What are you reading the week of June 18, 2016?

Carlos Ruiz Zafón (born 25 September 1964 in Barcelona) is a Spanish novelist.

Ruiz Zafón's first novel, El Príncipe de la Niebla (The Prince of Mist, 1993), earned the Edebé literary prize for young adult fiction. He is also the author of three more young adult novels, El palacio de la medianoche (1994), Las luces de septiembre (1995) and Marina (1999). The English version of El Príncipe de la Niebla was published in 2010.

In 2001 he published his first adult novel La sombra del viento (The Shadow of the Wind), a mystery that involves Daniel Sempere's quest to track down the man responsible for destroying every book written by author Julian Carax. The novel has sold millions of copies worldwide and more than a million copies in the UK alone. Since its publication, La sombra del viento has garnered critical acclaim around the world and has won many international awards. Ruiz Zafón's next novel, El juego del ángel, was published in April 2008. The English edition, The Angel's Game, is translated by Lucia Graves, daughter of the poet Robert Graves. It is a prequel to The Shadow of the Wind, also set in Barcelona, but during the 1920s and 1930s. It follows (and is narrated by) David Martin, a young writer who is approached by a mysterious figure to write a book. Ruiz Zafón intends it to be included in a four book series along with The Shadow of the Wind. The next book in the cycle, El prisionero del cielo, appeared in 2011, which returns to The Shadow of the Wind's Daniel Sempere and his travel back to the 1940s to resolve a buried secret. The novel was published in English in July 2012 as The Prisoner of Heaven.

Ruiz Zafón's works have been published in 45 countries and have been translated into more than 40 different languages. According to these figures, Ruiz Zafón is the most widely published contemporary Spanish writer, followed by Javier Sierra, whose works have been published in 42 countries, and Juan Gómez-Jurado, whose works have been published in 41 countries.

Influences on Ruiz Zafón's work have included 19th century classics, crime fiction, noir authors and contemporary writers.

Apart from books, another large influence comes in the form of films and screenwriting. He says in interviews that he finds it easier to visualize scenes in his books in a cinematic way, which lends itself to the lush worlds and curious characters he creates.

I'm currently reading a couple of books at the moment: Secondhand Time by Svetlana Alexievich and Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy by Joseph Schumpeter. I'm not making much progress in either one however.

Thank you, Fred!

I'm still reading Vita the Life of Vita Sackville-West and will probably finish up this weekend. I like it. I've only thought about Vita as a champion gardener and lover of Violet Trefusis, this biography is rounding out her life for me. Strangely, I always forget about Vita and Virginia Woolf even though that affair is probably her best known.

I finished The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry last night. I thought it was charming and had some wonderfully funny lines. It was the perfect antidote to Fatal Inversion that had really gotten under my skin(in a good way).

I'm casting about for something else off of my own shelves. I've picked up All the Tea in China an older novel I found on the Neglected Books page over at the Washington Post. I'm not certain it will take but it has a wonderful female protagonist.

It is such a beautiful day here, I think I might read in the garden.

>1 fredbacon: Ruiz Zafón is one of my absolute favorites! Which of his works are you reading?

Today, I'm reading The Memory Garden for one of my book clubs, and I'm still working my way through The Windup Girl, which is fantastic.

>1 fredbacon: Thank you for the start and the biography. I loved The Shadow of the Wind.

I'm reading the fairly popular Don't Breathe a Word, about a missing child and mysterious fairies. I'm almost done, and it's one of those books that I'll finish but will be glad when I'm done. The story feels too padded to me, too long for the tale it is telling, and isn't drawing me in like I'd hoped.

Fred thank you for bio. I too love Zafon and loved The Shadow of the Wind!

Thank you for starting us again, Fred.

I'm enjoying The Lie Tree and Waterloo The History of Four Days.

Nice one, Fred!

Really enjoyed the Zafon I've read so far. I've got The Prisoner of Heaven in my TBR pile.

I've finished Alien Emergencies and started General Practice. The James White books have been perfect bedtime reads. I also finished Lock In by John Scalzi and started Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire as my daytime read.

I love the theme of The Shadow of the Wind. Wonderful book.

Reading Night Film by Marisha Pessl.

Finished the absolutely lovely A Whole Life.

Next up to read is The North Water by Ian McGuire.

Re-read of Arthur and George coming up. I remember loving this one but can't remember it in detail and it's my book club's selection for next month. Really looking forward to it.

I am reading City of Thorns by Ben Rawlence and it is very good so far.

It was a slow reading week for me, unfortunately, so I'm still only about halfway through the excellent American Civil War history, The Guns of Cedar Creek by Thomas A. Lewis.

