I read all the Dark Tower books and found it jarring when King put himself into the last stories.  

This morning I finished Alliance Rising by C.J. Cherryh and Jane S. Fancher, and have already started Alliance Unbound.  Cherryh is one of my favorite sci-fi authors, but I have yet to read her fantasy books.

I'm a big Stephen King fan and have all his books.

I wish he would stop writing Holly books though.

Anywhoo I finished a book which is an anthology of stories set within "The Stand" so some new angles on people dealing with the outbreak and aftermath of Captain Tripps.

Some good stories and a couple of meh ones. 

Overall I enjoyed it

   

I read all the Dark Tower books and found it jarring when King put himself into the last stories.  

I'm totally with you on that Lady K. Ruined the whole series and wound up with an obvious, and weak, ending.

I've long held a theory as to why he did put himself into the books.
It wasn't that much earlier that he was hit by a vehicle and was hospitalised for some time and, my theory only, no factual knowledge whatsoever, is that he (King) thought about his own demise and wanted to immortalise himself within the world that he'd created. Looking at that idea practically it's apparent nonsense as, via his books, he has already done precisely that. But, and a big hypothetical but, he might not see it that way inside his own mind. The author is often left behind, outside, as it were, of the fiction that the reader is enjoying (or not, of course   ) and, because of that, be forgotten, i.e. the story lives on but the author is sidelined which King, contemplating his life, doesn't want, hence including himself into the series.
Might just have been arrogance of course but somehow I doubt that. The vast majority of successful authors, and those not so successful, their lives, for them, exist because of the books.

Make of all that what you will 

Of course, we don't know why he felt it was necessary to break the 4th wall by speaking directly to the reader, but unlike asides to the audience in a play or movie, it just seemed contrived. I wonder if he got waylaid by the multiple stories he was telling and perhaps just didn't have a concise way to end the series. It seemed to go astray at times and was too long. His appearance felt like deus ex machina, and it made me angry at the time. Even with all that, I'm still glad I read the books and might even read them again to see if my perspective changes.

As I put in my thoughts above I strongly felt he was facing up to his own mortality - having had it slap him in the face very unexpectedly - and he wanted the person, the character, of himself to be portrayed for ever (immortality) through the book(s). I'm not sure if I remember this correctly but he came across in the storyline as wise, a leader and mentor, someone superior to those around him and that really jarred along with the absolute incongruity of the situation.

I can't go back to check as I no longer own the books having had a periodic clear-out of books a few years back. Currently with approximately 800 books (that's physical ones. I've 267 more in my Kindle library) that last tidy up disposed of around 500 although a load of those were outdated IT manuals and the like. The only Steven King books I kept were Drawing Of The Three and The Wastelands (both Dark Tower books), The Dead Zone (anyone see a similarity with the President elect in that book and a couple of other world leaders?), IT, Fire Starter and The Stand. I would have kept Insomnia but, for some reason, it had gone missing and that was the second copy I'd bought, the other being loaned and never returned 

I have a special booklet with tear out bookmarks. I write my name in the "Borrowed from" space at the top of a bookmark, put it in the book I'm lending, and fill out the stub with the book's title, date lent, and borrower's name. My books always come back because I make a little ritual of it.

I'm currently doing some culling because my newer keepers need space. If I can get my collection down under 4,000, I won't have to put up a bookcase in the garage. I give the books I've enjoyed reading but know I won't read again to friends who might enjoy them, and the rest I donate to our local thrift shop. There used to be a couple of used bookstores in my county, but sadly they're not an option anymore.

4000 books?! Holy crap, woman! I’d hate to have to dust your house!

I dusted once. It came back. I’m not falling for that again.

I'm currently finishing The Burning Soul by John Connolly. I give it a 5.5/10. Easily the worst of an otherwise great series.

I need something to hold me over until Exit Strategy: A Reacher Novel is released in November. I'm open to suggestions.

I am eagerly awaiting the next installment of Preston & Child's Agent Pendergast series.

I need something to hold me over until Exit Strategy: A Reacher Novel is released in November. I'm open to suggestions.

I enjoyed the Reacher novels until Blue Moon when they started to go downhill and stopped completely when his brother joined him in writing them.

Have you tried the Prey novels by John Sandford? A large series (37? so far) based in, and around, Minnesota with the lead character, Lucas Davenport, a police officer. What I really like about the series is that Sandford has allowed all the characters to mature and grow, character flaws included, as the books have progressed. There's a real sense of actual life being lived which was always missing in the Reacher books. Because of this I strongly recommend starting from book one (the first 3 are probably the weakest in the series but still hold up OK) so you understand and get a feel for the people within the environment that is created.