Book Review: A Corpse Among the Carolers (Food Blogger, #7) by Debra Sennefelder

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A Corpse Among the Carolers (Food Blogger, #7) by Debra Sennefelder opens with Hope Early preparing for the annual Jingle Bell Stroll. When the person playing Santa Claus is murdered, Hope knows she must find out how and why it happened.   I received an Advanced Readers Copy (ARC) from NetGalley for free in exchange for my honest review. This book was just the one I needed to read to help me get in the mood for Christmas. I know that it sounds weird since it's a cozy mystery where people are murdered, but it was full of holiday activities including caroling, a holiday market, making wreaths, picking out a Christmas tree, and more. The caroling event especially made me think of my childhood when the neighborhood kids along with a few adults would go door to door around the neighborhood to sing Christmas carols. We would have luminaries lit on both sides of the street as well. All of the characters, minus one or two of them, were very likable, and despite me not having r
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Book Review: The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón

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new york times bestseller book reviewBarcelona, 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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