The Shadow of the Wind

Such a wonderful, poetic beginning. Within the first pages, I was enraptured by the descriptive sentiments of the protagonist concerning his love of books and reading. However, as the main plot was introduced, I found that I did not care for it. I only wanted more about The Cemetery of Forgotten Books. I enjoyed the novel, which included memorable characters and locations, however, I didn't care about learning about this fictitious author and his life. It was an interesting novel; I don't regret reading it, but I don't care to read it again.

“Every book, every volume you see here, has a soul. The soul of the person who wrote it and of those who read it and lived and dreamed with it. Every time a book changes hands, every time someone runs his eyes down its pages, its spirit grows and strengthens.”
― Carlos Ruiz Zafón, The Shadow of the Wind

“Once, in my father's bookshop, I heard a regular customer say that few things leave a deeper mark on a reader than the first book that finds its way into his heart. Those first images, the echo of words we think we have left behind, accompany us throughout our lives and sculpt a palace in our memory to which, sooner or later—no matter how many books we read, how many worlds we discover, or how much we learn or forget—we will return.”
― Carlos Ruiz Zafón, The Shadow of the Wind

“Bea says that the art of reading is slowly dying, that it's an intimate ritual, that a book is a mirror that offers us only what we already carry inside us, that when we read, we do it with all our heart and mind, and great readers are becoming more scarce by the day.”
― Carlos Ruiz Zafón, The Shadow of the Wind