THE SHADOW OF THE WIND by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

This is my all-time favorite book, which is a big statement for a reader like me. It's such a rich historical fiction set in Barcelona with exactly the right balance of romance and mystery for me. It's also the ultimate book for book people, since the central mystery involves an extremely rare set of books and the main characters all adore books. The characters are so well-written that I felt like they were my friends. I can't recommend this highly enough.

— Liz