The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak (September Group Read)

[Char]

Goodreads Description: 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 discovers 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.

Let us know what you think. Also if you want to discuss spoilers please use the spoiler thing. :)

[Cate (The Professional Fangirl)]

I read this last year and loved it! I always recommend it to people who ask for book recs.

[Rea, Ghost]

Same here. One of my favourite books. I hope you all really enjoy it. I loved the portrayal of Nazi Germany as something other than a country full of evil people. And I felt that her interweaved English and German very fluidly. I certainly picked up a few words from it!

And it made me cry. Several times. lol.

[Conny]

I just finished reading this last month, and really loved it! And being German myself, I really appreciated the language switch-backs. The characters themselves feel so endearingly real, it is almost painful to 'watch' them suffer...
It's also the first story I can remember reading that has such a unique narration point of view - at the same time deeply involved and yet supremely unattached...

[Terri ♥ (aka Mrs. Christian Grey)]

I've heard great things about this book. Looking forward to reading it.

[Char]

Terri wrote: "I've heard great things about this book. Looking forward to reading it."

Me too. :)

[[deleted user]]

I haven't heard one negative comment about this yet so I'm really looking forward to it and hope that it lives up to the hype. :)

[Lara Ruark]

i had never heard of this book until i joined and everyone speaks so highly about it, i can't wait to read it!

[Trisha]

Just reserved my copy at the library!

[Brookelynn]

I started reading this a little sooner than the start date...I'm loving it and am looking forward everyone's thoughts!

[Char]

My copy arrived this afternoon. I'm going to start it as soon as I've finished the series I'm reading. :)

[MaraC]

I just picked up my copy from the library! Read a few chapters already and can tell I'm gonna love it. (Hope I'm not wrong! lol) Excited to get further into it :)

[Alicia]

I really enjoyed this book. I stayed up all night reading it because I could not put it down. I even had water eyes at some point. I think its a very realistic book and everyone should read it

[Lara Ruark]

i am enjoying this book. i like the writing style and the layout. i probably would have stayed up all night reading it if i hadn't taken nyquil.....

i can't wait to see where it all leads!

[Heather]

Loving the book and the writing style. The POV is really interesting!

[Montana]

I love the POV only just started and Im looking forward to finding out how it ends.

[Lara Ruark]

i just finished it last night.....wow! i cried.....

(view spoiler)[i thought it was so sad! i loved that max survived, but i wanted to know more.....did he find happiness? did he and liesel keep in contact? i'm sure they did, but i wanted to know!

i love that the story was about a period in time and death's encounter with the book thief, since there wasn't anymore about her, i feel she was no longer surrounded by death presence. (hide spoiler)]

[Gaijinmama]

I actually finished this book on New Year's Eve. It was excellent and definitely not a children's book. I know I would have been freaked out by the gratuitous violence until maybe age 15 or so...especially knowing that things like that truly did happen. Honestly, human beings have done and continue to do worse things to one another than any author could invent!

Ultimately, what I found really cool is that this is a book where a little girl is changed, even saved, by learning to read! It's just shows how powerful and awesome books are
(but all of us knew that anyway, am I right?)

[Heather]

Glad to see I'm not the only one who looked for a tissue or two while reading this book. I was a little nervous to start reading this book considering it was about the halocaust, but the story really had some depth and grace. I loved the way the characters were given their humanity as seen by a young girl and Death himself. Of course the use of words as both the salvation and damnation of humanity rings so true. A brilliant read!

[Rea, Ghost]

The worst thing is, you know the ending is coming as of the beginning. When Death first explains that he met Liesel three times. You know what the last of those three times is, but as you read you still hope against hope that somehow miracles will happen and the ending won't play out as promised. But it did. And I was left sobbing into my pillow for a few minutes!

[Brookelynn]

I finished the book last night as well and thought it was wonderful from start to finish. Like several of you have said, I was shedding a few tears by the time I closed it.

From Death being the narrator, how particular colors helped to describe feelings and environment, to seeing all that Liesel went through before even being out of her teenage years. Great book, thanks for putting on the September read! I'll be recommending it out for sure!

My new favorite word of the month is officially...Saumensch.

[Heather]

Brookelynn wrote: "I finished the book last night as well and thought it was wonderful from start to finish. Like several of you have said, I was shedding a few tears by the time I closed it.

From Death being the..."

too funny! Saumensch! I really appreciated the inclusion of German in the narration. It allowed me to "hear" them speaking and I think that is one of the reasons the book draws you in so well.

[Char]

I started this one this afternoon and I'm only 40 pages or so in and I'm loving it. I love Death's little interjections and the colours. I can't wait to get into the story more. :)

[Rea, Ghost]

I thought the colours was a very good play on imagery to introduce the setting.

[gwen_is_]

I loved this one! The way they portrayed Death, the different meaning words had for everyone. I am so glad we got to read this together!

[MaraC]

The first few times I came across this book I passed it over because of it's subject of the holocaust (really has been the only book I have read about it that wasn't for school). Mainly this was because I am really sensitive to suffering and injustice and such. (I don't even watch the news daily because of this) I just didn't want to invest so much of my heart into something that I knew had the potental to leave me crying, sad, and aching for those lost. After hearing so much praise for this book I decided to give it go anyway.

I am so glad I did! I love the imagery and the colors that really bring this book to life. Death being the narrator is brilliant. I loved that he was given a personality and struggled with the events too and wasn't just the usual grim reaper type.

I was right about the feelings I would have and I cried at the end but I was so inspired by Liesel, Max, and the boy with hair the color of lemons that it was more than worth it.

