The Shadow of the Wind

" Once, in my father's bookshop, I heard a regular customer say that few things leave a deeper mark on a reader than the first book that finds its way into his heart. Those first images, the echo of words we think we have left behind, accompany us throughout our lives and sculpt a place in our memory to which, sooner or later - no matter how many books we read, how many worlds we discover, or how much we learn or forget - we will return. For me those enchanted pages will always be the ones I found among the passageways of the Cemetary of Forgotten Books." (Chapter 1)

The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon (La Sombra del Viento )

I loved this book. Michael Dirda called it "Scary, erotic, touching, tragic, and thrilling" and that really about sums it up. It isn't a historical fiction, which is my typical reading choice, but it was an interesting and compelling novel... one of the best I have read in a while! It wins even more points from me because the main character grows up to help run his father's bookstore, which is a storyline the book-lover in me loves. It was originally written in Spanish, but was translated to English brilliantly. I found it to be an easy read, and in the end I had figured out the outcome before the storyline was tied up, but it was still a great read for the sake of reading. Click here for a synopsis of the storyline.