Review: Eyes of the Storm

Title: Eyes of the Storm 

Author: Jeff Smith

Series/Standalone: Bone Series (Volume 3)

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Graphic Novel

Pages: 174

Publisher: Graphix

Year Published: 1994

Format: Paperback (Library Copy)

"In 'Eyes of the Storm,' volume three of the nine-book BONE saga, Lucius, Smiley and Phoney survive an attack by the rat creatures and return safely to Lucius' taven in Barrelhaven. Phoney, desperate to win a bet with Lucius, stokes the townspeople's fear of dragons and boasts that he is a professional dragonslayer. Back at the farm, Fone Bone and Thorn are troubled by strange dreams, and Gran'ma Ben's reaction to them is stranger still: She reveals long-kept secrets and warns of great danger. Thorn, Fone Bone, and Gran'ma Ben may have to leave the farm forever."

My Rating: 5/5

I remember reading this volume when I was in middle school, and it blew my mind. At that time, my library didn't have any of the other volumes, so I stopped reading there. This is one of my favourites so far in the series, and I look forward to continuing on and seeing where this series takes me. I think there are more than nine books in the series now. I'm looking forward to continuing and learning more about the forces at play. 

Thanks for reading,

Sidny

Book Review: The Memory Police by Yoko Ogawa

Title: The Memory Police

Author: Yoko Ogawa

Translator(s): Stephen Snyder, and Markus Juslin

Series/Standalone: Standalone

Genre: Magical Realism, Adult

Pages: 274

Publisher: Pantheon Books

Year Published: 1994

Format: Audiobook

"On an unnamed island off an unnamed coast, objects are disappearing: first hats, then ribbons, birds, roses- until things become much more serious. Most of the island's inhabitants are oblivious to these changes, while those few imbued with the power to recall the lost objects live in fear of the draconian Memory Police, who are committed to ensuring that what has disappeared remains forgotten.

When a young woman who is struggling to maintain her career as a novelist discovers that her editor is in danger from the Memory Police, she concocts a plan to hide him beneath her floorboards. As fear and loss close in around them, they cling to her writing as the last way of preserving the past.

A surreal, provocation fable about the power of memory and the trauma of loss, The Memory Police is a stunning new work from one of the most exciting contemporary authors writing in any language."

My Rating: 1/5

I don't know how I didn't know this was a mix of magical realism and science fiction. I need to do more research when I pick up books such as these because as I've previously stated magical realism is not for me. I just want more answers than it can give. I want to know more about the world, and why things function the way they do. Maybe I'm not smart enough to read books like these but I'm going to try to avoid them in the future. Life is too short to read books you don't enjoy.

Thanks for reading,

Sidny

Book Review: One for the Money by Janet Evanovich

 Title: One for the Money

Author: Janet Evanovich

Series/Standalone: Stephanie Plum Series (Book #1)

Genre: Adult Fiction, Mystery

Pages: 320

Publisher: Griffin

Year Published: 1994

Format: Audiobook

"You've lost your job as a department store lingerie buyer, your car's been repossessed, and most of your furniture and small appliances have been sold off to pay last month's rent. Now the rent is due again. And you live in New Jersey. What do you do?

If you're Stephanie Plum, you become a bounty hunter. But not just a nickel-and-dime bounty hunter; you go after the big money. That means a cop gone bad. And not just any cop. She goes after Joe Morelli, a disgraced former vice cop who is also the man who took Stephanie's virginity at age 16 and then wrote details on a bathroom wall. With pride and rent money on the line, Plum plunges headlong into her first case, one that pits her against ruthless adversaries- people who'd rather kill than lose. 

In Stephanie Plum, Evanovich has created a resourceful and humorous character who stands apart from the pack of gritty female detectives."

My Rating:  3.75/5

This book reminds me of something that someone my mom's age would have read in a book club when I was a kid. It's filled with humour, there is a hot ex-cop on the run, a woman trying to piece together her life and a mystery. What more could you want? I would say that I wish so many stereotypes weren't fulfilled, but due to the year it was published I am not surprised. I think that this book completes its main purpose, it was entertaining and fun, not too deep. I plan to continue reading this series when I need a lighthearted, fun read.

Thanks for reading,

Sidny