Genre: Fiction
Author: Umberto Eco
Notable Works: The Name of the Rose
Released: 2005

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On a warm sunny day, I happened to walk into the Barnes & Noble and I discovered a very interesting cover. It was a book called the Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana. The cover indicated to me a love of pulp fiction with a mixture of nostalgia. I admit that I fall head over heels over this stuff despite my loathing hatred with current pop culture. I am rambling, so in short, I decided to pick it up and give it a shot.

I do not want to lie to you and claim that I talent at reviewing books based on particular merits. If you want those reviews, go elsewhere. However, I can say with great honesty that after being an avid science fiction and fantasy reader (who could have guessed from the layout of this site), this was a very refreshing book. Yambo, a 59 year old antique book dealer loses some of his memory from a stroke, but retains an encyclopedic knowledge of books. This story takes you on a journey as he tries to regain his memory.

The Mysterious Flame goes through a lot of twists and turns and ultimately threw me off for a while. The ending was not what I expected, but looking back, Eco threw in enough hints that I should have anticipated it. Eco does a great job weaving various emotions into the book that I could identify with and made for a great read. I highly recommend this book for anyone looking for a great casual read without any serious philosophical questions.