It’s a new year; you need a new desk calendar. And year after year, more often not, I end up with Bookspan’s STEPHEN KING LIBRARY DESK CALENDAR. So it is again with this, 2013.
Authorized by King himself, the annual calendar is hardcover and spiral-bound, and features one week per two-page spread. Each weekday boasts plenty of well-spaced lines to write that day’s appointments and to-do lists. Befitting of the theme, important anniversaries within the King universe are noted like holidays; for example, May 27 marks prom night for Carrie in 1979.
That, however, wouldn’t be quite enough to make it worth your while. The supplemental material that runs across the bottom of each spread is. Whether essays, quizzes or lists, these brief bits appeal directly to King’s Constant Readers. Among the 2013 edition you’ll find pieces on:
• King’s upcoming novels, DOCTOR SLEEP and JOYLAND;
• the 2011 short story “Mile 81,” used as a social-media tool;
• excerpts from books celebrating a momentous anniversary this year;
• the philanthropic efforts of King and his wife, Tabitha;
• remembrances of PET SEMATARY;
• plans to adapt EYES OF THE DRAGON into a TV miniseries;
• Maine cities featured in King’s works;
• the “sitelet” for the BAG OF BONES miniseries;
• time travel as used in the novel 11/22/63;
• the ROAD RAGE graphic novel written with his son Joe Hill;
• five top horror websites;
• the ROOM 237 documentary on SHINING conspiracy theorists;
• and much, much more. Yes, some are rather minor, to be kind.
Throw in 2014 at a glance and a lot of room at the back for notes, and your next 365 days (give or take) should be wonderfully frightful. —Rod Lott
Buy it at The Stephen King Library.
