Welcome to Litsy!

The writing on this one. 🥺😍

Finally picked this book up from the TBR pile after 2 years. 👀

My first Zafon. And was love at first sight....

#book #books #goodreads #litsy #litsybook #toread #leggere #bookly #libro #libry #readingchallenge2022 #lombradelvento #carlosruizzafon

#manicmonday @CBee @Librariana

📚 Shadow of the Wind
✍️ Jose Saramago
🍿Stardust
🎤 Sza (loving her new album)
🎶 Someone you loved (Lewis Capaldi)

80:2022

Today has been a good day. I found a new stylist I can trust with my wild curls. The salon just happened to be next to the cutest, tiniest used bookstore I‘ve ever seen so of course I had to check it out and buy the first 3 books in this haul. And of course I had to stop on my way home and buy 2 more books at my usual spot. It‘s been a bit of an expensive day, but I don‘t regret any part of it.

This was a book club pick for one of the many book clubs I belong to. This was the first time I‘ve read this author and it will not be the last. His writing style is beautifully lyrical and his characters are so well crafted. Can‘t wait to see how everyone feels about this one.

I always have way too many books going at once. I like to have a literary fiction, a genre fiction and a nonfiction going at the same time. Maybe throw in a graphic novel or poetry book. Also, I get distracted by the shiny new thing, the library hold that comes in that I know others are waiting for. My favorite read year is tagged, The Shadow of the Wind. Gothic novel set in Barcelona during 50s wartime, rise of fascism, love of books.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ This was my November #doublespin No. 9 pick. Excellent!!!! I had this on my shelf for like 6 years. So happy I finally picked it up. The writing is beautiful. The story is powerful and the reveals are so well placed. So many endearing characters. Can‘t praise this one enough!

1. 25-30 years in the past. If more recent my personal recollections would overshadow the book & it wouldn‘t feel ‘historical‘ enough.

2. This was tough! I avoid creepy, spooky books because I‘m a scardycat. I‘m so glad October is over! 😂. I could find none of my favorites set in the fall, but I think the tagged book fits. It‘s a bit gothic, a bit spooky and the atmosphere feels Novemberish

@TheSpineView thanks for the tag!
#Two4Tuesday

Wow. 5 star read. Barcelona, 1950s. Gothic meets historical fiction. Love letter to words, books and the power they hold. Story includes impacts of war and rise of fascism, its brutality towards writers, artists, queer, anyone supporting freedom of ideas and people. Young boy is allowed to choose one book out of a shop. He finds one written by a mysterious author. So many twists and turns I could not put the book down. One of my best 2022 reads.

Barcelona! (Someday…)

This was my October #BookSpin and I loved it! A new favorite for me, both the book and the author. Not sure why I waited for so long to read it, it had to be good with such a rec from Stephen King: “One gorgeous read.” The story and characters were great, writing was awesome and there is so much love of books from the very first chapter that it had to be a great read! A pick!

@TheAromaOfBooks

@PuddleJumper Also a #Roll100 pick from back in March

I loved dialogies and characters were likable too. My favorit was Fermín, he was awesome!

This was perfect for the season: it rained often and it was so foggy all the time :D This wasn't easy book to read because this made me feel so sad: there were so many dying or being old.

I liked the story, this had a mystery that revealed itself slowly. This was interesting but at some point dragged a bit.

#SeriesRead2022 #192025 (2001) #19822022 (24/41)

“Time goes faster the more hollow it is. Lives with no meaning go straight past you, like trains that don‘t stop at your station.”

“Life has enough torturers as it is, without you going around moonlighting as a Grand Inquisitor against yourself.”

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

“Marriage and family are only what we make of them.“

“Every time a book changes hands, every time someone runs his eyes down its pages, its spirit grows and strengthens.”

#LittensWantToKnow @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

1. Tagged book.

2. Blackhouse by Peter May

3. Raven Black by Ann Cleeves

#AlphabetGame #LetterZ
@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

I'm happy to finish the Alphabet Game with one of my favorite books of all time! If you haven't read this yet, you need to! 💕📚💕

Like everyone is saying- too many #letterS books to choose from! I recommend this one on audio- it includes music composed by author🎶
@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks
#alphabetgame

1. I wish!
2. The closest I have is the full Harry Potter set in hardback.
3. I‘d love a box set of the Cemetery of Forgotten Books series.
#sundayfunday

Thanks to these Litsy folks for today‘s prompt:

#ARTFULAUGUST
@Eggs
@AlwaysBeenALoverOfBooks

Today‘s Prompt: INCLUDES A MAP

This book is an all-time favorite.

Have YOU read it?

Book mail and I had to get this cover 🤗📚 happy days

#doublespin for July - absolutely loved this! A book about a book, and a story within a story, gorgeous writing style and a great plot (lots of coincidences but just suspend disbelief & enjoy!)

#BookCoverChallenge
Day 293.
Here I will note 365 books (or as many as I will have before I get tired) that have shaped my taste in literature. No explanations, no reviews. Just the cover of the book.
I do not challenge anyone. You are all welcome to take part.

