Book-a-book of the Month Club discussion

Discuss the author. Other things you have read by him? Will you be looking for more of this works?

When I first picked up the hardcover from the library I was a little intimidated. The book was thick and the font was really small. Lol! So I knew it was going to be a very detailed book. But I read the first page and I was hooked! I can't really get into the writing aspect of it or anything because I don't really know much on that. I only know what I like. :) I don't know why but I kind of compare him to Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Love in the Time of Cholera. I think both authors write beautifully. With Marquez, I felt that was a harder read but in the end I thought his writing was almost lyrical it was so beautifully done. Both books are dense with information but Zafon's was much easier to read I think. I'm definitely going to look into the other two books of his, the Cemetery of Lost Books 2 & 3. They both sound intriguing.

One thing that is a big surprise to me is that he wrote this around 2000 (it feels older than that) and he was only in his mid 30's at the time (it feels like it is written by someone older).

That's very true....I agree. I feel like he just draws you in to the setting with the way he writes. At least with me I felt so absorbed in the era of the book that the whole "feel" of the book is older.

This was so good, I would be interested in reading more, however I see that the follow up novels by Zafon do not appear to rate as high. I probably shouldn't rate a book by its star review though! But, this was such a great experience that I am trying to decide if I should just savor this as the whole, or risk tainting it with a mediocre sophomore book?

Yeah I'm really interested in reading the sequels to the book. I wasn't sure if they would be related to the first book but I guess they're stories all on their own. When it comes to a book's ratings, I do take those into consideration. But it rarely goes into my decision for reading a book because overall opinions are subjective, right? I mean, I'm going to like what I like regardless of what other people say about it. It is a rare thing, I think, when a sequel is better than the first. Take for example Aliens.......that was such a good movie! :)

I am surprised this book was only written in 2000. It presents itself as written in an earlier era, and I would have also thought the author was a little older when writing this story.

I'm also tempted to read The Angel's Game, as it takes place before the story in Shadow of the Wind. Comments do seem to be less positive for Angel's Game than SOTW, but I'm sure the bar was set pretty high. Expectations of readers might be higher for the other two 'Cemetery of Forgotten Books' books after reading SOTW.