I borrowed this book from my library but I will be on the look out for the opportunity to purchase my own copy. I want to be able to reread this in the future and to have it on hand for my children to read when the time comes.

Sorry that this turned out to be a mini-review but I just can't say enough about this book! :)

[Al]

just finished this book. great story told by an unlikely narrator. really enjoyed read this book. saw it many times at the book store over last couple years and have passed on it for other. glad i started following you guys and glad you guys used this book as your book of the month cause it was really a good book that I will remember. reminded me of anne frank and of number the stars, only through a german character's side. look forward to seeing what you pick for next months read.

[Char]

I'm not finished yet but there's a quote that I wanted to share. I just read it and thought it was awesome.

'That summer was a new beginning, a new end. When I look back I remember my slippery hands of paint and the sound of Papa's feet on Munich Street, and I know that a small piece of the summer of 1942 belonged to only one man. Who else would do some paintwork for the price of half a cigarette? That was Papa, that was typical, and I loved him.'

Do you guys have any favourite quotes from the story?

[Bernard]

Dear Char,

Many apologies. I have found the discusssion zone and read it - very helpful. It is still a shame that the structure of the "Basically books" zone as a whols makes it look at first sight as thought no discussion has occurred! Still, I am lgad that I found what I had hoped to find> All the best.

[Jessi]

Just picked up my copy from the library today. Hope to be starting it sometime today/tonight.

[Jeshu]

I'll start it tonight, since I finished with A game of Thrones :)

[Trisha]

I am down to the last 200 pgs and I am really loving it! I find Death's narration to be very interesting, but sometimes I feel like the constant lists are an interruption to the flow of the story. I could do without those. Still, the optimistic side of my brain is hoping for a happy ending, but the practical side of my brain is warning me not to get my hopes up! We will see which one is right :-)

[Lara Ruark]

Trisha wrote: "I am down to the last 200 pgs and I am really loving it! I find Death's narration to be very interesting, but sometimes I feel like the constant lists are an interruption to the flow of the story...."

i felt the flow interrupted as well....but the lists threw me off a bit. (view spoiler)[ like what to do with a jewish corpse had me terrified...i was sure something happened to max.....after that i didn't pay much attention to the lists! (hide spoiler)]

[Char]

Bernard wrote: "Dear Char,

Many apologies. I have found the discusssion zone and read it - very helpful. It is still a shame that the structure of the "Basically books" zone as a whols makes it look at first s..."

I'm sorry that you don't find the layout of the group helpful. We're working hard to change this. What is your opinion of the book?

[Char]

I have finished it. I have reviewed it.

I adored it. No words can describe how much I thought of it. It's one of my top 3 books of the year.

So who's your favourite character? Mine's Rudy. :)

[Jeshu]

I started reading this morning and I'm adoring it :D

[Rea, Ghost]

Rudy! I loved him to bits!!

[Char]

Rea wrote: "Rudy! I loved him to bits!!"

Snap! He was awesome!!! xD

[Rea, Ghost]

I loved when (view spoiler)[he painted himself black and went running because he wanted to be like the black man who won the Olympic sprint. (hide spoiler)] Such a simplistic view of life's pleasures made him really endearing to me.

[Char]

I loved that bit too! I loved when (view spoiler)[ he jumped into the river to save The Whistler because that guy (whose name I've just forgotten) threw in Liesel's copy as revenge for them wanting more stolen apples. (hide spoiler)] I know. He's one of the best characters I've come across this year.

[Rea, Ghost]

Yes! He was such a good, sweet friend. I was totally rooting for him and Liesel to grow up and marry each other. I agree, he's one of my favourite characters.

[Char]

I was too. I was like "get in there Rudy!" I think they were perfect together and nothing was forced between them. You know like some friends are forced to be more than that.

[Rea, Ghost]

Yes! That was part of the perfection of their could-be-more-if-we-explore-this friendship. It portrayed the indecision of a young girl starting to view a friend as more than a friend as well - and it handled it excellently.

[Char]

I completely agree. Zusak's writing style was awesome. I think he's a genuinely good writer and I admire him very much. The Book Thief and the people within it will stay with me for a while.

[Trisha]

Just finished it and thought that it was fantastic - and sad, but given the premise if the book I kind of saw it coming (not the ending per say, just that i would most likely need a tissue for whatever was to come) Very moving. Zusak had a great ability to make his characters really come to life and I just fell in love with them!

[Char]

Trisha wrote: "Just finished it and thought that it was fantastic - and sad, but given the premise if the book I kind of saw it coming (not the ending per say, just that i would most likely need a tissue for what..."

I completely agree with you. I thought the end was stunning. I knew it was coming but I was like "noooooo" I truly loved the characters that much.

[MaraC]

Yes, it was stunning. Even with all the hints death gives you about what is coming it doesn't take the emotion out of it. It's like they became family to me. Even with some of the characters flaws you still love them all.

[Char]

I agree Mara, I thought Death telling what happens would ruin the effect of the book but if anything it makes you crave that just this once Death is wrong and that it won't happen.

The character flaws make the characters. I adore Liesel even though she steals books, I mean the idea of book thievery is horrible but I forgive her because I like her so much.

[Jeshu]

Ladies and gentlemen, how do you picture Death? Do you see it like the typical image of a skeleton covered in a black cloak, like in the cover of the book? Or do you have a personal picture of it? :)

[Char]

I went with the stereotypical image of him at first but then I pictured him as more of a ghost walking in between life and death as a sort of guide for the broken.

Does that make sense?