Brooks on Bedford: The Book Thief

Well I finally finished with the Book Thief, one of the books I wanted to read before seeing the movie.

GoodReads Review: It is 1939. Nazi Germany. The country is holding its breath. Death has never been busier, and will become busier still.

Liesel Meminger is a foster girl living outside of Munich, who scratches out a meager existence for herself by stealing when she encounters something she can’t resist–books. With the help of her accordion-playing foster father, she 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.

In superbly crafted writing that burns with intensity, award-winning author Markus Zusak, author of I Am the Messenger, has given us one of the most enduring stories of our time

My Review: I did enjoy this book. I think I am in a lull of just reading highly depressive books. I found this book very moving as it went through trying events of our past. World War II and the struggles that all people had to endure. Knowing that all Germans were not fanatics about Hitler is very humbling and moving and this novel portrays that perfectly. I am very moved by the journey of Liesel. She had so much to endure through her life, but that was the case with many of the countrymen during that time. I loved hearing how the "book thief" went stealing away bits that meant something to her throughout her life. I loved reading about her journey to read and become a better person. Her friendship with the "enemy" and how she grew up to be who she was at the end of the book. Not growing up during the stint of World History I was very engaged with the events that could have happened. I did love the way the author used Death as the narrator, it brought a new perspective to what we know happened so many years ago.