# The Book Thief !!



## LindaW (Jan 14, 2009)

I loved this book so much - the only problem that I had with it was that it doesn't come with a "must have a box of tissues" warning.


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## Addie (Jun 10, 2009)

I agree with you on both counts! I loved the book and absolutely needed tissues.


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## luvmy4brats (Nov 9, 2008)

Yes. This needs a tissue warning. I loved this book. 

Have you read Boy in the Striped Pajamas? Another tissue book.


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## Addie (Jun 10, 2009)

luvmy4brats said:


> Yes. This needs a tissue warning. I loved this book.
> 
> Have you read Boy in the Striped Pajamas? Another tissue book.


Thanks for the recommendation! I just downloaded the sample.


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## luvmy4brats (Nov 9, 2008)

I've been reading a lot of WWII historical fiction lately.  

This one is a YA book, but it's very powerful.


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## Sometimes Lucy (Jan 28, 2010)

Yes, such good books! There are a couple of others that I just finished..."The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society" and "Sarah's Key"....really good.


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## luvmy4brats (Nov 9, 2008)

mrskb said:


> Yes, such good books! There are a couple of others that I just finished..."The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society" and "Sarah's Key"....really good.


yup. Both of those. And "Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet". (tissues needed)


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## LindaW (Jan 14, 2009)

luvmy4brats said:


> I've been reading a lot of WWII historical fiction lately.
> 
> This one is a YA book, but it's very powerful.


Since reading "The Book Thief" I've become obsessed with WWII - but not on the political or war side - more about the people it affected at home living right through it.

Any other good recs.

I want to read "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas" - but I'm so afraid it will be too sad and depressing.


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## brian70 (Mar 26, 2010)

I bought this book in January but still haven't read it yet. I have a long tbr list.   I may have to move it up due to the reviews I see here.


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## akagriff (Sep 8, 2009)

The Book Thief was an amazing book.  It seems that there are very few stories focusing on the German's point of view vs. the USA or Jewish..


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## dpinmd (Dec 30, 2009)

mrskb said:


> Yes, such good books! There are a couple of others that I just finished..."The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society" and "Sarah's Key"....really good.


I loved _The Book Thief_ as well as these two books! I'll definitely have to check out the others mentioned in this thread!


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## Eclectic Reader (Oct 28, 2008)

luvmy4brats said:


> This one is a YA book, but it's very powerful.


FYI: The Book Thief was marketed in the US as a YA book, but it was originally marketed in author Zusak's native Australia as an Adult book.

I LOVED The Book Thief. The story itself is powerful, and I love the fact that the narrator is Death--we see the whole story through his POV.

I found The Boy in the Striped Pajamas to be too simplistic and naive--until midway through I remembered a Tom Paxton song from the 1960's, "We Didn't Know At All".
The song consisted of 3 verses plus a chorus of "regular people" complaining that they "didn't know at all" about the concentration camps at the end of town; that the preachers in Southern churches said bombing Black churches was OK; and that the President saying that bombing and killing in Vietnam was justified. "We knew nothing, we were just following our leaders." Suddenly, the boy in The Boy in the Striped Pajamas didn't seem so impossible to believe.


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## Anne (Oct 29, 2008)

It looks like I should read the book thief. I have been not sure if I should read it. I am afraid it would be too sad.


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## Sometimes Lucy (Jan 28, 2010)

All of these books are sad, but at the same time, there's so much courage & spirit portrayed in the lives of the people involved. I find that to be rather amazing & uplifting.


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## PraiseGod13 (Oct 27, 2008)

Let me join the ranks of those who loved The Book Thief and Sarah's Key.  I rarely recommend a book that isn't available for Kindle.... but one of my favorite novels that is set in Germany in the WWII years is Stones From the River by Ursula Hegi.  So often we think that we would be smarter than the German people were when Hitler rose to power and committed such heinous acts.  This book helped me to realize how subtle the changes were for the German citizens as Hitler became more and more powerful and I thoroughly enjoyed this book.  Also, this book doesn't have the concentration camps etc as its main focus so it's not as emotionally difficult to read as some books are.


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## cagnes (Oct 13, 2009)

I absolutely loved The Book Thief, Sarah's Key, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society & Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet. I haven't read "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas" yet, but I did like the movie.

I also loved "The Bronze Horseman" & "Skeletons at the Feast", both pertain to WWII historical fiction.


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## cheerio (May 16, 2009)

sounds higly recommended


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## Toby (Nov 25, 2008)

I read the Boy in the Striped Pajamas a few years ago for a previous bookclub. You need a kleenex. It's told by both points of view. I don't want to give too much away as that spoils a book for me. It's a great book.


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## pawsplus (Mar 31, 2009)

Eclectic Reader said:


> FYI: The Book Thief was marketed in the US as a YA book, but it was originally marketed in author Zusak's native Australia as an Adult book.


That doesn't surprise me! While I know young teenagers who would "get" the book, not all would and the YA classification surprised me. I enjoyed it a great deal -- esp. the idea that words have an almost physical ability to affect the world.


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## meljackson (Nov 19, 2008)

I have The Book Thief waiting for me. I haven't bought Sarah's Key yet but I plan to soon. We have a 4 day weekend for Easter so I should have plenty of reading time. I hope.

Melissa


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## 1131 (Dec 18, 2008)

It took me two tries to read The Book Thief and I'm glad I didn't give up on it.  I think the 1st try was bad timing - I had just finished 2, long, non fiction books about WWII.  I ended up loving this book.  I have not read Sarah's Key or the Potato book but have looked at both.  This is a good reminder to check them out again.


