The King (of something?)

After I had my first son, I spent many mornings and afternoons rocking, jiggling and feeding him to the sounds of talk shows in the background. I started my day with Good Morning America, followed by Regis and Kelly, then The View.

It wasn't long before I grew both conscious of what my growing boy was picking up from these shows, as well as bored with the television. Always liking to read, I decided from then on to pick up some well-loved books to see if I could start a new habit of reading during those quite times in the day, or when children were content to play at my feet.

I remember this time vividly; even the books that I read first. I started with Pride and Prejudice, followed by The Count of Monte Cristo. These were books that I already owned but hadn't read. After a weekend at home, I sifted through my mother's books and came home with The Concubine, Rebecca, and The Lute Player.

After that, I was hooked and didn't feel the need to keep the television on all day. As far as my preferences go, if books were food, I like meat and potatoes. I like books with depth, meaning, or at the very least a topic where I can learn something new. I'm not much for mysteries, romance, or anything that would scare me (which isn't hard to do).

If I were to pick a favorite book, it would have to be Rebecca, by Daphne Du Maurier. Trying to convince me for years to read it, I was convinced my mother was trying to get me to read about some farm woman who planted crops in Nebraska. But no, Rebecca isn't anything like that, and after reading through it once, I read through the entire thing again, so taken by the ending that I couldn't wait to read it again with a new perspective. Since then I always recommend Rebecca to anyone in my contemporary who probably never thought to read a book written before our grandparents' time.

Recently (thanks, E.M.), I started reading my first Stephen King novel, The Stand. It's not horror, vampires, boogie men or gore, and it doesn't scare me. It's actually pretty interesting, and dare I say...deep? However, I'm very torn. The book deals with the classic fight of good vs. evil. That topic isn't new or sci-fi, it's real life in so many aspects, and yet, I'm hesitant to finish the book. Maybe it's because I tend to fright about anything that isn't rainbows and unicorns, but I generally have a deep fear when it comes to even reading about the power of evil, almost as if my knowledge of it invites it into my life. I'm not convinced that's case, and I'll probably finish The Stand because it's really interesting and I'm hoping (and thinking) that the Good Guys will win, but I'll definitely be taking it all in with caution.

Anybody else like Stephen King? Anything to avoid other than Salem's Lot? (don't think I can touch that one).