Lord Samper's Library

  Page Count: 238 Pages It has been an absolute age since I last read the ‘Dark Tower’ books (I was at least a couple of years away from my eldest daughter being born) so, seeing as none of the other books in the TBR pile were working for me, I figured it was about time I did something about that. I’m not setting myself any ‘reading goals’ or anything like that; I’m struggling with work deadlines (as it is) and I want this to be fun, not a chore. I’m just going to read along until Roland makes it to the top of the Dark Tower, even though I know what he finds once he gets there. Considering I picked up ‘The Gunslinger’ on Saturday and finished it the same day, well… It might not take that long to polish off the rest of the series. We shall see. Anyway… Roland of Gilead, the Last Gunslinger, is a haunting figure. A loner, on a spellbinding journey into good and evil, in a desolate world which frighteningly mirrors our own. In his first step towards the powerful and mysterious Dark To...

  Page Count: 241 Pages It has been a long old time since I last read ‘The Running Man’, years in fact, long enough that I can remember reading it but have no real idea when… Not the worst problem, in the world, to have but it is bugging me right now, I hate not being able to remember things. Anyway… I thought I’d take a little break from ‘The End and the Death: Volume 2’ and go for something a little faster paced. At only 241 pages, ‘The Running Man’ looked like it would fit the bill nicely and there was also the added incentive to pay it a visit before the film comes out next month. So, after I’d dropped my girls back with their Mum last night, I settled down for a read and… It's not just a game when you're running for your life. Every night they tune in to the nation's favourite prime-time TV game show. They all watch, from the sprawling slums to the security-obsessed enclaves of the rich. They all watch the ultimate live death game as the contestants try to beat not...

A trailer for 'The Long Walk' and now we're getting a remake of 'The Running Man'? What a time to be alive :o) I love the original movie but this new movie looks like it could be running closer to the original 'Bachman' story so... I'm going to give it a go and see what happens :o)

Today was going to be a 'book post' (honestly!) but everything caught up with me and the next thing I knew, it's three in the morning and I'm waking up after an unscheduled nap... Dammit, today is going to be tricky to get through :o( Oh well... While I do that, have a look at this trailer I found. I'm sure I have a copy of 'The Bachman Books' floating around, I might have to dig it out for a re-read before the movie comes out.  I love movies but I'm not a huge fan of the cinema these days; I think I'll make an exception for 'The Long Walk' though :o)

 I know the trailers have been doing the rounds for a while but... I'm getting excited about this movie and it's out on the 21st so, here's the red band trailer for you if you fancy a watch :o) Now I just need to remember which Stephen King collection this is in so I can re-read 'The Monkey' before it's released. And yep, you'll probably see a post about that this week ;o)

While I spend the day trying to finish just one of any number of books that I've picked up over the last few days (yep, I can't get into anything right now), take a look at the trailer for the remake of 'Salem's Lot' which will be showing on Max at the beginning of October... I don't know about you but to me, it feels like we're in an age of film where every remake of a Stephen King film, or TV show, is an immediate improvement on the original. Don't get me wrong, I still enjoy the original versions of 'It', 'The Stand' and so on but... you know what I mean? Either way, I've got high hopes for this version of 'Salem's Lot' ;o) Will it encourage me to dig out my old copy for a re-read...? Maybe, it's not like I'm getting into any of the other books that I have on the go right now...

Page Count: 206 Pages ‘The Sun Dog’ can be found in the collection ‘Four Past Midnight’; it can also be found as an individual novella, part of the ‘Iconic Stories’ collection. I first read ‘The Sun Dog’ as part of ‘Four Past Midnight’ years ago, hiding in the school library so I didn’t have to go outside (a familiar tale). I came across it again… I can’t remember if I’m being honest. I’m sure there must have been a time when the ‘Iconic Story’ edition wasn’t on my shelf. All I know is that I came across it some time last month and figured it was way past time that I read it again. So, that’s exactly what I did ;o) It's mine - that was what he had thought when his finger had pushed the shutter-button for the first time. Now he found himself wondering if maybe he hadn't gotten that backward. Kevin Delevan wants only one thing for his fifteenth birthday: a Polaroid Sun 660. There's something wrong with his gift, though. No matter where Kevin aims the camera, it produces a...

