The Stand is completely worth it, even uncut. One of my all-time favorite books of any kind.

The Shining is fantastic, and has a much more satisfying ending than the movie.

Misery is actually wonderful, so don't cross it off the list entirely. Great, tight POV, incredible tension.

Carrie is fantastic, and really inventive, too, in style and format.

Night Shift and Skeleton Crew are both totally worth it, and full of gems.

The only ones you don't have on here that I'd really recommend are Desperation and The Regulators, which you should really read as a pair, in whatever order you like, and Delores Claiborne, which gets overlooked, but which I really loved.

For just starting out, though, I'd go with one of the short story collections and then either Carrie, Salem's Lot, or The Shining.

I've been thinking about reading The Dark Tower. Good to hear it's worth it.

I have the first book of The Dark Tower that I picked up at a used book sale, and I was thinking of reading it soon, too.

Oh! Also Pet Sematary! Brutal and fantastic and chilling.

am i alone in loving The Tommyknockers? i'm thinking after i re-read The Stand(after reading all the new books on my Nook) that i'll re-read it. that, The Stand and The Green Mile are the only SK books i can remember reading when i was younger.

Oh, lord, Pet Sematary . . .

I skipped The Tommyknockers somehow. But The Green Mile is excellent.

TGM movie made me cry. TGM book made me bawl. i remember sitting in my car on lunch hour sobbing my eyes out. gah.

(Liese, I'm so glad you liked it! yay!)

I haven't read King in a long, long time, but his books have stayed with me more than a lot of the stuff I read in junior high. My dad had a whole shelf of King, and my parents didn't monitor my reading, so I burned through them the same way I did every other book in the house. I was probably too young for them-- I think I was 11 when I read Firestarter-- but I don't know what I'd think of the books now.

I've read Misery. I don't want to go there again.

I haven't read The Green Mile, but the movie had such a magical negro in it, I was never tempted.

Night Shift and Skeleton Crew are short stories, right?

I second Amy's list: my faves are The Shining, Salem's Lot, It, Dolores Claiborne and Night Shift.

The Tommyknockers, though...I remember thinking how awful it was when I read it first, and then I read it again a couple of years ago. It's one of the books King wrote when he was a huge cokehead, and you can really tell. It's pretty awful. Like Dreamcatcher.

ETA: Yes, Night Shift and Skeleton Crew are short stories, and quite good. I really like both collections.