From the Bookshelf of The Reading Challenge Group…

The Book Thief

Markus Zusak

Start date: January 1, 2015

Finish date: January 31, 2015

Discussion: Group Read Archive 2014-16

Why we're reading this: Young Adult Group Read - January 2015
[close] Young Adult Group Read - January 2015

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Group Read Archive 2014-16

Genre Group Read (Humour) - December 2016 - You Are Not So Smart
By Allison , Quest Hound · 11 posts · 30 views

last updated Dec 28, 2016 04:05PM

Alternate Group Read (Classics) - December 2016 - Mansfield Park
By Allison , Quest Hound · 5 posts · 18 views

last updated Dec 04, 2016 09:34AM

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What Members Thought

May 04, 2010 Gaijinmama rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction

You are going to die.
That's the first thing Marcus Zusak, with Death as his narrator, tells us in this beautiful, devastating story. Inevitably, any story of Nazi Germany is going to be dark. This story is no exception, but Zusak reminds us that there were also kids joking, swearing, and playing soccer; and good, average, everyday people who decided to do the right thing even as evil consumed their world.
I suppose what I liked best was the fact that ultimately, this is the story of a little girl ...more

9 likes · Like · see review

Aug 05, 2008 🥀 Rose 🥀 rated it really liked it

Shelves: holocaust

Extremely profound read. An example of one of my favorite lines:

So much good, so much evil. Just add water. This is a reference to human behavior as percieved by Death, which is the narrator of this book which takes place in Nazi Germany. The story unfolds as told by Death, yet throught the eyes of a young girl.

Highly recommend.

2 likes · Like · see review

Dec 27, 2008 Jana rated it really liked it

Shelves: book-club, audiobooks

2008: VERY good book. It is set in Nazi Germany and Death is the narrator. A great book about love, friendship, abandonment, death, courage, survival. Great.
2022: Reread for book club, listening to the audio version. It's amazing that I had forgotten it was narrated by death! Still a great book. ...more

1 like · Like · see review

Jan 04, 2015 Mirliz rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: historical-fiction, young-adult, magical-realism, standalone, fiction

Having Death as the narrator was genius. The fact that Death has such dry humor and shows such fascination of the human nature just makes it all even better.

That being said, the story itself is very heavy reading. All books from the world wars are like that, especially the second world war I tend to think. This time we get the story of a little German girl in a small town - she's from a poor neighborhood and all they really care about (at least, most of them) is trying to survive. At the beginni ...more

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Feb 07, 2013 Kelly rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: library

This book had been on my to-read list for quite some time because I was intrigued by the title. I didn't know anything about it, I just liked the title.

I was intrigued by Death as narrator. It caused me to think about Death from a different perspective and I found some of the thoughts and ideas of Death very interesting and counter to popular lore.

While I did take some time to actually get into this book, I did find the characters fascinating and multi-faceted. Liesel is endearing and you want t ...more

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Sep 16, 2009 Tammy rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites

This book is full of beautiful words and imagery. I love the characters and the narration by death. This is a book to read and then read again just to take it all in.

'His soul sat up. It met me. Those kind of souls always do -- the best ones. The ones who rise up and say, 'I know who you are and I am ready. Not that I want to go, of course, but I will come.' Those souls are always light because more of them have been put out. More of them have already found their way to other places.' ...more

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