Inkheart

by Cornelia Funke

I LOVED the beginning, got a smidge bored just before the middle, and then zoomed through the entire second half.
It tells the story of a man named Mo and his daughter Meggie. When Mo reads aloud, characters from the book come out to stay - but always trade places with someone from our world. It's basically a run-in with some dark characters that used to be in the book he read from. There's danger, intrigue, a little bit of romance, as well as some good friendships. A few interesting plot twists and enough creativity to keep you thinking.