I've read most of his books, minus the stuff written between 2006 and 2019.

If you are looking for lighter, shorter books, I would go with Institution, Fairy Tale, Eyes of the Dragon. Talisman and It are really good, too, but they are long.

So I've only read probably 15 or 20 King books... which would be A LOT if you're talking about literally any other author. :)

He has this 8 book series called "The Dark Tower" which is phenomenal, but it ties together all of his books in a kind of "Steven King Universe" kind of way.

You can read it by itself, but when you realize there are all these hooks that tie into The Stand, and It, and Salem's Lot, and Insomnia... well, you get more out of all of it.

The Gunslinger
The Drawing of the Three
The Wastelands
Wizard and Glass

King's Car Accident

Wolves of the Calla
Song of Susannah
The Dark Tower
The Wind in the Keyhole

I separate out the two halves because, frankly, if I'm being brutally honest... the last 4 aren't as good. I think facing his mortality scared him and while he paced the first 4 books about 5 years apart (that cliffhanger ending on book 3 was a 5 year nightmare!) he really rushed through the rest of them and it shows. 😢

Dark Tower related, in the order I'm remembering them:

The Stand
It
Rose Madder
Insomnia
Desperation
The Regulators
The Talisman* - Not really, but the sequel ties it in.
Black House - Sequel to the Talisman that ties both to the Dark Tower
Talisman 3 - upcoming book. This year?
Salem's Lot
The Shining
Doctor Sleep
Eyes of the Dragon
Hearts in Atlantis
Fairy Tale* - Not really, but close enough!

I've only read one book by Stephen King and it was The Institute. It was really great, I couldn't put it down.

At some point I'd like to try The Stand and 11/22/63 which I've heard are both excellent :)

His old short story collections are absolutely top-notch. "Skeleton Crew" and "Night Shift." "Different Seasons" is also quite good but doesn't have the rawness and variety that the shorter stuff has.

The Dark Tower really really really resonated with me as a teenager. As did It and the stand. I liked goosebumps and horror in general. In recent years I read the Stand again and I realised I have a lot of questions about the story I didn’t have when I was young. So it really depends when in life you read them.

But one I haven’t seen mentioned much is Tommyknockers. I really liked it and of course you follow an author. Running man, the longe walk I liked too. Rage is an odd read, maybe because of the context of its legacy.

I prefer his older books. But only because I don’t like Krimis (Crime fiction). Therefore Mr Mercedes and later the Holly stories don’t work for me as good as his older books.

Joe Hill (his son) writes similar stories located at the east cost. Initially I thought I read his dad’s work.

I really like pretty much all of his books.

Some of my favourites are:

Desperation

The Regulators

Black House

The Talisman

The Shining

Needful Things

IT

11/22/63

I haven't read as much of his more recent stuff post 2010 and what I have was OK.

If I have to recommend one book (which is really fucking hard) I would say probably The Talisman. I think...... Hahaha

cheeky edit I just remembered Under The Dome, fucking loved that, we'll ignore the TV shoe however.....

Insomnia is pretty good. It also ties in with the Dark Tower saga, which is another recommendation, but you said nothing too long and heavy, and that series is exactly that. On the other hand, if post-apocalyptic is your cup of tea, Dark Tower's got that covered in droves.

I can recommend almost all of his stories. However, I kinda hate the way in which he writes. Meanwhile, Dean Kuntz's stories kinds suck, but I like the way he writes.

If Dean Kuntz rewrote a Stephen King story, that would he amazing.

from https://xcancel.com/StephenKing

maybe just try buy second hand...

I haven't read many (only 2, it's not my genre), but I wholeheartedly recommend 11/22/63 - it seems different from his other books, and i really enjoyed the time travel theme.

i like a lot of them, but i remember Desperation really twirling my brain around.

a little more obscure than his other books, and very weird, but i expect it'll make an impression on you.

if i remember, it wasn't too long either.

The Dark Tower series. I would also recommend reading Insomnia at some point in the process. The Talisman is another good story with ties to the Dark Tower. The Dark Tower links a lot of King's stories over his career, including The Stand.

The series really is King's magnum opus, the culmination and gathering point of all his stories.

Different Seasons. It's a collection of four novellas: The Body (which became Stand By Me), Apt Pupil (which is a much better story than it was a movie), Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption (which obviously was made into The Shawshank Redemption), and The Breathing Method (which is a weird rich people telling each other ghost stories type of story). For my money it's some of his best work.

I've only read a few of his books but I remember The Shining, Pet Sematary, and Firestarter all being good.