The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon (#25, Contemporary Literature)

When it came time for me to actually make the pick for book club I felt a huge amount of pressure. I've torn apart a few of the books that have been picked, and I didn't want to have book "road kill" on my hands.

Unfortunately, the book club has lots of "rules." Basically I was warned that everyone is too busy to read a classic, or a book of more than 400 pages. They suggested that I pick something that was beach read-y, since my choice fell on the last month of the summer. Ugh. I checked out some best seller lists and tried to find something that fell within the criteria... I fear best seller lists though... and I quickly returned here, and sifted through the books steph has read. And here I found The Shadow of the Wind.

Two glowing recommendations from avid readers--Sarah and Steph. Although, we know about some of Steph's recommendations, and according to Sarah's myspace she loves Phillipa Gregory.... but, I then checked on B&N dotcom and found 50+ reviews--all with 5 stars. Like Steph says in her post, any book about reading already has me intrigued. So, I made the pick. (side note: I got some not so thrilled responses from book club---OMG...it's 480 pages ....)

And the verdict? I really liked it! I wasn't sure if I loved it when I was halfway through, but it continued to grow on me and I found myself at work, in my office, quickly finishing the last 20 pages that I just couldn't wait until tonight to read! For starters it is well written, even if you don't love the story, you can't complain about its structure, word choice, etc. It has a great mystery, and as I am thinking about it I find the writing and storytelling somewhat similar to Margaret Atwood. (thoughts Steph?)

There were points when I was reading at night where I found myself checking under the bed and around corners for the faceless man... just a bit scary! It was a really great story, and I love the message it sends about the importance of reading and the love of books.