I'm about a quarter of the way through Anthony Doerr's All the Light We Cannot See. I know I'm really late to the party on this one, but my reaction to what I've read so far is: Wow!

Read The Word Exchange last week, which was thought provoking, especially around aspects of reliance on our digital devices and privacy, and also the beauty and necessity of language.

Now reading Faithful Place. Recently began reading Tana French's excellent Dublin Murder Squad series, and hope to catch up before the next one is released later this year.

Just finished the primal and lyrical The North Water. Not for the faint-hearted due to violence, but the story is gripping.

Next up to read is The White Castle by Orhan Pamuk.

Finished Dorothy Sayers' Whose Body?.

Now reading Anna Dressed in Blood by Kendare Blacke

Started Do No Harm written by a neurosurgeon. Very interesting stories that illustrate the successes, losses, joy and regret in being a neurosurgeon. I'm only a few chapters in but can tell already it will not disappoint.

Just picked up The Lake House by Kate Morton. I've read all of hers so far, so this should be enjoyable.

Reading Horse & Buggy Philosopher -- a 1939 collection of seven years of newsletter columns by a senior business owner. Most of the stories are a page or two long with an occasional short passage. Here's one of the short ones:
"No man knows less than the man who knows it all."

Many are old bromides but they're interesting to read and reflect on anyway.

>1 fredbacon:
Last summer I stayed up reading The Angel's Game until I couldn't see the words any more. Thank you for sharing and getting us started!

I finished The Foretelling by Alice Hoffman yesterday, which was just ok.

Next up is Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan. I need to read a book about books for my Eclectic Reader Challenge, and have seen a lot of love for this book around here.

>21 PaperbackPirate: Yes, that's my favorite of the series. I enjoyed The Prisoner of Heaven, but it was a let down after The Angel's Game. I keep hoping that he'll write another book soon.

Finished Perfume by Patrick Suskind and My Family and Other Animals by Gerald Durrell: fine books both. I arrived at work with five pages of Perfume left to read and tucked myself away until I'd finished. Just had to make it to the end.

Now reading The Smile of a Ghost by Phil Rickman and re-reading Orwell's Homage to Catalonia.

Finished Every Heart a Doorway and started Three Hearts and Three Lions by Poul Anderson.

>22 PaperbackPirate: FYI My paperback copy of Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore glowed in the dark. I left it under the lamp and when I turned off the lights-you could see the books on the cover glowing.

>26 JulieLill:
Thanks for the tip! The cover feels like that glow-in-the-dark texture, so I'll have to give it a try tonight.

Having enjoyed Mothering Sunday I picked up Last Orders, also by Graham Swift. It was equally as good. Excellently written, humorous, bitter sweet.

I finished the rather lame End of Watch yesterday, and picked up Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman for a fourth or fifth re-read. I'm moving 2,000 miles away in two weeks and want comfort reading while I prepare for a huge life change.

>29 ahef1963: I love Neverwhere, too. I read somewhere they're putting together a new audio production of it.

The Lie Tree, the Costa Award winner, was entertaining and thought-provoking. My review's on the book page.

Now I'm reading an ER book, George MacDonald's The Golden Key, and The Rook.

Just finished The Sandcastle Girls by Chris Bohjalian and working on The SummerHill Girl by Jude Devereaux End of Watch by Stephen King and Village Books by Craig McLay

>26 JulieLill: The cover of my copy of The Witch of Lime Street glows in the dark, too, and I left it on the top of my book pile because it amuses me. I'm easily entertained.

I just finished Dennis Lehane's book written several years ago, Mystic River. It's very good - quite dark, but still very good.

Finished reading The White Castle and New and Collected Poems: 1975-2015.

Finished listening to Spill, Simmer, Falter, Wither.

Next up to read is The Wright Brothers by David McCullough, and next up to listen to is Our Souls At Night by Kent Haruf.

>32 TooBusyReading: I'm easily amused too.

I finished Alan Furst's Dark Star. Now I'm reading See Now Then by Jamaica Kincaid.

I'm still re-reading Neverwhere but haven't had much time to read anything. Intermittently, I'm also picking up Eva's Eye by Karin Fossum.

Still trying to wade through Cornelia Funke's Inkheart -- started reading it last month, for the Once Upon a Time challenge, which officially ended on the first day of summer. I always have problems with very long books (nearly 600 pages for this one) -- I tend to put them aside when other books call out to me. Also just started The Girls, by Emma Cline.

Finished Three Hearts and Three Lions by Poul Anderson. Didn't care for it. Now doing a re-read of Murder on the Orient Express by Agatha Christie.

The new thread is up over here.

> The audio version of Inkheart narrated by Lynn Redgrave is superb. You'll sail right through it!