Another years-long unread resident of my collection (since 2007 this time—I think I bought this book when it was first published). It survived various purges of my shelves because it always seemed like a book I’d enjoy reading someday. Well, thanks to @sultanabun and her post about how much she loved the book AND its newly published sequel, The Land of Lost Things, that day has finally come. AND I LOVED THIS BOOK! I could hardly stand to put it down. I read Fairy Tale by Stephen King earlier this year and was underwhelmed—The Book of Lost Things is the story Fairy Tale wished it could be. There’s magic in every sense of the word within its pages. In my opinion, The Book of Lost Things deserves to be a modern classic, an example of the best of its kind. 

After posting about my love for The Book of Lost Things yesterday, I found out that he was appearing later that evening at Charm City Books in Baltimore, about an hour and a half drive south from me. I made the impromptu decision to go, and am so glad I did! It can be a little tricky to meet an author whose book you so enjoy, as sometimes they show why writers should perhaps stay out of the limelight and let their books do the talking. Not so with John Connolly! He was gregarious and witty, and I loved what he had to say about the use (and love of) language, and the value and tradition of genre fiction. I sheepishly admit that I had no idea he was a popular and prolific writer of a series of crime novels! I definitely want to read his book on Irish genre fiction, Shadow Voices. Also, please note the other star of the night, Lou, the bookstore pup, who graciously allowed us all to give him some love. He was a sweetheart!