There Should Have Been Castles, by Herman Raucher
My dad's favourite book, and long out of print. I loved it, couldn't put it down but never wanted it to end - fantastic. I've got a copy of my own now, read it every year or two - still enjoy it every time. It's just a story of two people who become a couple, chapters written alternatively from his and her point of view. Sound familiar? Yep, The Time Traveler's Wife employs a similar device - I loved that, too.

The Talisman, by Stephen King & Peter Straub. Wonderful, from cover to cover. Wolf is one of my favourite characters in fiction anywhere and my heart breaks every time I read it.

And one to avoid: Black House - by Stephen King and Peter Straub. I had such high hopes for it, a follow-up to The Talisman, that's got to be awesome, surely? Slow, ponderous, 99% of the book is preamble and build-up, followed by "then they knocked the tower down and killed everyone, and the kingdom was vanquished, the end".

Talking of slow and ponderous, Insomnia by Stephen King is great, but it takes some getting into. Once the three little guys appear, it's fantastic!
(Professor Kenny Martin Hmm? What?, Sat 7 Jan 2012, 12:27, 2 replies)

you are SUCH a wrongster.

( janet aylia y'all motherfuckers need jesus, Sat 7 Jan 2012, 16:53, closed)

Stephen King really struggles with endings.
Have you ever read the Dark Tower series? If you do avoid the last one; make the ending up in your head. It'll be better. The first book is a bit slow and a bit of a cliché, the second is a little better, the third gets interesting, the forth, fifth and sixth were pretty damn good with some awesome third-wall-breaking ideas, and at the end of the seventh book he introduces a new character with special powers in order to wrap the plot up. FFS.
(Paolo Nutini's Bikini Better than Frederick Fleet's optometrist, Sun 8 Jan 2012, 1:05, closed)