“Bea says that the art of reading is slowly dying, that it's an intimate ritual, that a book is a mirror that offers us only what we already carry inside us, that when we read, we do it with all our heart and mind, and great readers are becoming more scarce by the day.”

Spanish novelist

Carlos Ruiz Zafón was a Spanish novelist. He is known for his 2001 novel La sombra del viento, which brought him wide recognition. The novel sold 15 million copies and won numerous awards. In 2007, it was included in a list of the 100 best books in Spanish of the previous 25 years, compiled by 81 Spanish and Hispanic American writers and critics.