The BIG thing Stephen King and I have in common

 

Stephen King calls it a “gorgeous read.”

I call it a bona fide book crush. Because, yes, I’m madly in love with this book

Only, no one gets a crush on a book, because books of course, are merely a pile of dull paper and ink held together by glue and binding...

…but every once in a while, a book is not a book.

Every once in while, a book will possess the mystical power to carry you off on a galloping white horse to an exciting, foreign land that’s filled with mystery and intrigue. Every so often, you open up the first page of a book and you are flooded with every warm, gushing feeling you have about books and reading.

Every once in a while you become enchanted by a story.

Because there in front of you are words that possess aphrodisiac powers; there are words that magically transform into a rich, sprawling, plot; a storyline with thick onion-like layers that must be peeled back and savored like the tantalizing scent of a musky, aged Brandy in a crystal glass.

And after you read the very last page, you’re left in a breathless, starry-eyed state to ponder the characters and to wonder about the author. And if you’re like me, you’re filled with writer-envy and you wonder, “How did Carlos Ruiz Zafon do THAT?”

Carlos Ruiz Zafon is the author of The Shadow of the Wind; a man who possesses the power to sweep me off my feet with his mere imagination. Based on his way with words, I’m pretty sure he must look like this.

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The year is 1945. The place is post-war Barcelona. And a ten year old boy named Daniel Sempere is ushered through the misty streets at dawn because according to his father, “some things can only be seen in the shadows.”

So begins the engrossing story. Daniel is taken to the secret location of the Cemetery of Forgotten Books, where he is allowed to wander among the winding labyrinth of bookshelves so that he can adopt one book that he must keep alive. For life.

I fell in love with this powerful description of books.

Daniel chooses a book called, (guess what?) The Shadows of the Wind, a book that Daniel feels has “been waiting for me there for years, probably since before I was born.” The book’s author is a man named Julian Carax.

via weheartit.com

Bibliophiles will love this twist; because it’s a book about a book, one that’s packed with rich literary references and a parallel story between Daniel and his book’s enigmatic author, Julian Carax. After Daniel learns that somebody is trying to burn all of the missing author’s books, he embarks on an adventure to find answers.

via googleimages

There is murder, heartbreak, and danger told against a backdrop of a gritty war. There are engrossing characters with a hint of mischievous fantasy.

There are strange coincidences in a coming- of-age story that somehow unfolds with nail-biting suspense.

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Dear Carlos, you had me at Hello.

 

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What book are you reading?

Did you read this book? Tell me what you thought…

Leslie

 

 

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