A-Z Blogging: Letter Z

Wow. It's the last day of April and the last day of the A-Z Blogging Challenge. It's hard to believe that we've made it all the way through the alphabet already. April 30th is brought to you by the Letter Z.

Z is for Zowie! As in Zowie are we at the end already? Z is such a difficult letter especially for someone like me who is trying to stick to a book and/or reading theme. So, here are a few literary related Z words for the final day of the Challenge.

Z is for Zenda. As in The Prisoner of Zenda by Anthony Hope. A late Victorian tale of swordplay, derring-do, and a gallant gentleman who just happens to be an exact double for a King. I just finished this one recently--click the title for a review.

Z is also for Zelda Fitzgerald. I've also read a biography about her this year as part of my reading challenges. Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald: an American Woman's Life by Linda Wagner was a fascinating look at the life of F. Scott Fitzgerald's wife--and an attempt to focus on Zelda as Zelda rather than on her life as the wife of a famous American author. (Again, you may click on the title for my review.)

And Z is for Miss Zukas. Miss Helma Zukas, the librarian turned amateur detective, who is the star of a cozy mystery series written by Jo Dereske. These are very nice mysteries--just right when you want good writing with interesting characters but don't want to think real hard when it comes to the puzzle of the mystery. I haven't read any of these since I started blogging, so I have no reviews to offer--but I can say that I always grab them up when I find one I haven't read yet.

Finally (although, I'm sure there are more Z-words out there), Z is for Zafon--Carlos Ruiz Zafon, author of the absolutely fabulous The Shadow of the Wind (read before blogging & reviewing began) and The Angel's Game, which is on my TBR list for a few of the challenges I've got lined up this year. Zafon's The Shadow of the Wind has sold millions of copies worldwide and earned many international awards. The story takes place in post-Spanish Civil War Barcelona and focuses on a boy, Daniel Sempere. His father has introduced him to the secret of the Cemetery of Forgotten Books: a huge library of forgotten books preserved by a small group who know the secret. Traditionally, those who have been initiated into the secret may choose one book from the collection and then are bound to protect it for life. Daniel selects a book called The Shadow of the Wind by Julian Carfax. He likes the book so much that he searches for other novels by the author, but cannot find any--and, more importantly, he finds that a man using the name of a character from Carfax's book has been buying up and destroying all of the author's work. It is up to Daniel to discover the secrets behind this man's behavior.