Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon (#6, Contemporary Fiction)

A New York Times Bestseller, The Shadow of the Wind seems an atypical entry on that list. When I think of a bestseller I think of a book written for the masses, a book that both Becky and avoid like the plague until it appears that everyone really is reading said book and then we break down to read it just to know what the fuss is all about. Such was the case with Eat Pray Love, which we both actually enjoyed though for different reasons.

The Shadow of the Wind was an excellent read that hooked me from the first page. It came highly recommended to me from my friend Sarah, who is on her own 50 book adventure with a fellow teacher. They are known as Jeff and Mutt and can be found here if you wish to monitor their progress. I always ask Sarah what their next book is and when she described this book to me, that it begins with a little boy's trip to a Cemetery of Forgotten Books, I knew I had to read this book. The whole novel is based on the idea that: there are few things that 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 palace in our memory 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. (8)

That quote made the book for me and I enjoyed accompanying our protagonist on his journey to search for the author who wrote the first book that made its way into his heart. Zafon writes beautifully and I wish I knew Spanish so that I could read it in its original form and not just a translation. I was surprised at how haunted I felt reading this book. Last night I had to quit reading because I could swear I sensed the presence of the faceless man in my bedroom. I wish I could take a trip down to the cemetery of forgotten books and pick out a book. I wonder which one I would pick. I am also starting to pick through my brain to remember the first book I ever read that made its way into my heart. I am hoping I don't come up with a Nancy Drew novel as my answer, but you never know! There will be a follow-up post on this, rest assured but I want to leave you with a quote about reading:

Bea says that the art of reading is slowly dying, that it's an intimate ritual, that a book is a mirror that offers us only what we already carry inside us, that when we read, we do it with all our heart and mind, and great readers are becoming more scarce by the day. (484)