From the Bookshelf of Nothing But Reading Challenges…

The Book Thief

Markus Zusak

Start date: December 1, 2010

Finish date: December 31, 2010

Why we're reading this: We voted and this one won the poll for the Historical fiction category.
[close] We voted and this one won the poll for the Historical fiction category.

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What Members Thought

Sep 29, 2008 Michael rated it it was amazing

Shelves: audio-book, read-in-2008

A fascinating and compelling story about the power of words, both written and spoken, "The Book Thief" is the story of a young orphan growing up in Nazi Germany and her three encounters with the narrator, Death.

Young Liesel is taken to live with foster parents after her mother is accused of having Communist leanings. On the journey to her new home, her brother passes away. This leads to Liesel's first opportunity to become the titular "Book Thief," when she steals a copy of "The Gravedigger's H ...more

10 likes · Like · see review

Jan 22, 2011 Trisha rated it liked it

I thought this was a good story, but it started very very slowly. And I thought Death's input a very tiring distraction. I felt like Death sighed with each comment he made and it kind of made me feel tired of the story, just like he was....

I almost stopped reading the book ~ the foreshadowing was ridiculous! It mentioned what was coming so many times, that by the time the event happened, I wanted to double check my book mark ~ was I rereading this part again? Oh, no, I've only heard about it 40 ...more

4 likes · Like · see review

Jun 16, 2008 Catsalive rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: amw, 2006

I thoroughly enjoyed this book although the subject matter was a bit hard on the heart. I found the writing style quite unusual but the content was compelling reading. It is set in Nazi Germany and narrated by Death, who, after all, does get to meet everybody. The prose is simple, quite stark at times, and very easy on the eyes.

2 likes · Like · see review

Jun 15, 2008 Kimberly rated it really liked it

I loved this book! The images were amazing and it was so well written. I heard that it is written for adolescents but it seemed more like an adult book to me.

1 like · Like · see review

Apr 03, 2009 Karen (EarthAngel2911) rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult, ebook-reads-kindle, cyber-book-club-selections, physical-books-i-own, historical-fiction, favorites, books-about-books, audible-audiobooks

This book was really amazing! I mean.... really amazing. I'm actually still processing it, I think.

I liked the fact that it showed some of the effects of WWII from the viewpoint of German citizens. I think too many times we may think of the Germans of that time and think "Nazi" automatically. But I'm sure there were many people who did not agree with Hitler's ideals and actions.

I thought the whole premise of the book was very compelling; the power of words and how they can create and destroy s ...more

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Jan 04, 2009 Jen rated it it was amazing

Shelves: audio-books, favorites

An amazing book. Zusak is an incredibly talented writer. It was refreshing and interesting to read a book set in Nazi Germany that's not told from a Jewish perspective. I loved it, and will be reading this book again. My biggest question is why this book is considered young adult? While I hope that my daughter reads this book one day, I'm not sure that this is material for a nine to twelve year old. ...more

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Aug 29, 2011 Michelle rated it really liked it

Really enjoyed this book. Got very emotionally attached to some of the characters. I broke into tears towards the end, but you knew that was going to happen. Loved the descriptive writing. Death becomes her.

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