The Book Thief Has Stolen My Heart

To say that this book has stolen my heart is an understatement. The understatement of the century, to be more specific. Truth be told, this book has taken my heart and moved it and molded it and prodded it and battered it and then tried with all its might to piece it back together again. Forget the Backstreet Boys, Markus Zusak is the true master when it comes to "playing games with my heart". Millions of hearts for that matter.

Now I'm one of those people who tries desperately to convince myself that I don't like reading. I've always been that way, and I hate it. Because not only do I not not like reading, I also love it. Quite a bit. I guess all these years I've just tried to tell myself otherwise because when it comes to books, I have a serious problem. Once I pick one up, I can't put it back down. Until it's done. Otherwise I worry about all of the characters, and I feel like a busy mother who's always missing milestones in the lives of her children. I seriously whole-heartedly miss them when I'm not reading about them.

But when a good book rolls around, I'm willing to sacrifice a couple of days and a little bit of heartache for the cause. So when everyone in my house was raving about this book for days on end, I knew I had to take the plunge. A plunge that I will never forget. Or regret.

The Book Thief is written in an inexplicable way. I've never seen it done quite the same, which obviously makes it pretty inexplicable. It's so saturated with detail that the pages are literally dripping. In a totally figurative way. At first, you'll probably be a little intimidated by the whole thing, but I can guarantee that after this initial onslaught of hesitance, you will begin to crave each detail. And then revel in it.

Now to the story itself. It's set in Nazi Germany. I know what you're thinking, Been there, read that. No you haven't. You hear the gruesome stories from the concentration camps. The lives of the Jewish prisoners and the Nazis themselves. But you never hear the story of what life was like for the average, small-village German. Not a hardcore Nazi. Not a Jew. And that's what this story is about. Pretty simple, aside from the fact that it's told from the perspective of Death. You got it, Death himself is the narrator.

Little Leisel Meminger, the star of the show, is a young German girl who is taken to live with foster parents in order to protect her from the ravages surrounding her communist parents. But on the journey to this foster home, Death visits Leisel and her little brother for the first time. And so begins their relationship. Leisel and Death, that is. But there was no way she could know at that time that it was the first of many visits. The many times in her life where she would cheat death. And then be left with nothing but the grief.

And I really want to tell you so much more, but that would make me feel like a criminal for stealing what could potentially be an unforgettable experience for you.

So I dare you to read this. I dare you to fall in love with the characters. I dare you to let your perspective on reading, or perhaps your life itself be forever changed. I dare you to embark on the most challenging, emotional, moving journey of your life. I dare you.