I just finished Hillbilly Elegy for book club. I was NOT looking forward to reading it and was pleasantly surprised, it flowed well, was hard to put down and no graphic horrors. It helped me understand some of the people around me. I am sorry there is not a good solution, much like the inner cities. My first reaction for a solution is to take all the children away and place them in safe, calm environments, but we know that cannot happen.
Our local book club read that too. Next up for the club is "Evicted" by Matthew Desmond, non-fiction book on how affordable housing is becoming harder to obtain, and the resulting instability for families and neighborhoods and society is so devastating.
After that we've chosen a Fannie Flagg book - have to get away from the gloom for a while...!
We did A Wrinkle in Time as relief.
I am currently reading It.
Creepy book. I am about 15% into it.
I am starting to worry... what happens when I run out of Stephen King books?!
It was a great one!
In the back of Danse Macabre, King has a recommended reading list that kept me busy for awhile and introduced me to some other good horror writers. Some of the books were out of print and I could never track down, but that was pre-internet, so hmm, maybe I should revisit that list. I especially liked Michael McDowell, Dan Simmons & Clive Barker. I really liked Anne Rice's early stuff (Interview with the Vampire, Lestat, etc.), but she eventually lost me.
King's wife Tabitha has the same knack with characters, but doesn't do horror. I read Heart-Shaped Box by his son Joe Hill, and it was also good as far as I recall.
Fevre Dream by George RR Martin was one of my favorite vampire novels. I was surprised to find out a couple of years ago that I was probably the only person in the country who would have associated him with that book rather than Game of Thrones. Guess he finally made it to the big time!
Bram Stoker's Dracula was always a favorite as well as Mary Shelley's Frankenstein.
I am confident you will find lots of good stuff out there. This is all off the top of my head, so I'm sure more authors and titles will come to me.
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