Page Count: 181 Pages Just recently, pretty much all my reading has been 'low page count' stuff. Nothing against those chunky books you understand; time constraints have been a big factor recently so when I saw that there was a new edition of 'The Mist', I jumped on that one pretty much straight away. And then being me, I promptly went and lost it in the middle of a 'flat wide' book rearranging exercise... Yep, I know... Well, I was rooting around in the loft last night, trying to tidy things up a little, and there was 'The Mist', all sat on top of a pile of books without a care in the world. I had some time on my hands so grabbed the book, before it could hide again, and settled down for a read... A man staggered into the market . . . 'Something in the fog!' he screamed Following a freak summer storm, David Drayton, his son Billy, and their neighbour Brent Norton join dozens of others and head to the local grocery store to replenish supplies....

I came to Stephen King a little later than everyone else; when I was a kid, I was more about sneaking James Herbert books off the library shelves and trying to find all the gory stuff. When I finally got round to it though, I never looked back. I love a bit of Stephen King, if anyone is the 'American Tolkien', it's him (but that's a post for another day, maybe). If there's anything better than a Stephen King book, it's a 'big, fat Stephen King book' that you can get lost in for days so it's no surprise that my two favourites are 'It' and 'The Stand'. Having just spent the last two days binging on the TV show, I'm itching to pick the book up again so don't be too surprised if you see a 'The Stand' post soon. In the meantime though, I've just spent all that time watching the show so I might as well tell you all about that first ;o) Fair warning time, I'm aiming for impartial but I'm a fan at the same time ...

I've got my end of year review later on this morning, an event that's never as bad as I expect it to be but still plays on my nerves like a harp. It'll be fine, I keep telling myself, but anyway... It was pretty clear that I wasn't going to get much reading done last night so I thought I'd take my mind off things with a couple of movies instead. One that I'd seen before, a few times actually, and one that was 'The Dark Tower' ;o) Both 'Overlord' and 'The Dark Tower' seemed like light(ish) fare that would take my mind off things and they did. Let me tell you all about them... 'The Dark Tower' (2017) The last Gunslinger, Roland, has been locked in an eternal battle with the Man in Black, determined to prevent him from toppling the Dark Tower, which holds the universe together. With the fate of the worlds at stake, good and evil will collide in epic battle as only Roland can defend the Tower from the Man in Black... Right at the e...

I’m in a bit of a habit, at the moment, of deliberately seeking out the most pointless games (that I can) to download onto my phone, just to wind my kids up really. My eldest daughter just got her first mobile phone and thinks it’s the most amazing thing ever (well, you would really) so to see me download any old rubbish is something that she just can’t get her head round. I love it although I’ll admit this is a sign that lockdown has gone on just a little too long now. I need to get back in the office and be around people. But anyway… One of the games I’m currently playing is ‘Just Mowing’, a game where you… You don’t really need me to say, do you? Good. Going round this little town, mowing lawns, though has actually turned out to be really relaxing. No worries, no pressure; just mowing lawns. It was also inevitable that ‘Just Mowing’ would get me thinking of Stephen King’s ‘Lawnmower Man’ and that I’d read it and post something about here, right now in fact. That’s just how my mind...

You can tell when it's been a tough few days when the short story posts start to crop up on the blog. Actually, looking back over the last couple of weeks, short story posts have done a lot more than just crop up... Oh well, it hasn't been the best week and a bit but it could be worse I guess. And it's no great chore reading more short stories, is it? I don't know if it's me getting older but I'm enjoying short stories so much more these days. I still appreciate what goes into craftng a novel but there's less room in a short story and all that same stuff has to go in... The end result just feels a little more, I don't know, intricate? Everything has to fit together and work straight away as you don't have the luxury of being able to iron the creases out over several chapters. So yeah, I do love a good short story at the moment. It's the season for reading that's a little more scary but to be honest, I find that any time of year is the right...

I think this week is going to end up being another week for short stories. Work is giving me a real kicking at the moment and what with the kids being on Summer Holiday now, reading time is strictly limited to whatever time I can grab at home when I'm not getting ready for the 'Audit of Doom' (my title, not theirs, I think it's pretty accurate though...) Short stories are about all I'm good for right now, while I try and get longer books read, but that's ok; I've got shelves full of brilliant short stories that I can share with you. One of them is a favourite of mine, 'Chattery Teeth' by Stephen King. I've got it as part of the 'Nightmares and Dreamscapes' collection (which has proved remarkably stubborn in not telling me where it was originally published, oh well...) 'The case was full of fabulous junk, most of it undoubtedly made in Taiwan and Korea, but there was no doubt at all about the pick of the litter. They were th...