Litsy

The Shadow of the Wind | Carlos Ruiz Zafon

I spent 10 years working events at Barnes and Nobles up and down the West Coast, and I now live in PDX with Powell's books so I have been lucky enough to meet and work with a few big names some are so terrible I don't read their books, some are utter delights!!
Some of my favorites: Carlos Ruiz Zafon (RIP), Angie Thomas, Jodi Picoult (who I still call Jodi Pickles in my head) Patrick Rothfuss, Aiden Thomas, and Curtis Sittenfeld

ChaoticMissAdventures @BookmarkTavern #sundayfunday 4mo

Suet624 You are a very lucky duck. 4mo

squirrelbrain Lol! I call her Jodi Pikachu! (edited) 4mo

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squirrelbrain And enquiring minds want to know the baddies too! 😬 4mo

ChaoticMissAdventures @squirrelbrain Jodi is very kind about her name, she sat down and taught some of us before the event 😂 Let's just say I will never again be in a room with Mario Lopez and I would never pick up a book by Janet Evanovich (which in my mind I call something her last name something that rhymes but maybe replace the v with a similar letter, she was not fun) I did a couple of events with Neil Gaiman and we all know how he turned out.... 4mo

squirrelbrain I saw Jodi speak years ago at our little theatre - she was lovely. I can‘t even remember which book she was promoting though 😬 - maybe House Rules. 4mo

willaful I have an unpleasant memory of Anne McCaffrey, who was clearly not pleased that I was bringing my much loved paperbacks and not buying her new hardcover... I was a broke teenager! Talk about eating your seed corn.

Meeting Lois Bujold was much pleasanter. We bought her new book for my MIL's 80th birthday and it was so special to have it signed for her. We told her it was probably for her oldest fan. :-) 4mo

ChaoticMissAdventures @willaful I hate to say it but their attitude when we meet can really make it break my relationship with their books. It is one thing if we meet in an airport and they are not having the best day, but at their own book event? You have to be kind to everyone that shows up! Sorry to hear about Anne what a bummer for a young reader. 4mo

BookmarkTavern So many fun authors! And living near to Powell‘s would be so dangerous for my wallet! Thanks for posting! (edited) 4mo

CoverToCoverGirl Meeting Diana Gabaldon was an amazing experience. Very engaging, informative and warm. 4mo

33 likes10 comments

SilversReviews

The Shadow of the Wind | Carlos Ruiz Zafon

All-time favorite

Thanks, @ChaoticMissAdventures

“20 Day Cover Challenge - As we start a new year and think about what we want in a book.

Choose 20 books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for 20 days, in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews, just covers.” 3/20

#20covers

ChaoticMissAdventures Same. I absolutely love this one. 6mo

SilversReviews @ChaoticMissAdventures 😊 I saw that on your original post - it is so good. I actually went to Barcelona, and we found all the places in the book. 😊 Thanks for this fun idea for 20 days of covers. Happy New Year of Reading!! 6mo

LoverOfLearning Yep! I loved this one. Got my bookclub to read it and overall they loved it too! 5mo

SilversReviews @LoverOfLearning 😊 5mo

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ChaoticMissAdventures

The Shadow of the Wind | Carlos Ruiz Zafon

20 Day Cover Challenge - As we start a new year and think about what we want in a book.

Choose 20 books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for 20 days, in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews, just covers.

1/20
Join if you would like!

#20Covers

SilversReviews A favorite. 6mo

LoverOfLearning YES! This is a great book and cover! 5mo

31 likes2 comments

Robotswithpersonality

The Shadow of the Wind | Carlos Ruiz Zafon

so-so

Wh- ummm, okay, I acknowledge that if I read this as a teenager I would have been devastated and thrilled and singing it's praises. As a cranky adult however ... I guess I'm honestly hesitant to recommend it to teenagers given some of the content, even if generally, 1/?

Robotswithpersonality 2/? salacious tragic love stories followed by more fortunate endings for a younger generation definitely appeal to bundles of hormones (apologies for the reductive description of an age group).
Yes, the writing is beautiful, and transports you to a certain span of time and place in history (political upheaval and corruption, lot of bullies and tyrants), 7mo

Robotswithpersonality 3/? and suggests a grand mystery which as it turns out has little to do with books and a whole lot more to do with fucked up relationships.
For the most part it's about a lovely group of people getting yanked from pillar to post emotionally and physically for the sake of its impact on the reader. 7mo

Robotswithpersonality 4/? The artful descriptions and cathartic, then kindly denouement does not quite make up for the extensive misery on the page, in my opinion.
There is a certain weight given to telling the origins of a young man, paralleling fathers (too many of which are abusive) and sons or daughters, looking back and back to the past, lost loved ones, 7mo

Robotswithpersonality 5/6 I just wish Ruiz Zafon had not felt the need to go quite so melodramatic with the reveals, quite so dark with the bad things that happened.
If you like historical dramas with a strong mystery component, and don't mind it getting gritty, have at thee.
And no, no I will not be continuing in the series.
(edited) 7mo

Robotswithpersonality 6/6 ⚠️Spousal abuse, child abuse, physical, verbal and sexual abuse, SA, homophobia, antisemitism, ableism, sexism, torture, incest, stillbirth, death in childbirth 7mo

21 likes5 comments

IuliaC

Shortcut to Paradise | Teresa Solana

pick

This is a nicely paced crime novel paved with a lot of humor; my first read by this author. A famous writer of romance novels is murdered the night she is awarded a tremendous prize in Barcelona. The main suspect, also a finalist, has a strong alibi as the night of the crime he has been robbed by an unusual thief. A team of two fake detectives are hired to find the thief and discover who the real killer is.

60 likes1 stack add

CoffeeNBooks

The Shadow of the Wind | Carlos Ruiz Zafon

#WickedWhispers #Shadow
@Eggs @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

Eggs Classic👏🏻👏🏻 9mo

LoverOfLearning Yes! A great book! 5mo

44 likes2 comments

LeslieO

The Shadow of the Wind | Carlos Ruiz Zafon

“I still remember the day my father took me to the Cemetery of Forgotten Books for the first time”

#FirstLineFridays

ShyBookOwl

ShyBookOwl Cemetary of forgotten books?! I definitely want to know more! Great opener 10mo

LeslieO @ShyBookOwl It‘s so good! 10mo

27 likes2 comments

SarahBookInterrupted

The Shadow of the Wind | Carlos Ruiz Zafon

pick

I loved the ending and the beginning, actually. It was a slow book and sometimes I wondered at the direction but it was always intriguing and beautifully written. I was very invested in all the characters and knowing their stories. There were mysteries upon mysteries. The author also took you to dark places, but the innocence of the main character grounded the narrative in hope. It had all the feels. Keep with it when it slows, it‘s worth it.

Nebklvr I love this book 10mo

Susanita To me it felt like peeling an onion. 10mo

SarahBookInterrupted @Nebklvr me too 10mo

SarahBookInterrupted @Susanita yes, piece by piece it revealed itself. Or another layer stripped away. 10mo

47 likes4 comments