Readhead Reviews

This month I was really absorbed by other things and put off reading A Game of Thrones until a few days ago. I bulldozed straight through it over the past three days – and boy, is that the wrong way to read this book.

I’m not really a fantasy person. Or maybe I should say I’m only into fantasy if it’s a young adult book, and even then only if the book comes from an author I have been loyal to for years.

First, let me apologize for being so late in posting this review. In addition to the normal stress of Thanksgiving, my mom got married that same weekend, so there wasn’t a ton of time to finish this book or write a review. Trust me, it won’t happen again!

Our book for December is George R.R. Martin’s A Game of Thrones.

When I read that The Shadow of the Wind was “Gabriel García Márquez meets Umberto Eco meets Jorge Luis Borges” I set my expectations pretty high, but I was not disappointed. The self-reflexive convolutions of Borges merge with García Márquez’s eroticism and colorful personages to produce a mystery novel akin to The Name of the Rose.

I have a confession to make. When it comes to mysteries, I’m a page-turning machine. I’m a speed-reader. A skimmer, even. I know. Horrible habit. A habit that was only encouraged by the intricate subplots and interwoven narratives of Carlos Ruiz Zafón’s The Shadow of the Wind.

Every month the readheads pick one book that all three of us read and review. Our book for November is Carlos Ruiz Zafón’s The Shadow of the Wind.