Necessary disclaimer: The author is a pal, and I'm the first name in the acknowledgments.

Julia Jimenez, one of the protagonists (it's pretty well divided between her and the recluse author Percival Mendelssohn) is a pretty cool chickie, the kind I'd like to hang out with. She has the same curse/blessing of obsession I do, too. I would, however, warn her against her sweeping generalization of literature graduate students based on her acquaintance of all of one ("Those who can, do; those who can't go to grad school"? Do what? I want to ask. The lit grad students can do a lot, like appreciate and understand literature with depth and intensity) and compliment her on the down-to-earth attitude she brings to her dream romance. I would have been one foolish girl in her place.

Mostly, I love the way this story unfolds, Julia's search for Percy, and how their friendship grow through books, especially. Julia's fascination with Percy changes as he becomes a real person to her, and Percy's curiosity about Julia, as the first new person to enter his life in years, propel the story in a floaty, otherworldly way. The solitude in which they get to know each other, the way in which for a while they're only presences in the same house, never seen directly--it's almost as if they're both ghosts bringing each other back to life.