Tag Archives: Book Review

Book Review

Review: The Shadow of the Wind

26 Comments

The Shadow of the Wind
By Carlos Ruiz Zafon
Translated by Lucia Graves
Publisher: Penguin Group (USA)
Pub. Date: January 2005
ISBN-13: 9780143034902
512pp

Here’s the blurb from the publisher:

Barcelona, 1945—A great world city lies shrouded in secrets after the war, and a boy mourning the loss of his mother finds solace in his love for an extraordinary book called The Shadow of the Wind, by an author named Julian Carax. When the boy searches for Carax’s other books, it begins to dawn on him, to his horror, that someone has been systematically destroying every copy of every book the man has ever written. Soon the boy realizes that The Shadow of the Wind is as dangerous to own as it is impossible to forget, for the mystery of its author’s identity holds the key to an epic story of murder, madness, and doomed love that someone will go to any lengths to keep secret.

The Short of It:

This novel is a wonderful combination of all things good, a locale shrouded in mystery, murder, intrigue, characters that stay with you long after you finish the book and it all centers around the love of books. What could be better?

My Thoughts:

A friend of mine urged me to read this one. It took me awhile to get around to reading it (so sorry for the delay!) but after reading just a few pages, I knew it was going to be good, so I put it aside to read while on vacation.

Each time I opened the book, I felt as if I had stepped inside Daniel’s world. I experienced Barcelona through his eyes…the dark alleyways, the bookstore where he worked, and of course the Cemetery of Forgotten Books. Zafon’s writing is rich with detail, but not overly done. I stopped several times to reread certain passages just because I found them to be so beautifully written.

To me, a really good book has to have memorable characters and I fell in love with many of the characters. Here are just a few:

Daniel Sempere
He’s the main character and we see him grow up through the course of the novel. He’s a genuinely kind soul and wants to do what is right. He’s extremely loyal to his friends and when he falls in love, well…we feel his angst.

Fermín Romero de Torres
I loved Fermín! He’s fiercely protective of Daniel (for good reason). He’s incredibly pompous but in a humorous way. His eccentricities make for good reading. I found myself chuckling over his antics numerous times. I also caught myself sitting on the edge of my seat over some of his adventures.

Nuria Monfort
Nuria is the femme fatale in love with Julián Carax. She is so completely absorbed with Julían that her own life takes a backseat whenever she is with him. We learn more about Nuria as the story progresses but I found her to be such a tragic figure.

Julían Carax
What can I say about Julían? He is the author of “The Shadow of the Wind” and as Daniel desperately seeks to find the truth about the missing books and Julían in general, we learn all about Julían and the tragedies that he has been forced to endure.

This book made a permanent mark upon my soul. Honestly, if you haven’t read it, please do so. You won’t regret it. If the length of the novel seems daunting to you, don’t even pay attention to it because I cried when this book ended and I have NEVER cried over a book. It’s that wonderful.

Jill, over at Fizzy Thoughts was kind enough to send me Zafon’s new novel The Angel’s Game. I understand that this one is a prequel to Shadow but that each book stands alone. Additionally, Angel’s Game has the same translator as Shadow (Lucia Graves) which is a big plus because she did such an awesome job with Zafon’s first book.

I will probably begin The Angel’s Game next week and I can’t wait!

Book Review

Review: The Game On Diet

16 Comments

The Game On Diet
By Krista Vernoff and Az Ferguson
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Pub. Date: June 2009
ISBN-13: 9780061718892
291pp

The Short of It:

A fun, competitive way to take off a few pounds.

My Thoughts:

When I first agreed to join a Game On Diet team, I wasn’t sure what to expect. Dawn made it sound like so much fun and I had read Book Club Girl’s posts about Game On and I was intrigued with her success on the program. However, when the book came, I was a bit overwhelmed.

You see, there are points to be made and penalties to be had. A good choice could get you points for your team but a BAD choice could cost your team points and who wants to be the one bad egg in a group of Grade AA’s? Not me!!

Here’s the gist of it:

  • You need to eat 5 mini meals a day.
  • You must avoid F.L.A.B.B foods (basically, anything that tastes good)
  • You must get at least 20 minutes of exercise in every day unless it’s your day off.
  • No diet sodas, no artificial sweeteners, no white flour, no alcohol…
  • You must give up a bad habit and replace it with a healthy habit.
  • You must drink 3 liters of water a day (except for day off)

There’s more, but you get the idea. Basically all that was lovely and good in the way of food goes bye-bye and gets replaced with Greek yogurt (and lots of it!), low-fat string cheese, low-fat cottage cheese, veggies, nuts and palm sized portions of protein. Now there are other foods out there that fit the program but because most of the foods I picked had to be easy and quick to grab, I ended up with a lot of dairy in my diet. When I incorporate what I’ve learned into my everyday diet, I plan to balance it out a bit more.

What I’ve Learned:

  • I really can live on 5 small meals and not be hungry.
  • Food played a big a role in my life. I ate out a lot and it was actually a form of entertainment. How sad! I now know to balance it out a bit more. I plan to enjoy the people I am with and not focus on the food so much.
  • I’ve learned that I like exercise. Having a routine has really helped me feel a lot better.
  • That my previous diet was filled with processed foods. Eating whole foods has actually killed all my cravings for the bad stuff.

Now a bit about the book itself. I feel that the book is broken down into logical, very readable sections. However, it is missing an index which I could have really used since I had to refer to the book often while playing the game. I appreciate the humor to a degree, but during week 3, which I felt was the toughest week, I found the humor to be a bit irritating. It could be that the lack of fried foods in my diet sucked my sense of humor dry. That’s always a possibility.

Overall, I found the team concept to be very effective and in the end, I lost a total of 10 lbs. I had a slight gain one week (damn that week 3) which slowed me down but I am happy with losing what I did and I feel as if I can follow this program on a regular basis. Four weeks was just enough time for things to become habit for me.

Here are the teams. They should all be given a huge round of applause:

Team Ding Dong

Ti of Book Chatter and Other Stuff
Jill of Rhapsody in Books
Julie of Booking Mama
Amy of My Friend Amy
Jill of Fizzy Thoughts

Team Twinkie
Denise of M. Denise C.
Jenners of Find Your Next Book Here

Team Ho-Hos
Kathy also has other team mates, but they aren’t bloggers, so I have no links. Oh, except for a last minute addition…Vasilly! ( I stole all of this from Jill/Fizzy).

Thanks to Book Club Girl for providing us with copies of the book and for being our Game On mentor. Thanks to Dawn too for getting the teams together and for handling all the logistics.

As of this writing, I do not know which team came out ahead but in the big scheme of things, I’m not sure it really matters. Ten lbs down and three inches lost overall is pretty darn good. I am continuing with the plan, just not the “team” part of it. I want to see how well I can do on my own.
If you have been curious about the plan, check it out online, then get the book, form a team and dive in!