"It's just a small story, really, about among other things: a girl, some words, an accordionist, a Jewish fist fighter, and quite a lot of thievery ..." Narrated in the all-knowing matter-of-fact voice of Death, witnessing the story of the citizens of Himmel Street: When nine-year-old Liesel arrives outside the boxlike house of her new foster parents, she refuses to get out of the car. Liesel has been separated from her parents - 'Kommunists' - for ever, and at the burial of her little brother, she steals a gravedigger's instruction manual which she can't read. It is the beginning of her illustrious career. In the care of the Hubermans, Liesel befriends blond-haired Rudy Steiner, her neighbour obsessed with Jesse Owens. She also befriends the mayor's wife, who hides from despair in her library. Together Liesel and Rudy steal books - from Nazi book burning piles, from the mayor's library, from the richer people of Molching. In time, the family hide a Jewish boxer, Max, who reads with Liesel in the basement. By 1943, the Allied bombs are falling, and the sirens begin to wail. Liesel shares out her books in the air-raid shelters.
But one day in the life of Himmel street, the wail of the sirens comes too late ...A life-changing tale of the cruel twists of fate and the coincidences on which all our lives hinge, this is also a joyous look at the power of book to nourish the soul. Its uplifting ending will make all readers weep.
This review was originally posted on The Bumbling Bookworm
I stumbled across this book when I was in the US last year in September. Books are cheaper over there than back home, so I was looking for a few books in particular when I came across this one. I vaguely remembered hearing about it beforehand, particularly that it was being made into a movie, and when I read the synopsis it sounded pretty interesting to me. Once I found out that the author was an Aussie and the book was already on my Goodreads TBR list, I was sold! That being said, I still didn't read the book until recently, as I hadn't been in the mood for anything too heavy. The recent release of the movie in Australia prompted me to finally read The Book Thief, as I had this notion in my head about not seeing the movie until I'd read the book (gladly so, but more about that later...). And what a book it was!
Check out the rest of my review here!
Reading updates
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24 January, 2014:
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24 January, 2014:
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