Lord Samper's Library

There is nothing better in life (sorry Conan, it’s true…) than waking up late, and not having to jump straight out of bed, because it’s the first day of your Christmas Break. The rest of the day didn’t quite hit those heights but I’m a little bit closer to being sorted, for Christmas, so I’m taking it as a win :o) While I wasn’t out and about, doing Christmas stuff/picking up more tablets/eating a really nice burger, I took some time out to make a dent in my mini ‘ComicBook TBR Pile’ . Two books down now, one all apocalyptic and the other set in a franchise that I don’t normally read at all… ‘Crossed: Volume 1’ – Ennis, Burrows (Avatar) A world like this, it finds a way to damn us all… In the blink of an eye, humanity is lost. The Crossed are upon us. Men, women and children alike fall victim to the mystery infection that makes killers out of parents and rapists out of lovers. Ruthless, beserk and evil beyond measure, these cackling demons spread their plague across the Earth – until o...

  Page Count: 117 Pages We’ve all been there… You order a few Christmas presents, online, and because you’re feeling pleased with yourself for finally getting round to it, you order yourself a little something as well. It would be rude not to, you deserve it ;o) That was me the other day, after finally figuring out some tricky purchases. While I’d been doing that, I’d also been reading through Jim McLeod’s ‘Favourite Horror Books of 2025’ and the inevitable happened. Jim knows his horror and you’d be daft not to listen to his recommendations; that’s how a copy of ‘The Hamlet’ ended up on my doorstep yesterday. I had my daughters over so I wasn’t able to finish ‘The Hamlet’ in one sitting, there was never any doubt that I wouldn’t finish it before the day was out though, thanks Jim ;o) Screens go blank, radios go silent, and the government advises everyone to stay indoors. The residents of a rural Scottish community abandon their picnics and return home. Everyone can sense that som...

  Page Count: 123 Pages I know… Yesterday, I absolutely said that there might not be that many posts this side of Christmas but then I spent the rest of the day reading. What can I say (other than that I’m really enjoying my reading at the moment)? ;o) Anyway, it felt like it had been a while since I’d picked a read from the ‘Classic Doctor Who’ novelization TBR pile so I did something about that yesterday afternoon. One of my earliest memories of ‘Doctor Who’ is watching ‘Full Circle’ and being scared to death by the marsh-men (I was five, that’s the whole point of ‘Doctor Who’ when you’re five…); I’ll be honest, I can’t remember if I’ve read the book (prior to yesterday) so it felt like a good time to (finally?) give it a go… Romana has been recalled to Gallifrey by the Time Lords – a summons that cannot be ignored, despite her extreme reluctance to give up the freedom and excitement that life as the Doctor’s companion has brought. The time travellers’ course is set, the flight p...

Guess who has only been back at work for a couple of weeks (well, one week if you take into account that they've only been half days...) and now has two weeks off for Christmas and New Year? What? No... I'm talking about me of course ;o) Because I was off sick, I had some Annual Leave to use up and so, here I am... looking at two weeks of mince pies and Baileys for breakfast, hanging out with my girls and reading, hopefully lots and lots of reading :o) Because I'll take any excuse to drum up a quick TBR pile, here's what I'm planning on dipping into over the next two weeks and a bit... Now, here is a TBR pile that is unashamedly heavy on Black Library and 'Doctor Who' reading; it's Christmas and after this year, comfort reads are the order of the day. Tell me that you're not doing the same ;o) I'd like to finish 'Oaths of Damnation' and 'Skavenslayer' but we'll see... And as far as the comic books go... I've been trying ...

I’m not quite sure where yesterday went but there wasn’t a lot of time left for reading by the end of it; and even then, I kept falling asleep in my chair. Oh well :o) It’s at times like this when I’m glad that my Kindle app is always handily stocked with some short reads. I’ll always be a ‘paperback guy’ (especially since I finally got my glasses sorted out…) but the Kindle is a nice little backup. And reading is like exercise, do a little bit every day and it keeps your brain healthy ;o) A couple of Black Library ‘short reads’ then because, of course they were. It’s the end of a hard year, I’m really tired and more than ever, I’m after reads that will entertain. Did I get that this time? I think so... ‘Sarcophagus’ (David Annandale) Page Count: 26 Pages Trapped in an overturned tank after being caught in a bombing run on Armageddon, Commissar Sebastian Yarrick fights to escape and return to his forces, but as he emerges, he finds himself surrounded by greenskin foes. Can the Old Man ...

I’ve had a good run of books that entertained and made me want to keep turning those pages but, it had to end at some point :o) It happens and because I want this blog to be about all the books I read (not just the ones I enjoy), it’s time for another ‘DNF’ post. This time, it’s a book that I packed for a bus ride to Bromley but couldn’t continue with on the way back. They were caught in the ultimate trap. They faced the ultimate terror. Five men and one beautiful woman. Marooned on a floating island of arctic ice. Together they had the equipment and skills to fight the freezing cold, the violently savage storms. Then suddenly from the angry seas the jaws of horror opened wide as nature's deadliest creature rose from the depths — a huge killer whale of enormous intelligence, incredible power, indestructible endurance, ravenous for human prey.… Maybe I’m spending too much time in my own head right now (entirely possible) but just recently, I’ve been wondering if there is such a t...