"The Angel's Game" by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

MediaPhile@evpl — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 04:13:00 GMT

If you read and enjoyed Ruiz's international bestseller "Shadow of the Wind," you should probably read his newest (and related) novel "The Angel's Game." This is the second in a series of novels that will all link back to the fictional Cemetery of Forgotten Books featured in "Shadow."

"Angel's Game," set in gothic 1920s Barcelona, centers around an impoverished pulp fiction writer, David Martin, who unwittingly sells his soul to the devil. He finds, of course, that he has made a terrible bargain and must pay a price.

The plot is labyrinthian. Either read this one really carefully the first time, or plan on reading it twice in order to grasp all the threads. I read it twice, and am glad I did.

The author's website is full of intriguing tidbits, including downloadable Barcelona wallpaper and original soundtrack music composed by the author.

Lucky "Thirteenth"

myzticrhythmz@evpl — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 16:59:00 GMT

I'll admit when it comes to literature, I am something of a late bloomer. It took a book group assignment last year for me to finally read Jane Eyre, and of course, I fell in love with it. Recently I followed some friends' recommendations of a book that's reminiscent of that classic novel.

The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield is a dark, Jane-Eyre-on-a-roller-coaster kind of book. In the story, renowned English author Vida Winter is dying, and has called upon a bookseller's daughter and sometime-biographer, Margaret Lea, to write Winter's life story. What follows is a well-paced, very Gothic, sometimes creepy tale, replete with twins, ghosts, a governess, mistaken identities, and a bit of madness thrown in for good measure. Though parts of the ending seemed a bit contrived, there were still enough surprises to be satisfying.

If you haven't tried The Thirteenth Tale yet, by all means do so--and let us know what you think!

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"The Angel's Game" by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

Lucky "Thirteenth"