Back in November, as part of his 6-city tour for Revival, Stephen King came to the Washington, D.C. area as a guest of the Politics & Prose bookstore. I wasn’t able to attend, but last night, I watched the talk on YouTube.

As often happens after I see Stephen King speak, I thought to myself, “Gee, I wish I was a writer!” It also makes me want to read more Stephen King. I have, over the last several months, been reading a good deal of nonfiction, although I did take a break in November to read Revival. But in the last two weeks or so, I’ve been so busy with other stuff that I haven’t had a chance to do much reading at all. This morning, I woke up with King’s talk still on my mind and decided that I’d start on something else of his today.

But what?

I went through the list of books I’ve read since 1996, looking for all instances of Stephen King. There were 66 of them (+ = e-book, @ = audiobook, * = recommended, ^ = re-read):

1. Salem’s Lot by Stephen King (9/16/2001)
2. Needful Things by Stephen King (9/25/2004)
3. On Writing+ by Stephen King (9/16/2009)
4. Carrie+ by Stephen King (9/21/2009)
5. The Shining+ by Stephen King (9/28/2009)
6. It+ by Stephen King (10/28/2009)
7. Night Shift+ by Stephen King (11/3/2009)
8. Under the Dome by Stephen King (11/30/2009)
9. Different Seasons+ by Stephen King (12/9/2009)
10. The Stand+ by Stephen King (6/2/2010)
11. The Dead Zone+ by Stephen King (6/11/2010)
12. Firestarter+ by Stephen King (6/25/2010)
13. Pet Sematary by Stephen King (6/29/2010)
14. Blockade Billy+ by Stephen King (6/9/2011)
15. 11/22/63*+ by Stephen King (11/18/2011)
16. The Green Mile+ by Stephen King (11/23/2011)
17. Full Dark, No Stars+ by Stephen King (7/5/2012)
18. Bag of Bones+ by Stephen King (7/10/2012)
19. It*+^ by Stephen King (7/30/2012)
20. 11/22/63*^+ by Stephen King (2/19/2013)
21. Misery@ by Stephen King (2/23/2013)
22. Gerald’s Game@ by Stephen King (3/3/2013)
23. Hearts in Atlantis@* by Stephen King (3/8/2013)
24. On Writing@^ by Stephen King (3/14/2013)
25. Needful Things@^ by Stephen King (3/20/2013)
26. ‘Salem’s Lot@^ by Stephen King (3/25/2013)
27. From A Buick 8@ by Stephen King (3/29/2013)
28. The Tommyknockers@ by Stephen King (4/6/2013)
29. Dreamcatcher@ by Stephen King (4/13/2013)
30. It@^ by Stephen King (5/2/2013)
31. 11/22/63@^ by Stephen King (5/16/2013)
32. The Shining@^ by Stephen King (5/21/2013)
33. Danse Macabre@ by Stephen King (5/27/2013)
34. Carrie@^ by Stephen King (5/29/2013)
35. On Writing@^ by Stephen King (6/4/2013)
36. Joyland@* by Stephen King (6/5/2013)
37. The Dark Tower, Book 1: The Gunslinger@ by Stephen King (6/7/2013)
38. The Dark Tower, Book 2: The Drawing of Three@ by Stephen King (6/12/2013)
39. The Dark Tower, Book 3: The Wastelands@ by Stephen King (6/18/2013)
40. Hard Listening+ by Stephen King, Scott Turow, Amy Tan, et. al. (6/24/2013)
41. Dolores Claiborne@ by Stephen King (6/27/2013)
42. The Dark Tower, Book 4: Wizard and Glass@* by Stephen King (7/10/2013)
43. The Dark Tower, Book 5: Wolves of the Calla@ by Stephen King (7/26/2013)
44. The Dark Tower, Book 6: Song of Susannah@ by Stephen King (7/30/2013)
45. The Dark Tower, Book 7: The Dark Tower@ by Stephen King (8/7/2013)
46. The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon@ by Stephen King (9/24/2013)
47. Doctor Sleep@ by Stephen King (9/29/2013)
48. On Writing@^* by Stephen King (10/31/2013)
49. The Wind Through the Keyhole@* by Stephen King (11/5/2013)
50. The Langoliers@ by Stephen King (11/15/2013)
51. The Library Policeman@ by Stephen King (11/21/2013)
52. The Sun Dog@ by Stephen King (11/27/2013)
53. Nightmares & Dreamscapes, Volume 1@ by Stephen King (12/4/2013)
54. Everything’s Eventual: 5 Dark Tales@ by Stephen King (12/26/2013)
55. The Man in the Black Suit: 4 Dark Tales@ by Stephen King (12/27/2013)
56. Christine@ by Stephen King (1/8/2014)
57. The Shawshank Redemption@* by Stephen King (1/17/2014)
58. The Body@* by Stephen King (1/24/2014)
59. It@*^ by Stephen King (4/3/2014)
60. From A Buick 8^*@ by Stephen King (4/18/2014)
61. 11/22/63@^* by Stephen King (6/1/2014)
62. Mile 81@ by Stephen King (6/2/2014)
63. Mr. Mercedes@ by Stephen King (6/6/2014)
64. Joyland@^ by Stephen King (6/9/2014)
65. The Shawshank Redemption@*^ by Stephen King (6/29/2014)
66. Revival@ by Stephen King (11/20/2014)

I then compared this to the list of books in Stephen King’s Library to see what I haven’t read. The list turns out to be an interesting one:

1. Rage (as by Richard Bachman)
2. The Long Walk (as by Richard Bachman)
3. Roadwork (as by Richard Bachman)
4. Cujo
5. The Running Man (as by Richard Bachman)
6. Cycle of the Werewolf
7. The Talisman (w/Peter Straub)
8. The Eyes of the Dragon
9. Thinner (as by Richard Bachman)
10. The Dark Half
11. Insomnia
12. Rose Madder
13. Desperation
14. The Regulators
15. The Plant: Zenith Rising
16. Black House
17. The Colorado Kid
18. Cell
19. Lisey’s Story
20. Blaze (as by Richard Bachman)
21. Duma Key

I haven’t read any of the Bachman books yet. Perhaps the biggest standout on the list is Cujo. I’ve started it a couple of times, but have always ended up distracted by other things. I take it as a sign that I just can’t get into the book. King says his favorite book is Lisey’s Story, and I’ve managed to make it halfway through that one, but have given up. I was thinking about re-reading Hearts in Atlantis, which I thought was great the first time I read it, but I do want to give something a try that I haven’t read yet. So at this moment, I’m leaning toward Insomnia. I’ve stayed away from that book mainly because King himself has said it was overly plotted. But it can’t hurt to give it a try and see for myself.

I’m still undecided, but I’ll let you know what I choose. If there are any books on this list that you feel are a MUST READ, let me know in the comments.