If I had a dollar for every customer who asked me for a great book, “like The Shadow of the Wind,” I definitely would have a few more bookshelves in my house (and even more books to fill them). This summer, Americans’ long wait for Carlos Ruiz Zafon’s follow-up is over: The Angel’s Game goes on sale June 16th. While I don’t want anyone to be disappointed because of the build-up, I have to let you know: it was worth the wait.

Ever since we had the opportunity to read advance copies of The Shadow of the Wind, the booksellers of Queen Anne Books have been huge fans. You can imagine the excitement when we got our galley of The Angel’s Game. Thank goodness I work with patient, honest, generous people— I got my chance to bring it home. As soon as I opened its covers and started reading, I resigned myself to lunches of cereal, leftovers for dinner, and dark circles under my eyes. Zafon grabbed me again, and wouldn’t let me go until I read all the way through. While The Shadow of the Wind was very much a reader's book, this is certainly a reader's AND a writer's book. It also takes place in Barcelona, but a generation before Daniel’s story. The narrator of this novel is another young man obsessed by books: David Martín. Mentored by a bookseller with a heart of gold and a popular crime author who was born with a silver spoon in his mouth, Martín grows from a boy who takes a beating for Dickens to an author himself. The story is complex and thrilling, but I don’t want to give much away because part of the pleasure comes from all the twists and turns. (Another big heap of pleasure comes from the evocative language in Lucinda Graves’ translation.) The book is filled with spine-tingling gothic touches, a tender and talented narrator, spirited women to capture the heart... and possibly a Faustian deal with a mysterious publisher.

Turn off the phone, turn on all the lights, and treat yourself to this absorbing novel. Like its predecessor, it will transport you to Barcelona, sweep you up in its characters, dazzle you with atmosphere, and keep you gasping as the mysteries (and bodies) pile up— evidence of the power of the written word. ~Tegan

Alexander McCall Smith has set the bar awfully high for mysteries set in Africa but I have to say I really liked this first Inspector Darko Dawson mystery by Kwei Quartey.

Inspector Dawson is used to solving crimes in the Ghanian capital of Accra but the murder of a well-liked and promising young medical student (and AIDS activist) takes him to the village of Ketanu. He is chosen for the assignment because his family also came from the village and he speaks the regional dialect. However he hasn't been to Ketanu for 25 years; when he was a young child, his mother disappeared on her way home from visiting her sister living in the village. Now Darko must not only solve a murder but also reacquaint himself with his aunt, uncle and cousin and confront some painful memories.

Solving the murder of Gladys is complicated by the religious practices and superstitions of the rural village. Was it a random killing or did she make a dangerous enemy in the village healer?

Darko is a smart, likeable protagonist but the star of the mystery is Ghana. What a fascinating mixture of modern science clashing with ancient beliefs. Because the mystery is set in Africa, there will be comparisons to McCall Smith; but Quartey's writing has a little edge to it which I think fits the setting very well. ~Patti

Michael Grant is back with the next installment in the Gone series (I hear it's going to be six books!). It is equally violent, but darker and (thanks to fewer talking coyotes) even better than the first. The title tells you what is occupying the minds of the kids left in San Perdido. They're starving. It's not just that they don't have adults around to go to the grocery store; they're cut off from the means of distribution that we are all so used. The kids may be savvy enough to think of alternative options, but let's just say that the other strangeness (it has a name, but I don't want to give too much away) of the FAYZ makes those options not so easy.

There's more than just hunger going on in this book, though. The politics of the FAYZ aren't quite working out. It's an interesting lesson these kids need to learn. I think the teens I know (mostly customers here at the store) would have figured out how to make this work before the characters in the book, but where would the fun be in peaceful conversation? (Teen) ~Lillian

For most writers it would not be a good thing to say that their latest novel is very, very much like their previous novel. Ron Carlson is an exception. His previous novel, Five Skies, is one of the best books I’ve read in years. The Signal is so similar that in the hands of almost any other author, it would be a failure. It has the same spare, almost breath-taking, writing – the landscape of the Wyoming mountains is so well-wrought that it made me want, no, need, to go hiking (and I’m a water person, not a woods person). The main character, Mack, could be the fourth man in Five Skies – full of flaws, but so earnest and hyper-competent in his field that I can’t help but love him. It has the same understated set-up that made the tension in Five Skies so perfect and surprising. This time he gives us a sort of reunion, a final coming together of two people who have loved each other deeply, but just can’t make it work.

If you haven’t read Five Skies, pick it up now – it is a smidge better than The Signal. If you loved Five Skies, The Signal is a welcome revisit to the world that Ron Carlson so beautifully evokes. ~Lillian

This is a novel of self-discovery mixed with a hefty dose of romance (think a combination of The Alchemist, The Orchid Thief AND Eat, Pray, Love); in general, not the usual novel I pick up. However, I wanted to read something light and fun other than my familiar mysteries (see The Girl Who Played with Fire) for our Summer Reads Flyer and this first novel by Margot Berwin fit the bill.

Lila Nova works in advertising in Manhattan. Recently divorced, she is still making her new apartment into a home. To that end, she visits a Green Market where she buys a bird-of-paradise plant. Turns out Lila has quite a green thumb and it doesn't hurt that the plant man is quite good looking. One evening, on a walk, Lila sees the most amazing fern through the grimy window of a laundromat. As she walks through the door she is astounded by the greenery -- moss on the floor, plants swinging in between the fluorescent lights, and patches of grass growing on the washers. This oasis is owned by Armand who sees in Margot something special. Next thing she knows, Margot is on a plane to the Yucatan Peninsula to search for the Nine Plants of Desire leading to adventure, danger and that hefty bit of romance mentioned earlier. ~Patti