A s a kid and a teenager, I was an avowed Stephen King fan, from the second I read his collection of short stories. (I still think about the lawnmower man almost every time I mow the lawn!) My affection waned in my 20s and 30s, and now I will read his books that really sound interesting. His most current novel, Elevation, sounded intriguing, and it was super short (many of his novels require a significant investment of reading time), so I picked it up.

It tells the story of Scott Carey, who has a strange problem: his body is staying the same, but his weight on the scale keeps getting lower and lower. No matter what he eats, his body’s grasp on gravity—or, I guess, gravity’s grasp on his body—continues to weaken. At the same time, he’s trying to make amends with his new neighbors, a married lesbian couple that the rest of their small town is not fond of.

The way the stories come together, and how Scott deals with his condition, was beautiful. I loved this quick read, as it left me feeling grateful for my friends and family. It is a novel about loss and how our relationships can help us through it, or make it a little less painful. Plus it has some running in the story, so that’s a great add! This is not a typical Stephen King novel. It isn’t scary or really darkly moody. It is actually fairly gentle and uplifting. I’m glad I gave it a chance.