Book Review: The Book Thief

A couple of weeks ago, I joined a book club! I am so excited about this and I was practically waiting on my tip-toes the 5 days that it took my first three books to get here from Amazon.com. I had never heard of any of the books that I was about to read, but I was sure that it was going to be enjoyable.

I am used to reading fantasy books and I really enjoy them. Some of my favorite books are The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, Harry Potter, The Wheel of Time, and the Mistborn Trilogy. Those are usually the type of books that I seek out.

When I heard the title of this, The Book Thief, I imagined a story about a mischievious child that goes about stealing books, which is kind of what this book is, but I imagined it to be much more mischievious and much more lighthearted. I wondered to myself while waiting for the book what we could possibly talk about in our book club if the book was so basic. I opened the book and with the first couple of words, I was enticed, captivated, and very reluctant to set it down. Usually I can read through books really fast, and I was decently fast with this one, but I needed to make sure that each word sunk in.

About The Book:

Liesel Meminger is only nine years old when she is taken to live with the Hubermanns, a foster family, on Himmel Street in Molching, germany, in the late 1930s. She arrives with few possessions, but among them is The Grave Digger's Handbook, a book she stole from her brother's burial place. During the years that Liesel lives with the Hubermanns, Hitler becomes more powerful, life on Himmel Street becomes more fearful, and Liesel becomes a full-fledged book thief. She rescues books from Nazi book-burnings and steals from the library of the mayor. Liesel is illiterate when she steals her first book, but Hans Hubermann uses her prized books to teach her to read. This is a story of courage, friendship, love, survival, death, and grief. This is Liesel's life on Himmel Street, told from Dealth's point of view.

This is my favorite excerpt.

They say that war is death's best friend, but I must offer you a different point of view on that one. To me, war is like the new boss who expects the impossible. He stands over your shoulder repeating one thing incessantly: "Get it done, get it done." So you work harder. You get the job done. The boss, however, does not thank you. He asks for more.

Read it. You won't be sorry that you did.