Dave's Suggested Reading Order:

'Salem's Lot
The Stand
The Gunslinger (Revised, if possible)
The Drawing of the Three
The Eyes of the Dragon
The Talisman
The Little Sisters of Eluria (Located in Everything's Eventual)
Black House
The Waste Lands
Wizard and Glass
Insomnia
Bag of Bones
The Wind Through the Keyhole
The Wolves of the Calla (Read 'Salems Lot beforehand, if you didn't already)
Song of Susannah
Everything's Eventual (Eponymous story of Everything's Eventual)
Low Men in Yellow Coats (Located in Hearts in Atlantis, though the entire book is suggested)
It
The Dark Tower

Weaning books:

Rose Madder
Desperation
The Regulators
From a Buick 8
The Mist
The Dark Man (Poem)
Charlie the Choo Choo

I am reading Salem's Lot in this moment and is absolutley fantastic. And scary. And the list was helpful. Thanks!

Just finished it all there tonight. Loved the ending.

It was all spectacular.

Thanks for putting the extended list together. I dont know what to do with myself now 😂

I just turned 31 and didn’t really find a love for reading until the last year and a half, and thank my Father I have! The Gunslinger was one of the first books I took on because The Dark Tower always just seemed like a necessary epic, in every sense of the phrase. I took a decent break after Wizard and Glass and am now in the midst of Wind Through the Keyhole. Out of sheer love of the World King has built, I’ve been doing some additional searching and it seems serendipitous that I have JUST found your video. Although, your suggestions have greatly increased my necessary reading, I couldn’t be happier. As someone who hasn’t read much King, but have been a huge fan of film adaptations since a kid, I can tell your passion for the series is deep and I think you’ve made an excellent companion video. And seeing as this is my first time stumbling onto your channel, you have just earned a new subscriber (for what it’s worth). Thankee, Sai! Hope all is well on your end of the world!

I really enjoyed talisman and black house actually, as far as the extended reading went they were some of my favorites to break with. Sure they aren’t “the stand” or “hearts in Atlantis” but they were great reads and lots of fun for me. Hail the tower, Ka mates

I highly recommend the Dark Tower graphic novel series released by Marvel. Specifically the volumes covering Roland’s younger years. They are: The Gunslinger Born; The Long Road Home; Treachery; The Fall of Gilead; and The Battle of Jericho Hill.  Not only are they great stories but they aren’t covered in King’s main novels(save for The Gunslinger Born which covers the flashback of Wizard and Glass but with a much better pace). You can also find the first 2 books in graphic novel format but they are not as necessary. The graphic novels I have recommended have incredible art and tell exciting stories. They feel like genuine Dark Tower stories(which they are) and are the perfect companion pieces to the series, filling in the gaps between Roland leaving Mejis and Roland following the man in black. I know it’s mentioned in the video but I have to declare my love for The Talisman but in audiobook format. The late Frank Muller is an amazing talent and reads King books like no one else. He also narrated The Dark Tower audiobooks 2-4 and Black House which are also amazing experiences (read the books yourself first). These are some dives into the Dark Tower universe in other media that really expand your enjoyment and understanding of this amazing series. I hope you get as much from these

It's so interesting every person you talk to has different opinions on Kings books, I love the talisman and black house.

So I've come back to say thank you for this recommendation. Outright the best fanatasy reading experience I've had. I started Salem's Lot in December and just finished DT7. What incredible world building and story telliing.
Hearts in Atlantis, DT5, 6 and 7 were an absolute wild ride for me. I've never laughed and cried so much through a story.
Long days and pleasant nights to ya, Sai 🤝

First video of yours I'm watching in over a year I think. And I'm revisiting this one. I got hit with a wave of nostalgia from 2 years ago just hearing the intro again

This was so helpful and exactly what I was looking for, thank you x

One I recommend for optional pre reading is The Shining.

It’s good for people who have never read King before. If you love it, then you’ll love King. If you don’t like it or find it too long and wordy, then you probably won’t like the Dark Tower.
Also it’s all about the shining which appears a lot throughout the tower series even though it’s not always called “the shining”.
I liked having that prior knowledge of the shining cause when you meet characters that share those similar powers you can be like “ahhhhh, they have the shining” and then their powers immediately make more sense.

I would say read IT before Insomnia because Insomnia takes place in Derry about 6 years after IT and has some references to IT that are nice to catch. My order (which I’m on Everything’s Eventual):

It
The Gunslinger
The Little Sisters of Eluria
The Drawing of the Three
The Stand
Eyes of the Dragon
The Waste Lands
Wizard and Glass
‘Salem’s Lot
Hearts in Atlantis
Insomnia
Everything’s Eventual
Wolves of the Calla
Song of Susannah
The Talisman
Black House
The Dark Tower
Wind Through the Keyhole
The Gunslinger (been told to reread at the end)

Excellent video. I never read Salem's Lot, I read Stand and Eyes before DT, and I read Insomnia after DT. It's amazing how many different paths people have to the Tower. The disdain for Talisman and Black House is a bit surprising. I very much enjoy Jack Sawyer's story.

I followed your list almost to a T. I just couldn't get into Talisman. And I didn't read IT before Dark Tower, because I've read it about a dozen times already. But I loved the way things developed with the side reading acting as guiding lights. Also, I threw in Desperation and Regulators, just because they always intrigued me and I've heard they're Dark Tower heavy. They were DT heavy and both totally awesome.

Thanks for your work Dave.  Constant Reader for many years, but just recently stumbled on your channel.  I read IT at 12 years old and have been an avid reader ever since.  Now, at 48 years old, you've motivated me to restart my Dark Tower journey.  I bailed on it back in the late 90's.  I am going to follow your suggestions (*aside from a re-read of The Stand...once was enough for that one!) and get going on Salem's Lot soon.  I'm guessing it will take 1.5-2 years to finish the journey all the way through The Mist.  Should be a fun ride!  Cheers

I really love Bag of Bones, glad to see it on this reading list!

Thank you for this. I followed this to the letter. I didn't much care for the ending of the DTS, but this video made it the most epic journey. Long days and pleasant nights. Cheers!

hey! just wanted to thank u for the list, this was very helpful! just finished salem's lot and im going to start the stand tomorrow. its really great for the community that u made this video, ill be following your order but with a little twitches i got from the comments, like the eyes of the dragon after the stand and it before insomnia! really, thank u!

I haven't read any Stephen King books (yet) but I really like  watching and listening to you talk about them. You're so passionate about his work and it's so nice to see!! Also, your voice is super calming.

Amazing. Not only are your videos fun, I also learn a fair bit too. Really love how you cover the connections and offer extra little nuggets!
I'm just about to read TDT series all through in one go! 👌