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....
Narrated by Death, Markus Zusak’s groundbreaking new novel is the story of Liesel Meminger, a young foster girl living outside of Munich in Nazi Germany. Liesel scratches out a meager existence for herself by stealing when she encounters something she can’t resist – books. Soon she is stealing books from Nazi book-burnings, the mayor's wife's library, wherever they are to be found.
With the help of her accordion-playing foster father, Liesel 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.
This is an unforgettable story about the ability of books to feed the soul. ~~ synopsis from Goodreads
My thoughts about The Book Thief ~~
I 'had' to read this book for one of my book groups a while back. I will be honest. I was not looking forward to reading it and actually was dreading it. Why do some women pick such horrible books when it is their turn to select one? But I sucked it up and read it. I really do try to read all the books selected before we meet, broaden my horizons, right? Step out of my comfort zone?
Well, let me tell you! I loved this book! Surprise! Surprise! The story really drew me in and I found myself flying through the book.
And then guess what? My other book group selected it to read just recently. I was running short on time and was not able to re-read it but the night before we met, I did skim through it to refresh my memory. I found myself really wishing I would have taken the time to read it again. It's that great of a story.
I rarely read a book more than once, there are so many books out there waiting to be discovered. But The Book Thief is going on my list of books to visit again, someday.
About the author
Markus Zusak is the author of five books, including the international bestseller,
The Book Thief, which has topped bestseller lists ranging from the
New York Times in America, the
Sunday Times in the UK, as well as countries in Europe, South America and Asia.
His first three books,
The Underdog,
Fighting Ruben Wolfe and
When Dogs Cry, released between 1999 and 2001, were all published internationally and garnered a number of awards in Australia.
T
he Messenger, published in 2002, won the 2003 CBC Book of the Year Award (Older Readers) and the 2003 NSW Premier's Literary Award (Ethel Turner Prize), as well as receiving a Printz Honour in America.
In 2005,
The Book Thief was released and is now translated into over thirty languages. As well as receiving awards in Australia and overseas,
The Book Thief has held the number one position at Amazon.com, the New York Times bestseller list, as well as in Brazil, Ireland and Taiwan. It has been in the top five in the UK, Spain, Israel and Korea, and is still set to be released in many other territories.
The Age calls it ‘an original, moving, beautifully written book’.
The Guardian: ‘A novel of breathtaking scope, masterfully told’.
The New York Times: ‘Brilliant and hugely ambitious...the kind of book that can be life-changing’.
Markus lives in Sydney, Australia.
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