Inkheart (Cornelia Funke)

For some reason this has often been a stall book for me. I get half way through it then don't finish it. Despite all the times I started and didn't finish it, I love this book! (I did finally finish it) I love the idea of having stories come to life. I loved how people escape into the stories and escape out of the stories. I loved that reading well can make it all happen. I loved all the references to other books and stories. Fabulous story! Goodreads Summary: Twelve-year-old Meggie learns that her father, who repairs and binds books for a living, can "read" fictional characters to life when one of those characters abducts them and tries to force him into service.   Characters from books literally leap off the page in this engrossing fantasy. Meggie has had her father to herself since her mother went away when she was young. Mo taught her to read when she was five, and the two share a mutual love of books. He can "read" characters out of books. When she was three, he read aloud from a book called Inkheart and released characters into the real world. At the same time, Meggie's mother disappeared into the story. This "story within a story" will delight not just fantasy fans, but all readers who like an exciting plot with larger-than-life characters