Peggy's Picks

“I was raised among books,” writes Daniel Sempere,” making invisible friends in pages that seemed cast from dust and whose smell I carry on my hands to this day.” Young Daniel’s father runs a used bookstore in Barcelona. One afternoon in 1945 the older Sempere informs his not quite 11-year-old son that he is taking him to the Cemetery of Forgotten Books. “You mustn’t tell anyone what you’re about to see today.” Daniel’s father tells him that “according to tradition, the first time someone visits this place, he must choose a book, whichever he wants, and adopt it, making sure that it will never disappear, that it will always stay alive.” Daniel chooses—or perhaps is chosen by—"The Shadow of the Wind" by Julian Carax. Daniel loses himself in the book and soon asks for other works by Carax. He learns that his works are virtually impossible to find. Rumor has it that over the past 10 years or so a dark figure with a limp has bought up every Carax available, and that libraries and private collections have had their Carax titles stolen. It’s hinted that all the copies—never plentiful to begin with—have been burnt and that the man with the limp goes by the name of Lain Coubert. Daniel knows this name. In The Shadow of the Wind it is the one used by the devil. This is superbly entertaining book with beautifully constructed plot twists. Anyone who enjoys novels that are scary, erotic, touching, tragic, and thrilling should read "The Shadow of the Wind." Really, you should.

“In bed that night I invented a special drain that would be underneath every pillow in New York, and would connect to the reservoir. Whenever people cried themselves to sleep, the tears would all go to the same place, and in the morning the atherman could report if the water level of the Reservoir of Tears had gone up or down, and you could know if New York was in heavy boots.” Oskar Schell is on a secret mission to find the lock that matches a mysterious key that belonged to his father, who died in the World Trade Center on the morning of September 11. This novel is funny, beautifully constructed, and heartbreaking.

“A body sailing out into the middle of the air. He was gone. He’d done it. Some blessed themselves. Closed their eyes. Waited for the thump. The body twirled and caught and flipped, thrown around by the wind.” Philippe Petit’s walk between the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in 1974 is the event around which Colum McCann constructs "Let the Great World Spin." Beginning quietly in Dublin, the novel soon encompasses a black hooker, a Guatemalan nurse, an artist, a budding monk and his aimless brother, and other characters. All the characters are linked to each other as the story moves to its deeply affecting conclusion. I was totally blown away by the gorgeous writing, the stunning characterizations, and the beauty of the construction of "Let the Great World Spin." It’s breath-taking!