Book Club Reads Full Dark, No Stars by Stephen King

Earlier this year, my best friends and I got together to start a book club. I've been wanting to start one for ages and it's always a scary process starting something and worrying about how it will keep it's momentum. You also want to ensure people genuinely have a good time after every meeting and that you are reading books that are interesting. There also needs to be a good dynamic among your group to foster good discussion. After almost 5 months of doing it, I can say adding a book club to my life is one of the best decisions I've ever made. Not only do I get to read books I didn't think I would read, I get to do that with my best friends and get together once a month to discuss them. Reading is such a solitary act, and to come together having read the same book each month brings a social aspect to reading that is quite nice. We don't always agree on if we liked the book or not, but it's great to get various perspectives and to hear everyone's thoughts. 

I also went camping not too long ago, hence the photo here, but book club has brought some firsts for me too. While camping, I read one of the stories out loud to my boyfriend and it was such an awesome experience. We read Big Driver by the camp fire and I think having read the story out loud, it really stuck with me the most out of all the stories. It reminded me of reading out assignments or sharing creative writing in school, but of course, in a fun way. As a fast reader, I feel like reading out loud allows me to slow down and take a step back, and really absorb the text. I won't be able to read every book out loud, but short story collections make moments like that possible. 

This past month we all read Stephen King's Full Dark, No Stars, which is a short story collection of four stories: 1922, Big Driver, Fair Extension, and A Good Marriage. Vik and Liane hosted book club at their place this month since King's book was one of Liane's picks. We designate a month to a person and their book pick! We had lots of great discussion about the themes of family and children that link the four stories together, the narrator's voice and the constructions of self, and the nature of human behavior when in dire circumstances. Everyone was in agreement that the strongest stories of the collection were definitely Big Driver and A Good Marriage. 

Our hosts went all out and even made themed food items for the event and then we all sat around afterwards and watched the trailers for the various movies. We had some mini pizzas that looked like rats (from 1922), Arlette's Lemonade (from 1922), Spotted Hen Microbrew (from Fair Extension), and Perrier and Lime (from A Good Marriage). The creativity!! *heart eyes emojis galore* Three of the books have been made into movie adaptations. 1922 is the most recent one having come out last year on Netflix. 

I've also gathered some book club members thoughts on the book to share with you all: 

Michelle: “I really loved reading a King book starring a few female protagonists that struggled with dynamic women’s issues. Big Diver was a personal favourite! A story in the horror genre from the female perspective about sexual assault really had me thinking about this and related issues in a new way." 

Niki: "Full Dark, No Stars was endlessly captivating. Each story being more horrific than the last. It wasn't the frightening events that made it as harrowing, but rather the idea that these events were common events, each becoming more and more likely a situation that could exist in our own lives. It was the unexpected  human conscience that was within each story that made it most enjoyable, and the slow collapse in the aftermath of the events. Definitely one of the best books I've read all year."

Liane: "Full Dark, No Stars (a title that is also a warning for what lies ahead) is a collection of stories with a strong theme that threads through each of the four novellas - retributive justice and what that means to each narrator. The stories left me disgusted, unable to sleep, annoyed, and questioning my own actions as well as those of the people around me. Typical Stephen King."  

Jeremy: "I'm not usually a big reader, but I really enjoyed all these stories with Big Driver being my favorite. They kept me wanting to read more and more. I'm definitely becoming a Stephen King fan."  

Brandon: "King’s decision to write from perspectives different than his usual style was refreshing and displays his growth as a writer. I enjoyed that the collection of short stories featured protagonists with varying levels of involvement in the horror that takes place."

I would like to thank the lovely folks at Simon and Schuster Canada for sponsoring the book club this month and sending over copies of the book for us. It's definitely something that will have a special spot on all of our shelves. If you like more book club recaps like this, I'll be sure to post more in the future. I hope that by the end of this post, you will feel inspired to join or start up your own book club. Reading is already rewarding because you get to immerse yourself into new worlds, but reading with a book club ensures you aren't going it alone ;)