The Shadow of the Wind (The Cemetery of Forgotten Books, #1) in WACKY READING CHALLENGES

Nov 04, 2008 Book Concierge rated it it was amazing

Shelves: library, concierge, book-club, books-about-books, own, suspense, spain

I cannot begin to describe this book. It is passionate and thought-provoking, intelligent and emotional, full of love, lust, political intrigue, interwoven plots and twists & turns everywhere. The ending is satisfactory without being "too neatly" tied up. The writing is full of wonderful description (it does have a decidedly "Spanish" feel). Makes me wish I understood Spanish well enough to read it in the original.

In short, this is a great story, well-written. The "art of reading" is NOT dying ...more

9 likes · Like · see review

Sep 22, 2009 Angie H rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: books-i-own, favorites

This book was just amazing! I don't even think a written review would give this book the credit it deserves.

I enjoyed the characters, the writing style, the plot twists. Yup I really don't have anything bad to say about this book.

I don't feel I can go into much more detail than that, as it is a mystery and I don't want to give anything away.

Let me just say that I have had this book on my bookshelf for a LONG time and I wish I would have picked It up sooner! =) ...more

5 likes · Like · see review

Apr 07, 2014 Nancy rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: historical-fiction, literature, spain, still-owned

I adored this book. I thought there would be more magic realism, but in fact it was a complex and fascinating historical thriller which just kept you guessing. Occasionally, Daniel's cowardice grated a little, but his development over the course of the story was just fabulous and you could see as his strength and courage built as he dug deeper into the story of Julian Carax. One of the most fantastic parts of this story though was the truly evil villain, Fumero. He is one of the nastiest charact ...more

3 likes · Like · see review

Jul 23, 2014 Jody rated it it was ok

Shelves: bbc-100, rory-gilmore, translated

This *could* have been an amazing book. It was certainly passable. Possibly because I was in Barcelona last week, fell completely in love with that beautiful city, and reading it transported me back there.

I found the storytelling a little awkward, and my attempted description will be even more so! The times where Person A would be relating something about Person B, but then it would somehow morph into it being told more through the eyes of Person B - I'd often have to rack my brain to wonder ho ...more

2 likes · Like · see review

Jan 17, 2015 Olivermagnus rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: historical-mystery, magic, zfeb-2023, 2023

Daniel Sempere was ten years old in 1945 when his father, a bookseller, took him to the Cemetery of Forgotten Books in their home city of Barcelona, Spain. A place known only to a select few, the tradition was that on his first visit, the visitor would find a book that would be "his." He would, from then on, have to ensure the book never disappeared, for that was the mission of the Cemetery of Forgotten Books. It was place to rescue unwanted books, those discarded from libraries and liquidated f ...more

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Oct 02, 2014 Brindi Michele rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites, audio-books, personal-interest-adult, romance, movie-rights-please, own, bookstagram, re-reads, historical-fiction, series

(audio) reread 2021
Still in love with the beautiful writing and the layers of stories and the character development in this book.

I read this book as part of an online book club through GoodReads. This is definitely one of the best novels I've accidentally stumbled upon. The mystery of it kept me turning the pages well into the night, and the plot twists kept me coming back for more. The intricate details and descriptions are many, but the wonderful writing style allows them to be a great part of ...more

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Nov 12, 2008 Tien rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fav-on-kobo, historical-fiction, mystery, spain

10 year old Daniel Sempere found a treasure. A book titled ‘The Shadow of the Wind’ by Julian Carax which took him to the wonderful world of words. In seeking to know the author and other books by him, Daniel stumbled onto a sinister world where a man with no face was burning all Julian Carax’s books, a homeless man who is not who he seems to be, a beautiful but blind lady, and a policy inspector eaten by jealousy and power.

At first unknowingly and then unable to resist, Daniel was drawn into t ...more

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Dec 27, 2012 Debbie (Doc) rated it it was amazing

Shelves: historical-fiction, read-in-2013, around-the-world-challenge

5 stars

WOW! What a way to begin the New Year. I loved this book. It contained all of my favorite elements, including mystery, thriller, historical fiction, and fabulous writing. The prose was beautiful and the setting was spectacular. The setting primarily took place in Barcelona Spain but the storyline did switch gears for a short time to Paris France. I definitely would not tag this as France but since Shelfari did, I will go with it. There were times that the book was a little slow with too m ...more

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