Inkheart

'Rain fell that night, a fine, whispering rain. Many years later, Meggie had only to close her eyes and she could still hear it, like tiny fingers tapping on the windowpane. A dog barked somewhere in the darkness, and however often she tossed and turned Meggie couldn't get to sleep.
The book she had been reading was under her pillow, pressing its cover against her ear as if to lure her back into its printed pages. "I'm sure it must be very comfortable sleeping with a hard, rectangular thing like that under your head," her father had teased the first time he found a book under her pillow. "Go on, admit it, the book whispers its story to you at night."
"Sometimes, yes," Meggie had said. "But it only works for children." Which made Mo tweak her nose. Meggie had never called her father anything else.'
These are the first few paragraphs of Inkheart by Cornelia Funke.

This is a young reader book full of magic and mayhem. I first became interested in reading Inkheart when I saw the preview for the movie - (which I haven't seen yet.) It looking intriguing, stuffed with wonderful books and a fairy-tale like quality. My sister and I were at the movies together when this preview came on. I looked at her and said "I want to see that one!". She replied, "That's the best book I've ever read. Really!" Well, alrighty then, I had better pick it up somewhere. Pretty darn good recommendation, I would say.

The story begins with a stranger standing in the dark outside of Meggie's bedroom window. She runs to get her father, who happens to know this shady character, and the journey begins. Seems that Mo has has such a magical voice that you can actually see, smell and feel the story that he is reading out loud. Turns out that he has a special talent for reading people and things OUT of their stories, which is why Meggie can't ever remember him reading aloud to her. Nine years before, Meggie's mom disappeared into a story when Mo accidentally read the villain Capricorn, his henchman, Basta and fireeater Dustfinger out of a story. Ever since that day, Capricorn and his followers have terrorized the countryside, though they seem to keep under the law somehow. Now Dustfinger has reappeared looking for the final copy of the book Inkheart, so that possibly Mo can read him back into that old life. Capricorn has grown to like this life and has other evil plans concerning his story. What can Meggie do to save her father from his evil clutches? Is there anyway to find her lost mother in that other story land?

This book is a thick one, but a really fast read, mostly because it keeps you on your toes, wanting to know what is coming next. I finished it last night and keep thinking that I need to head to the bookstore for the next one, Inkspell. Thank you, Stacey, for the good recommendation, though I don't quite think it's the best book I've EVER read. There's way to many wonderful books out there for that...