Narrated by Death, The Book Thief tells the story of Liesel Meminger, a young German girl taken in by a foster family just as WWII is dawning. Mourning the death of her brother, Liesel steals a book she finds laying on the ground of the cemetery. Through this book she is able to make a connection with her foster father, who uses it to teach her to read.

As war comes to Germany, Liesel and her foster family harbor more than one secret.

showing the reality of wartime in Germany without glossing over the horrific facts of everyday life during WWII, but with beauty and humanity.

the way the story was told. The author has an eloquent way of weaving words to create something of beauty even in tragic circumstances.

cry.

quite sad at times.

has an amazing talent for weaving words into far more than the sum of their parts.

I usually avoid wartime stories, and fully expected to dislike this book. I put off reading it for several months, but my book group put off reviewing it for a variety of reasons, and in the end there was no reason for me to NOT attend this month's meeting. So I picked up the book, and was fairly instantly captivated by the way the story was told.

There were definitely times when I wanted to put the book down and walk away. And I might have, if it were not for my book group. But I was very glad I continued, even as I wiped the tears from my eyes.

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Created May 29, 2014 at 11:04pm • Submit your own review...