What book is good enough to follow The Book Thief?

[Karen]

I am reading The Book Thief...and can't put it down. I LOVE IT. Got to be one of the best books I have ever read. Thank you all for adding to my list of books to read. A favorite of mine? Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. Karen

[Cininta]

the boy in striped pajamas. it is a simple and light book, i think it's YA and it's about the holocaust in the view of a kid. so it's a new perspective on the holocaust, ww 2 etc, which is similar to the book thief. but warning it's kinda sad.

[Julia]

Do you mean in the same genre?

[Lauren-Ellen]

not the same genre, but still a book for book lovers: The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon :)

[Julia]

oh yes lauren-ellen - i wholeheartedly agree. :)

[Nancy from NJ]

Love & Treasure - a wonderful book which explores human nature at the end of WWII.

[Lisa]

I also loved "Boy in the Striped Pajamas." Amazing book and to me, had a very similar feel to "The Book Thief."

Another book along the same lines was "The Storyteller" by Piccolt.

"The Given Day" by LeHane was one of the best books I read last year and has a sort of sequel, "Live by Night."

Additional favorites that I have read this year include:
"To Kill a Mockingbird"
"Tell the Wolves I'm Home"
"Eleanor and Park"
"The Light Between Oceans" and
"Natchez Burning."

Enjoy!

[Ajporter]

'Alone in Berlin' by Hans Fallada may follow the German perspective / war theme but I have yet to read this particular book myself.

[Ellena]

Kate wrote: "I've got 200 or so pages left of The Book Thief and I'm loving every minute of it. In the same way that I worried when I started it that it wouldn't live up to it's recommendations (but by God it ..."
I highly recommend you read the Maus series by Art Spiegelman. It is a graphic novel based on the life of Vladek Spiegelman and his wife in Nazi Germany. Excellent book and an easy read.

[Jennifer]

His other book The Messenger was great!

[Jill]

Kate wrote: "I've got 200 or so pages left of The Book Thief and I'm loving every minute of it. In the same way that I worried when I started it that it wouldn't live up to it's recommendations (but by God it ..."

Read "The Art of Racing in the Rain"

[Thym38]

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[Julia]

in the same genre - 'the invisible bridge' by julie orringer - thick book, but excellent.

and i agree with 'tell the wolves i'm home' - lovely book, but not in the holocaust genre.

[Nancy]

Kate wrote: "I've got 200 or so pages left of The Book Thief and I'm loving every minute of it. In the same way that I worried when I started it that it wouldn't live up to it's recommendations (but by God it ..."

I have read the Book Thief now three times and I always have trouble finding something afterwards that will capture my heart the way this book did. It is a grand story, beautifully written and has such a poetic flow and feel to it. The fact that it is narrated by Death gives it a touch like no other. It brings a compassionate side to the "dark shrouded reaper" figure that is so often portrayed. It is such moving story and continues to speak to my heart everytime I open its pages. To answer your question, I don't know that you will find a better book soon. Just soak it in and let its words speak to you.

[Dusty Bibliophile]

Try Code Name Verity. It's YA and also centered on WWII. It is touching: I was unable to read or listen to any books for more than a month after finishing it.

[Catherine]

If you are looking for well-written, exciting WW2 novels, I would recommend City of Thieves by David Benioff (also show runner of Game of Thrones). This is a great book because it vacillates between the horrors of war but also demonstrates light-heartedness when it can and true friendship (which pops up in the most unlikely circumstances). It is told from 2 Russians' perspectives - which you may like since you had not read German perspectives before The Book Thief.

[Lisa]

Oh!! PLEASE read The City of Thieves! by David Benioff.
It's set in the same time in Leningrad.
Two men are o a quest to win their freedom! It is awesome

[Diane]

I really think that the book Sarah's Key is great book to read after The Book Thief. I found both books to be extraordinarily terrific!

[Julia]

i've never heard of 'city of thieves' - i've added it thanks. :)

still need to read 'sarah's key.

[Nancy]

Lauren-Ellen wrote: "not the same genre, but still a book for book lovers: The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon :)"

I loved Shadow of the Wind as well. I love books about books. I also love The Thirteenth Tale.

[Mrs]

Stones from the River is one of the best books written in the last 50 years. It relates the inside unknown story about Germany from ww1 to 1947. The author left Germany at age 18in the 1950s but returned 20 years to research the story before all her relations who lived thru those times died out. An amazing book well written

[Michael]

gump and co

[CeeCee]

Well, if you want to like Death, can I suggest the Hogfather by Terry Pratchett? One of my favorites, but it's a little different style.

If you want a good YA, maybe give A Fault in Our Stars a try.

[Mrs]

Michael, could you translateyour comment into plain English not all of understand todays slang and what does YA mean

[Irene]

Dustin wrote: "Try Code Name Verity. It's YA and also centered on WWII. It is touching: I was unable to read or listen to any books for more than a month after finishing it."

I would not be able to choose between The Book Thief and Code Name Verity as to which was the best. I have just finished Rose Under Fire by Elizabeth Wein and was a bit concerned as It took me a while to get into it but when I did.....wow....another five star book........maybe she and Marcus Zusak should collaborate on a book......that would be awesome!

[Tytti]

Mrs wrote: "and what does YA mean"

Young Adult. Which means books for 12-18-year-olds or for 14-25-year-olds or for some other age group (but for some reason adults "should" also read them), or practically "all" books with a teenager protagonist or teenage "issues" or books written with a certain "style" (whatever that is), they are often shorter and/or easy reads... I don't know, I haven't really figured that out yet. I try to stay away from them.

Basically it's the newest marketing craze. I suppose there is no sex or (much) violence in them, except in those that have, I guess. But no swearing! (Not that many adult books have them, either, but...) In many countries The Book Thief isn't even YA, just basic adult lit.

As for a recommendation, I might suggest an award-winning Purge, set in Estonia before, during and after WWII and also in the 1990s. It's certainly not YA (even though one of the main characters is a teenage girl).

[Anjelica]

One can have another perspective of the second world war, that is, in the eyes of a Jew and survivor of the concentration camp in Auschwitz: Victor Frankl. His book, "Man's Search for Meaning" tells us of his experiences in the concentration camp with several his reflections on the human being's coping mechanisms and reactions in such a situation and concludes his observations that man always has the choice and the freedom to find meaning in his life, despite his sufferings and despite the most adverse of all situations.

[Tytti]

Or One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, or even The Gulag Archipelago 1918-1956 about the life in Stalin's forced labour camps.

[Louise]

read zookeepers wife

[Louise]

zookeepers wife is set in poland. also madonna's of leningrad is set in russia. both during wwII

[[deleted user]]

... after i read the book theif i read the fault in our stars and cried at yet another book ..... ive just realised that every book ive read since april ive cried at O.o

[Sheila]

saving Amelie by Cathy Gohlke

[Grace]

The Book Thief is amazingly different than any I've read. The characters develop and grow beautifully, and they become a part of you. The narrator's tone and voice in the story is humorous in a certain way, but also very unique. It was written with beautiful literature that was rich and delightful to read. I can't really find a book that can compare to it, really.

[Dylan]

I have to say that any book you read after this will most likely feel like a let down for there are few that could ever surpass the depth of this novel.