"Slowly I became possessed by the absurd conviction that everything was possible, and it seems to me that even those deserted streets and that hostile wind smelled of hope."

I picked up this book on a busy afternoon, so I was very sidetracked when I began reading. Even so, I could tell that I was going to love this book. When I finally sat down and gave it my full attention, I was hooked!

I loved every second of this book. It was written so well! I was thrilled to see how often I was sticking a post-it note to the pages to remember to go back and write up my favorite lines. I really enjoyed the storyline and how everything came together in the end. There were quite a few times where I started feeling anxious for the characters and had to keep reading to make sure things were going to turn out okay. And one part...

***Semi-spoilers***
I did NOT see coming at all. When I hit this place, I had to re-read the sentence to make sure I was keeping the character names straight. Phew!

Favorite Lines/Passages:
"I had never heard of the title or the author, but I didn't care. The decision had been taken. I pulled the volume down with great care and leafed through the pages, letting them flutter. Once liberated from its prison on the shelf, the book shed a cloud of golden dust. Pleased with my choice, I tucked it under my arm and retraced my steps through the labyrinth with a smile on my lips. Perhaps the bewitching atmosphere of the place had got the better of me, but I felt sure that The Shadow of the Wind had been waiting for me there for years, probably since before I was born."

"...I barricaded myself in my room to read the first few lines. Before I knew what was happening, I had fallen right into it."

"Page after page I let the spell of the story and its world take me over, until the breath of dawn touched my window and my tired eyes slid over the last page."

"That afternoon of mist and drizzle, Clara Barcelo stole my heart, my breath, and my sleep."

"One of the pitfalls of childhood is that one doesn't have to understand something to feel it. By the time the mind is able to comprehend what has happened, the wounds of the heart are already too deep."

"People tend to complicate their own lives, as if living weren't already complicated enough."

"Things have always been like this, here and everywhere else. The trouble is, there are some low moments, and when those strike close to home, everything looks blacker."

"Slowly I became possessed by the absurd conviction that everything was possible, and it seems to me that even those deserted streets and that hostile wind smelled of hope."

"I believe nothing happens by chance. Deep down, things have their secret plan, even though we don't understand it."

"Waiting is the rust of the soul."

"Making money isn't hard in itself...What's hard is to earn it doing something worth devoting one's life to."

"She wore an ivory-white dress and held the world in her eyes. I barely remember the priest's words or the faces of the guests, full of hope, who filled the church on that March morning. All that remains in my memory is the touch of her lips and, when I half opened my eyes, the secret oath I carried with me on my skin and would remember all the days of my life."