The Shadow of the Wind (The Cemetery of Forgotten Books, #1) in Pick-a-Shelf

Jun 04, 2019 Carrie rated it it was amazing

Shelves: books-about-or-mentioning-books, death, favorites, historical-fiction, gothic, historical-mystery, murder-mystery, beautifully-moving, father-son

The Shadow of the Wind is haunting, passionate, sinister and beautifully worded. A mystery shrouded in mysteries. I feel as if I should be honored to have gotten to read it.

18 likes · Like · see review

Nov 02, 2010 Yz the Whyz rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 2010-reads

A Pick-It-For-Me Challenge recommendation.

Another gem of a book I would not have read, if it was not recommended to me for this challenge.

Beautiful,lyrical prose, this book captured me from its first sentence. Plenty of thought-provoking quotes that you would like to jot down.

"Books are mirrors: you only see in them what you already have inside you."

"Destiny is usually just around the corner. Like a thief, a hooker, or a lottery vendor: its three most common personifications. But what destiny ...more

4 likes · Like · see review

Dec 20, 2008 Luann rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: mystery, historical-fiction, adult, 2011

I didn't enjoy this as much as I thought I would. It took me a while to like the characters, and I found myself easily distracted from reading it. I was well over two-thirds of the way through before I felt really drawn into the story. But by the end, once the mysteries started to be revealed, I finally got caught up in the story and found myself truly interested in the ending.

I DID enjoy all the parts about books. There are some great book quotes here. I also thought it was very well written a ...more

2 likes · Like · see review

Aug 20, 2008 Julianne rated it it was amazing

Shelves: best-of-09

Loved it loved it LOVED IT!!!

Great story. My genre (mystery/suspense). Witty characters, plot that kept moving, kept you thinking. Finished quickly, despite the page length.

Didn't feel like a translated book.

And I swore I wouldn't read more WWII novels--I forgot most of what I learned about the civil wars in Spain in the early 20th century. I think this novel fits a great story seamlessly into a troubled time, without it being about troubled times.

Fermin was my absolute favorite, though by the ...more

1 like · Like · see review

Mar 22, 2009 Nicole rated it it was amazing

Shelves: bookclub, 2009, favorites

What an amazing book. I don't know that I describe it as a mystery, but there is number of subplots that you spend the book trying to figure out exactly how they fit together and understanding who's who.

It's a fantastic story and beautifully written. ...more

1 like · Like · see review

Jan 04, 2021 Joanna rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: audiobooks, rws-2020-winter, pas-mm-2021, pas-bookit-2021, pas-trim-2021, 2021-read

I expected to like this book much more than I actually did. It's been hyped and won lots of awards and made lots of top lists, but I thought large sections were pretty dull. The concept of the Cemetery of Forgotten Books is a cool idea, but the actual story was more of a mystery than fantasy. Unfortunately, many of the "mysteries" were more just stories told by some character as a recollection of long-past events. I enjoyed the description of Barcelona. While the book is atmospheric and brings o ...more

Like · see review

Feb 16, 2009 emily rated it really liked it

Shelves: mystery-and-crime, fiction-historical, 2008-to-2010, owned-physical

this book surprised me with its intensity, its humor, and its sensitivity. the setting was vividly depicted with obvious love, the characters incredibly detailed and always interesting, and the way the plot unfolded, going from present to past and back again, revealing a little each time, kept me turning pages till the end. definitely worth your time.

Like · see review