Sunday, March 8, 2009

The Book Thief

I am very excited to share The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak with you. One word: Incredible.

About the book:

"It’s just a small story really, about among other things: a girl, some words, an accordionist, some fanatical Germans, a Jewish fist-fighter, and quite a lot of thievery. . . .

Set during World War II in Germany, Markus Zusak’s groundbreaking new novel is the story of Liesel Meminger, a foster girl living outside of Munich. Liesel scratches out a meager existence for herself by stealing when she encounters something she can’t resist–books. With the help of her accordion-playing foster father, she learns to read and shares her stolen books with her neighbors during bombing raids as well as with the Jewish man hidden in her basement before he is marched to Dachau.

This is an unforgettable story about the ability of books to feed the soul."

I so enjoyed this book. I enjoyed the writing style, the story, the characters. I tend to stay away from books about WWII - mostly because of my husbands total obsession with it, however I am incredibly glad that I took the time to read this one. I enjoyed the different perspective that the author presented - a typical German family living in Nazi Germany. I highly recommend picking this book up, you will be glad you did. Here is a link to my friend Angie's review of the book. She wrote very eloquently about it. Thanks for the suggestion Angie.

***On a related note: I am loving Young Adult literature right now. I am very impressed with the quality of books being written for the YA readers out there. If you know of any YA books that I must read please let me know. I have a few in my TBR pile right now, but would so love suggestions.

Happy Reading!

4 comments:

angie said...

Awwww...thanks for the compliment! I am so glad you've enjoyed these last two books. They both seem to be of the type that people either love or hate, with no room for ambivalence (if that's how you spell it. It's how I will spell it today.).

Katrina W. said...

For Christmas, Shannon gave me her two favorite young adult lit books (because of my "Book List" earlier in the year) - His Dark Materials by Pullman, and Chasing Redbird by Sharon Creech: http://www.allreaders.com/Topics/Info_24562.asp

I've not read Redbird yet, having been 100% sucked in to Handle With Care, of course... page 225 and counting (which is why I'm up, but should be sleeping!) ;o)

I also read Catherine, Called Birdy by Karen Cushman last year, and it was great (historical) young adult lit. http://www.amazon.com/Catherine-Called-Birdy-Trophy-Newbery/dp/0064405842/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1236848499&sr=1-1

Katrina W. said...

I'm reading this book right now, and I love that the narrator is Death. It's such a fresh, engaging style. I'm loving it.

Monica said...

I loved The Book Thief too! So many good things to say about it, I can barely start :)