Topic: The Shadow of the Wind
The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon is a novel that I believe is destined to become a classic. It was on the Spanish best-seller list for two years and it's no wonder. It is a wonderful story with incredible detail, chock-ful of amazing characters and a plot that is very intricate with plenty of different twists and turns. It's a thriller with romance, intrigue and comedy thrown in. The atmosphere is so thick you can feel it and the language is divine.

It begins in 1945, in Barcelona with a man and his ten-year old son, Daniel visiting a place called the 'Cemetery of Forgotten Books'. Daniel is invited to choose just one book and he pulls The Shadow of the Wind from the shelves. This intriguing start, a book within a book, will pull you into a thoroughly enchanting story.

I loved this novel. It's like reading a riddle that gets more and more complicated as the layers of subplots get more and more convoluted. It's a thick book ( 403 pages) and yet the story moves along at a fast pace and is always engrossing. I couldn't put it down and that's the ultimate honour to bestow upon a book. It's superb--a must-read!