bit of Mapp & Lucia thrown in for good measure.  I'm almost through season 7 of TMM and I do love the releationship between Det. Murdoch and Dr. Ogden.  They are so perfectly suited.  Anyway, after I get this post up I'll be heading back to finish up a few more episodes so I can continue on to season 8.

I did manage to read the ILL copy of Cycle of the Werewolf by Stephen King that I ordered late in February.  I ordered it early because I thought that there may be some issues trying to get a copy for loan.  However, after a few problems locating a copy, it arrived early so I had to read it out of publication order, but that's okay because I've been putting off reading Cujo any way I can.  I so don't want to read about an animal in distress.  I am, however, currently rereading the Goddess with a Blade series by Lauren Dane and enjoying the hell out of it.  Ah, urban fantasy.  My comfort genre.

So that's it.  I haven't been terribly active online, or anything like that.  In fact, this is the first time my computer has even been on in over a month (and boy, did Norton not like that!) and I haven't missed it in the slightest.  Having said that, I am eagerly awaiting books in the mail as I may have gone a bit overboard over the weekend and ordered 13 books.... oops!  I'll haul them to BookTube, and post a link here, when I get them, so I have a week or so before I have to think about filming anything else.

Okay, I'm off.  Washing waits for no man. 

I hope you have had a great reading month, and until I see you next time,