The Book Thief

“…I'm always finding humans at their best and worst. I see their ugly and their beauty, and I wonder how the same thing can be both. ”

You can discover this book anywhere: you can Google it and read the synopsis, you can ask your friends, you can even watch the movie.  I won’t tell the entire story here.

It’s the beautiful, heartbreaking, amazing story of Leisel. She was orphaned. And her brother died in her arms on a cold winter day. As her brother was lowered into the ground, she spotted a small dark book on the ground: The Gravedigger’s Handbook. She stole it.

Leisel makes friends in her new home, goes to school, reads, and steals more books. And reads some more.

This is a young girl, growing up in the middle of war, discovering love, and words, and books and evil. It is not only about Leisel the book thief - that is only part of the story. It’s about Leisel growing up, amidst the chaos and uncertainty of war. We see her struggles with awkwardness, with boys, and with her relationships with her new parents, and we see her emerge on the other side, stronger.

Told from Death’s point of view, it is compelling: “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.” 

Markus Zusak tells a bittersweet tale with grace and kindness. 

Every word was crafted to fit next to its neighbor in a perfect harmony. There is happiness, joy, awkwardness, love, grief, worry - emotions drip from the pages and engulf me.

My favorite kind of book - the kind that grabs me, shakes me, and never lets me go.

If you've never read this, I encourage you to. It’s one of those great books that will stay with you for a long time.

This post is part of the 31 Days of Bibliophilia series.