The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak - Book Review

The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak.  Wow what do I say, where do I begin.  This is the second book by Marcus I have read.  The first 'I Am The Messenger' was suggested to me by a wonderful blogging friend Monique and I loved it.  This book though is very different than the first.  Written about the lives of Liesel Meminger, her foster parents Hans and Rosa, her best friend Rudy and the young Jewish man Max, hidden in their basement and narrated by the character Death, this tale is unlike any other I have read.  

I found it a little perplexing in the first few pages as they are Death talking to you.  Explaining how he sees the world, the people in it and the colours that change throughout each day.  Yes strange I know.  I actually started this once read a few pages and put it down, it just didn't make sense.  A few months later I picked it up again and persevered and after the first chapter I understood how to read this book.  

It is a young adult book and it is wonderful.  With a string of bestseller awards, rave reviews from many newspapers and winner of the National Jewish Book Award, I urge you to read every page.

I really enjoyed this book.  It is sad at times, funny, very, very thought provoking and not unlike the story of Anne Frank.  

A really great worthwhile read.

2 More Books read.

Another book review for you.  But first let me say that when I choose a book to read I am led by my feelings.  I read the synopsis on the back of the cover and if it appeals to me then that's how I choose.  I am also easily led by my peers.  If someone I know and feel like I have similarities to reads and tells about a book, or suggests it to me, well I have no choice, really I have to read it.  So I am by now means a serious book critic.  I know what I enjoy and what I don't so that's what I will share with you.  My latest two books couldn't be more different.  The first I finished was Judith McNeil's memoir The Girl with the Cardboard Port.  I had no idea when I started reading this that it was a true story and only in the last pages did I find this out.  I was shocked.  How a young girl, and she was young at the outset of this book survived all that she did is amazing.  To endure the loss of her father and then to live through the chain of events that follow is inspiring.  The need to survive, to protect her children, the lengths she goes to, to do this, show the admirable strength she has.  The rejection and hatred suffered at the hands of her husband, his family and their community is shocking.  The friendship and help offered in the midst of this welcome.  The love reignited in the most unexpected place and the ever lasting over powering need and desire to return home to Australia, show again her strength.  The loss suffered at the end of the story overwhelming.  This is so worth a read and I am sure it will shock and amaze you.

Now I Am The Messenger, titled The Messenger in Australia was recommended to me by Monique and I had to search to find it.  It was not readily available in stores here, but thank goodness for online book stores.  Include the added bonus of a package in the mail and this wonderful book was fantastic from the beginning to the last page.  It is a teen novel, but hardly one at all.  The story is funny, sad, a mystery, intriguing, uplifting, inspiring and the underlying message is just wonderful.  Set in Australia, but not so much that it is glaringly obvious, this was just so much fun to read.  The characters all brought to my mind friends from long ago, hopes and losses, frustrations and wins.  It is so well written that each person has a face in my mind and I find myself hoping that everything is still going well for them.  Really worth the effort of finding this and making a coffee and not getting up till your done.