The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

This is a novel that I have walked by a zillion times but never read in the horror. It wasn't until I saw an endorsement by one Stephen King calling it a "gorgeous read" that I picked it up. Even though it was found in horror, was not full blown horror...but that doesn't matter. It had some elements but, it was a great great read. We have all been there. We read a book and fall for it. Then, we have to find anything and everything ever written by them. In the novel, young Daniel falls under that spell when he reads a novel by a Julian Carfax that he found with his father in the Cemetery of Forgotten Books. When he goes to look for more, there is more mystery then there are answers as almost every copy of everything ever written by him have been burned by a mysterious character right out of the book. Throw in some teenage growing pains, finding love, unlikely friendships, conspiracy theories and some elements of horror and you have a satisfying read. In the end, everything is solved as nothing is left unraveled. Everything is tied up and the ending is satisfying. As well, this novel was originally written in Spanish and the translation is just beautiful. You can tell it was done by the author as it was done with love instead of a broken straight ahead translation that would of taken much away from the words. Don't be detoured from this novel as it's not the more Gothic horror novel in a more traditional sense but, Stephen King was right...it is one gorgeous read!