Book Recommendation of the Week

I decided to do this possible weekly feature here on the blog where I will basically recommend ONE specific book that I have read, and loved. It could be something I recently just read, or a one from five years ago. Doesn't matter when; if I feel as if a lot of people might like it as much as I do, then I'll recommend it! For the very first week, I recommend..

The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly

Genre: Fantasy/Fiction
When I Read It: 2008

Synopsis: High in his attic bedroom, twelve-year-old David mourns the death of his mother, with only the books on his shelf for company. But those books have begun to whisper to him in the darkness. Angry and alone, he takes refuge in his imagination and soon finds that reality and fantasy have begun to meld. While his family falls apart around him, David is violently propelled into a world that is a strange reflection of his own -- populated by heroes and monsters and ruled by a faded king who keeps his secrets in a mysterious book, The Book of Lost Things.

Recommended if: you like stories about dark and strange things, and creepy fairy tale re-tellings. It's not for everyone for sure, but I think you should try it out and see if this is your kind of book. If it is, you might end up loving it as much as I do.

Ages: It says it's for children, but it has some rather disturbing characters and scenarios, and I can not imagine anyone younger than 13 reading it. So I think this is for 13+, mature YA readers, and adults.

Why I Loved It: It's a unique and original story; twisted and strange, creepy and mysterious. It is wonderfully written, beautifully told, with memorable and likable characters.

The author says: "If like me, you were formed by books, then you may see a little of yourself within its pages for, as the dedication states, just as in every child waits the adult that will be, so too in every adult lies the child that was."

Have you read this before? What did you think of it?