Book Review: The Light from my Menorah, Celebrating Holidays Around the World by Robin Heald and Andrea Blinck

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The Light from my Menorah, Celebrating Holidays Around the World  by Robin Heald and Andrea Blinck is a children's book about a boy being taken around the world via the light from his menorah. In his travels, he visits different holiday festivals. Thank you, NetGalley, for the Advanced Readers Copy (ARC) of this book. I received this book for free in exchange for my honest review. I think it's important for children to learn about other holidays around the world in a fun way. However, I expected a little more description during the actual story to correspond with the illustrations instead of it being included in the author's note. I feel like the adults will have to explain the point of the book to children. With that being said, the writing was absolutely beautiful, and the illustrations are fantastic. Four out of five stars is what I gave The Light from my Menorah, Celebrating Holidays Around the World by Robin Heald and Andrea Blinck for taking the initiative to
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Book Review: The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón

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new york times bestsellerBarcelona, Spain:  In the summer of 1945, an antiquarian book dealer takes his son, Daniel, to the Cemetery of Forgotten Books, a library that houses books that are long forgotten. When you visit this library for the first time, you must choose a book and make sure that it lives on, that it is never forgotten. Daniel chooses The Shadow of the Wind by Julian Carax. He becomes obsessed with the book and author, so much so, he spends his life trying to track down the author and find out what happened to him.

When I picked up the New York Times Bestseller, The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón, I was intrigued by the premise of the book and had to read it. However, I was a bit uneasy about reading a book that had been translated . . . would it translate well? Those worries were soon squashed as I became absorbed in the book. There really aren't any words that can aptly describe how much I enjoyed The Shadow of the Wind, and it stayed with me long after I closed the book. With that being said, I will be the first to admit that this book isn't for everyone.

I can say that I'm glad that I hadn't heard any hype about The Shadow of the Wind, or for that matter, heard of the author, before reading this book. This allowed me to read the book without any preconceived ideas. Where it is a mystery, it doesn't read like your typical mystery. It doesn't have a crime that has been committed or a detective (or policeman, sleuth, reporter, etc.) that is searching for clues to solve the crime. It has a Gothic tone to it as well. Where as it doesn't feel like a translated work, it does feel otherworldly, so I have to give huge props to Lucia Graves, who is the translator, as she did a fabulous job of translating The Shadow of the Wind. 

As I mentioned before, there really aren't any words to describe this book and how much I enjoyed it. It's one of those you have to read and experience for yourself. I gave it five out five stars.


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