I don‘t re-read books very often, but this was our pick for a book club that my sister and her friends started and it had been a few years so I needed to refresh my memory. Once my sister pointed out how the female characters are treated—basically they are all either saints or whores with little to no personality—it was all I could see in this book. The writing is beautiful at times, and I love the treatment of books as treasures. Overall 3.5/5

“Never trust he who trusts everyone.”

I did it! I finally finished The Shadow of the Wind. It was my "car read," a book that lives in my car and I basically only read while I wait for school to let out. Lots of Kindle books were read in the meanwhile, but man! I enjoyed it, but I will be making sure I choose shorter books for the car in the future lol

“El señor Sempere creía que Dios vivía un poco, o mucho, en los libros y por eso dedicó su vida a compartirlos, a protegerlos y a asegurarse de que sus páginas, como nuestros recuerdos y nuestros anhelos, no se perdieran jamás, porque creía, y me hizo creer a mí también, que mientras quedase una sola persona en el mundo capaz de leerlos y vivirlos, habría un pedazo de Dios o de vida.“

“El incompetente siempre se presenta a sí mismo como experto, el cruel como piadoso, el pecador como santurrón, el usurero como benefactor, el mezquino como patriota, el arrogante como humilde, el vulgar como elegante y el bobalicón como intelectual.“

“...una religión viene a ser un código moral que se expresa mediante leyendas, mitos o cualquier tipo de artefacto literario a fin de establecer un sistema de creencias, valores y normas con los que regula una cultura una sociedad.“

“...el arte de leer se está muriendo muy lentamente, que es un ritual íntimo, que un libro es un espejo y que sólo podemos encontrar en él lo que ya llevamos dentro, que al leer ponemos la mente y el alma, y que ésos son bienes cada día más escasos”.

#WeRemember #CarlosRuizZafon who wrote several compelling books set in Barcelona. 🇪🇸

#CemeteryOfForgotten 🖤 #CarlosRuizZafon #WeRemember 🌹💔

#BookNerd 🤓💙📚

#carlosruiszafon #weremember @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @Eggs

#WeRemember Day 9: I shared my review of #CarlosRuizZafon back in 2010. I have a feeling I will need to reread this novel for me to binge-read the entire series. My full review here - https://wp.me/pDlzr-3h

I didn‘t understand why there was so much character development and extended story-telling however once the action finally hit, it all made sense. It was a wonderful ride.

2022 is the year I will read the entire Cemetary of Forgotten Books series. I remembered some details but not all, so I gave this one a listen to refresh my memory on the more secondary characters.

Still just as good, perhaps better the second time around.
March #bookspinbingo Free Space @TheAromaofBooks #SeriesRead2022 @TheSpineView #booked2022 Winter 4 #WeatherTermInTitle @Cinfhen @BarbaraTheBibliophage @4thhouseontheleft

A very well written, descriptive and enchanting book.

Beautiful descriptions, deep characters and intriguing story.

Yet, in spite of all these positives halfway through the book it got very slow and there were long chapters of dull descriptions.

I started to lose interest like 75% into it, but I powered through and I'm glad I did because I hate to DNF.

I guess I would have liked it more if it was shorter.

Good, but not brilliant.

⭐️⭐️⭐️☆☆

A young boy finds a book by a little unknown author in the cemetery of lost books. This book leads the boy on a long mystery to the truth.

I found this book to be intriguing, keeping my attention the entire time. It‘s amazing on how much I pushed away classic novels only to enjoy them so much now.

You know a book is up to a good start when the magical library shows up in chapter 1 😊😍

2nd book for #JoyousJanuary

My goals for #JoyousJanuary are: read my library books and get started with Night Circus, before I get even more intimidated by it.

@Andrew65

#SundaySoapBox thanks for the tag @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

The books I recommend the most are:
📚 Tagged and this includes the whole series
📚 Any Ian Irvine book
📚 The Bees
📚 The Bone Clocks
📚 The Bear & The Nightingale
📚 Goodnight Mr Tom
📚 Unnatural Causes
📚 The Daevabad Trilogy
📚 The Art Of Racing in the Rain
📚 The Fourth Realm Trilogy
📚 A Discovery of Witches

#Booklovers #LibraryMouse #InkDrinker #ReadersLiveAThousandLives

#12Booksof2021 #12thBook #December This was just as good as a reread as it was the first time I read it a few years ago.
@Andrew65

Last book of 2021 ✔️ Absolutely would recommend. It‘s a combination of suspense, drama, mystery, and romance. I loved it even more because it took me back through the streets of Barcelona. Daniel & Julián are intricate, complex characters who remind you of the importance of honesty and trust, and the power of words. R.I.P. Carlos Ruiz Zafón. Gracias por compartir tus talentos con el mundo.

Finally finished this one. It‘d been on my TBR for a while and I did enjoy it. I probably would have stronger feelings about it if life hadn‘t kept getting in the way creating long pauses between reading sessions. But the story was intriguing and I enjoyed unraveling the mystery. It was very involved

@Clwojick #mistletoemaniacs #wintergames2021

The epic story begins with young Daniel (son of a bookstore owner) visiting the secret Cemetery of Forgotten Books. He is instructed to choose a book to own and cherish. He chooses The Shadow of the Wind by Julian Carax. A strange, disguised man has been stealing all of Carax‘s books and burning them. Am so the mystery of Julian Carax begins.