Off You Go to Read "The Book Thief"

My dear obedient sisters and fellow book-lovers:

Go read The Book Thief.

Why?

Because instead of falling asleep like I normally do when reading at night, this book kept me up into the stillest hours of morning. When the kids woke up, I curled myself against the tub for hours while they took an extended bath so I could finish. I wore mixmatched jammies underneath a frumpy robe, glasses, crusty makeup with tears streaming, and I was probably getting doused with bathwater, too. My eyes burned from not wanting to pause even for blinks.

Intense stuff. You know you want some.

It's a WWII novel, and after I finished it, I just stared at the book for awhile in awe. I wanted to immediately start reading it again, and I might have done just that had I not three kids needing a towel! It made my soul ache for the sadness and soar for the goodness that these real and lovable characters went through.

And I was simply stunned by the unique storytelling style of the author. Brilliant, I tell ya!

The narrator is death, and his birds-eye vantage point gives way to so much perspective. As he travels between heaven and earth to gather souls, sometimes a story or person would grab his attention. In this case Death zooms in on a young German girl name Liesel who becomes the foster child to a German couple durning the war.

And because I'm lame and I can't quickly summarize a book, here's the synopsis I found on the back cover:

By her brother's graveside, Liesel Meminger's life is changed when she picks up a single object, partially hidden in the snow. It is The Grave Digger's Handbook, left there by accident, and it is her first act of book thievery. So begins a love affair with books and words, as Liesel, with the help of her accordion-playing foster father, learns to read. Soon she is stealing books fom Nazi book-burnings, the mayor's wife's library, wherever there are books to be found.

But these are dangerous times. When Liesel's foster family hides a Jew in their basement, Liesel's world is both opened up and closed down.

In superbly crafted writing that burns with intensity, award-winning author Markus Zusak has given us one of the most enduring stories of our time.

Are you convinced to read it? I promise you, it's worth the tears that will surely come. If you've already read it, who's your favorite character? Husband and I both vote Hans Hubermann (the foster father), hands down. All of that man's goodness reminded me of Dad. :)

XOXO

Marie

PS. Did you notice my ballerina bun, Em? No offense, but I'm never doing that again! It's not the bun; it's my hair! After all those years of straight hair heaven, its growing in kinky curly again--especially on the sides. I've only got two words for that: kink and cringe. Wait, that's three words.