Lost in books #2

There are books that you read quickly but they leave you thinking long after you've read the last page. For me, The Book Thief is one of those books.

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

I must admit that at first, the book did not seem very interesting. It was on my Kindle, patiently waiting for me to stumble upon it. I started reading it early in the morning, when I was at university, waiting for my classes to start. After a few pages, I was hooked. From then and to the moment I finished the last page, all I could think about was the book. I’ve spent every spare minute I had, lost in its chapters. I was reading during classes, on the station, on the bus, while I was walking home, while I was cooking, while I was supposed to sleep… (you get the picture). The book swallowed me and now I can’t seem to let go.

The story takes place in World War 2 Germany and follows young Liesel, who tries to battle the horrors of life with stealing and reading books. Outside of home she goes to school, plays soccer on the street and spends time with her best friend Rudy. But at home, her adoptive parents are hiding a Jewish refugee under the stair in the basement.

It is narrated by death, which seemed a little creepy at first but proved to be one of the most interesting aspects of the story. I believe that the fact that the narrator of the book is death itself gives the story a depth and a certain essence of knowledge that after reading it leaves you feeling like you’ve grown and got smaller at the same time.

I’m not going to go further into the story because I don’t want to ruin it for anybody. I warmly recommend this book to anyone, especially to all the book lovers out there. For everybody else interested in the story, a movie was made based on the story and was released in Slovenia on 20.2.2014.

Do you have any books to recommend? I’m always looking for new books to read!

Thanks for reading!

Rawr,

your Beautysaur