Release Date: March 14, 2006
Summary: from Goodreads
The extraordinary #1 New York Times bestseller that will be in movie theaters on November 15, 2013, Markus Zusak's unforgettable story is about the ability of books to feed the soul.
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
The extraordinary #1 New York Times bestseller that will be in movie theaters on November 15, 2013, Markus Zusak's unforgettable story is about the ability of books to feed the soul.
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
Quotes:
My Take:“I wanted to tell the book thief many things, about beauty and brutality. But what could I tell her about those things that she didn't already know? I wanted to explain that I am constantly overestimating and underestimating the human race-that rarely do I ever simply estimate it. I wanted to ask her how the same thing could be so ugly and so glorious, and its words and stories so damning and brilliant.” - The Book Thief
Have you ever finished a book, and after you closed that last page, you didn't know how you were going to recuperate? Like a book hungover? This book did that to me.
I found myself not able to put this book down. I thought it was brilliant. The way that Markus Zusak wrote it was amazing. For me the book was heart warming and heart wrenching. I went through a rollercoaster of emotions.
This little girl, Liesel went through so much in her childhood. And a lot of people went through so much in that world. It's crazy to imagine that Nazi Germany happened less than 80 years ago. All that pain, hurt, death, I can't even wrap my head around it.
In the years of turmoil, this little girl kept it together, and kept her family together, kept her whole street together. I loved how that fascination of words and books created such a strong bond with her Papa. Reading and stealing those books was what kept Max alive. And eventually she spread that fascination throughout some of the people living on her street. The words she read kept them sane in a world where bombings came down and had seconds to find shelter.
The basement became a part of Liesel life. She learned to read there. Her bond with her Papa grew there. Secrets were made there. She made a best friend there. She wrote her story there.
I loved reading this book. I love that the narrator was death itself. My heart stopped everytime there heart stopped. Liesel became like my friend, and Rudy too. At times I wanted to go back in time and just try to rescue those people living in that cruel world.
A must-read.
I'm excited to watch the movie soon!!
