Category: Real Page 139 of 157

Neil Gaiman is one of my favorite writers, so of course, this recommendation is for his newest book, The Ocean at the End of the Lane. A novel – although short but still technically a novel – The Ocean at the End of the Lane is a modern fairy-tale fantasy that touches on memory, the way we see the world as a child and as adults, and how we remember things compared to others. The story starts out with the narrator visiting a former neighbor’s house from his childhood. When he sees the pond that his friend, Lettie Hempstock, called the ocean, he remembers the time he stubbled upon the Hempstock family’s supernatural secret and the multiple layers of reality. I enjoyed the subtle introduction of the Hempstock’s supernaturalness. I had to stop and re-read the scene because it was interesting and well played. After that point, the book took off and I had to keep reading to know more about the Hempstocks. It’s a short book, making for a quick and enjoyable afternoon read.

I had pre-ordered my copy from Porter Square Books, where Neil Gaiman signed a bunch of copies, and I received it on the release date. I am happy to have it in my collection and therefor The Ocean at the End of the Lane gets my recommendation.

If you’re interested in my other recommendations, read them here.

It’s time for me to write a book review on a story I read a few months ago. I saw an advertisement for Geekomancy by Michael R Underwood on Facebook where it described itself as “Clerks meets Buffy the Vampire the Slayer.” Of course, this had be intrigued. Geekomancy is an urban fantasy story about comic book shop barista, Ree Reyes, as she uncovers the world of Geekomancers – people that derive supernatural powers from pop culture. If you’ve seen the TV series, Warehouse 13, this is a geek version of it in way. To rehash the book’s description a bit, the story ramps up when a scruffy-looking guy, Eastwood, enters the comic shop looking for a comic like his life depends on it. Ree writes it off as just another day until she hears a gigantic “BOOM!” in the alley and ends up following Eastwood into the hidden magical world of Geekomancy.

The book is packed with so many pop culture references that seeing a movie version of Geekomancy is highly unlikely, especially since there are scenes where Ree gets superpowers from works as Harry Potter and the deductive powers of the new BBC Sherlock (complete with seeing texts in her mind). The story is visual treat too from the the comic book shop to the Dorkcave and all of the imaginative gadgets. The book is an adventurous ride with secrets revealed in every chapter, making Geekomancy a great read that was hard for me to put down and so it gets my recommendation.

A small footnote: When writing this review, I found out that a sequel, Celebromancy, will be released in July and I will be buying it.