by Jay Wilburn

The plan is to reread all of Stephen King’s works in the order that they were published. Richard Chizmar of Cemetery Dance had the vision. I’m doing it because I am a writer and I want to improve my fiction. And I love Stephen King’s stories. I think there is something to be learned through this process.

You can also go back to the beginning and read Before Carrie or any of my other posts up through this one and beyond by checking out this link to the Master List of all my #StephenKingRevisited posts.

The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon is one of many King books that slipped right through my radar. I didn’t pick it up when it first came out and nothing in particular drew me back to it in later years. As of the writing of this post, I have not yet read this novel the first time.

This novel, among a number of Stephen King books I hadn’t read before my #StephenKingRevisited reading, is largely a mystery to me. A large portion of the appeal of reading all of Stephen King’s books in the order of publication comes from reading all his books I missed over the years.

This one does stand out for a particular reason. A friend of mine who isn’t particularly a Stephen King reader but is an avid reader picked this book up and made a point years ago of telling me that he liked it. That sort of feedback from friends usually makes me rethink a book. Even if I’ve read it before and didn’t like it, the fact that a friend likes it will bring me to reconsider it. It’s not that I’m unduly influenced by the opinions of others, but I will think, maybe there is something I missed in this the first time through. Gwendy’s Button Box was the same way for me. My initial opinion was reconsidered when a friend outside of King fandom expressed really enjoying it.

For this reason, The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon has been bookmarked in my mind as a story I needed to read. I’m always excited to begin a new (to me) book by Stephen King. This one has the extra spice of a long ago recommendation that has never quite left me.

My next post in this series will be After The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon which will be linked on the Master List of all my Stephen King Revisited posts.

Jay Wilburn

Jay Wilburn has a Masters Degree in Education that goes mostly unused since he quit teaching to write about zombies. Jay writes horror because he tends to find the light by facing down the darkness. His is doing well following a life saving kidney transplant. Jay is the author of Maidens of Zombie Kingdom a young adult fantasy trilogy, Lake Scatter Wood Tales adventure books for elementary and middle school readers, Vampire Christ a trilogy of political and religious satire, and The Dead Song Legend. He cowrote The Enemy Held Near, Yard Full of Bones, and The Hidden Truth with Armand Rosamilia. You can also find Jay's work in Best Horror of the Year volume 5. He is a staff writer with Dark Moon Digest, LitReactor, and the Still Water Bay series with Crystal Lake Publishing.

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