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## MLPMom (Nov 27, 2009)

I actually purchased this a week ago and it is still sitting in my TBR list because I know it will make me cry. I also have Sarah's Key sitting in my TBR pile because I know I will need tissues.

I am sure The Boy in the Stripped Pajamas will be purchased sometime soon as well. I love stories like these, the first one I ever read was when I was in the 9th grade and it just stuck with me and really opened my eyes.


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## chiffchaff (Dec 19, 2008)

There sure have been a lot of WWII books coming out lately.  I really liked Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society, Sarah's Key, and Hotel on the Corner of Bitter & Sweet.  I started The Book Thief in audio format a while ago and stalled - possibly just bad timing (I had a lot going on at the time).  Sounds like I should give it another chance.  

A friend highly recommended Stones From the River but I've been waiting for it to come out on Kindle.  I have Skeletons at the Feast in my TBR pile - glad to hear it's good.

Also in the WWII time period, I recently read The Eleventh Man by Ivan Doig.  Although it's not my favorite Doig book, it was well worth reading.


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## luvmy4brats (Nov 9, 2008)

chiffchaff said:


> A friend highly recommended Stones From the River but I've been waiting for it to come out on Kindle. I have Skeletons at the Feast in my TBR pile - glad to hear it's good.
> 
> Also in the WWII time period, I recently read The Eleventh Man by Ivan Doig. Although it's not my favorite Doig book, it was well worth reading.


thanks for the recommendations. I'm going to download the samples. I'm enjoying reading all these different point of views

And yes, finish the audio. It's very good.


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## chiffchaff (Dec 19, 2008)

Oh, and one more WWII book in my pile - Tallgrass.  It's next up in my audio queue, and I plan to start it on my dog walk this evening.  Anyone read it?


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## Blanche (Jan 4, 2010)

I just downloaded and started "The Book Thief" on Sunday.  Cannot put it down and have my box of tissues preloaded and ready.  Gotta go now...gotta read.


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## dobes (Feb 22, 2010)

City of Thieves by David Benioff is the best of the 18 (!) books I've read since getting my Kindle on Christmas Day.  WWII themed, NOT for the squeamish, but a seldom-read story of the Siege of Leningrad during WWII.  I read it about 3 books back and cannot stop thinking about it.  Beautifully done. 

I'm reading Shattered Crystal now, a public domain WWII memoir.  Also quite interesting and affecting.


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## L.J. Sellers novelist (Feb 28, 2010)

I have this book on hold at the library and have been excited to read it. Now I hear it's going to make me cry? No! That's one of my only rules about books and movies: no crying.  I may bring it home and give a try anyway.


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## Blanche (Jan 4, 2010)

I just finished "The Book Thief" this morning.  What a fantastic book.  It is the kind of book that takes you through the full range of emotion.  Don't want to go into it further for fear will ruin it for someone else.  Has anyone read any other books by the author, Markus Zusak?  I see a listing for "I am the Messenger."


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## 1131 (Dec 18, 2008)

L.J. Sellers said:


> I have this book on hold at the library and have been excited to read it. Now I hear it's going to make me cry? No! That's one of my only rules about books and movies: no crying. I may bring it home and give a try anyway.


I may be an aberration, but this book did not make me cry. Of course, only two books have brought me to tears and one of them was also about WWII - Schindler's List


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## emapocalyptic (Apr 21, 2010)

I loved the Book Thief once 'You Know Who's' (don't want to spoil it!) voice settled down - I felt that at the beginning it was too invasive. Don't get me wrong, I loved it, but felt like it was getting in the way, like a tour guide with a voice that's just a tad too loud, but interesting nonetheless.

I read The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas years ago and it still haunts me. Both require a big box of tissues and someone to cuddle afterwards. They make the world seem bleak and cruel, but are worth the trauma.

I can't believe that some people won't try YA because they think it's for kids. 

If my memory serves, I recall enjoying Skellig, and I think that was recently adapted for film/TV with Tim Roth, though I haven't seen it.


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## Luna (Jan 20, 2010)

Well, am I the only one who didn't like the book thief?
I just can't stand anything about WWII, but maybe that is because we had it all over in school, every year again. 
I got through for app. 25% and then I gave up.
It just wasn't a pleasant read to me.


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## ayuryogini (Jan 3, 2010)

PraiseGod13 said:


> Let me join the ranks of those who loved The Book Thief and Sarah's Key. I rarely recommend a book that isn't available for Kindle.... but one of my favorite novels that is set in Germany in the WWII years is Stones From the River by Ursula Hegi. So often we think that we would be smarter than the German people were when Hitler rose to power and committed such heinous acts. This book helped me to realize how subtle the changes were for the German citizens as Hitler became more and more powerful and I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Also, this book doesn't have the concentration camps etc as its main focus so it's not as emotionally difficult to read as some books are.


I had the same thought about Stones from the River; it still makes me think about things like that, neighbor turning against neighbor, family against family, and how subtly pervasive it can get.

I hadn't paid much attention to the Book Thief, until I went to the Sac Kindles meet up last Saturday. One of the teenage members had read it and highly recommended it, so now it's on my TBR list, and after reading this thread, it's moved its way up a few notches.)


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Luna said:


> Well, am I the only one who didn't like the book thief?


I didn't hate it. . . .but didn't like it that well either. It was o.k.


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## etexlady (May 27, 2009)

> City of Thieves by David Benioff i


Just finished this book and it was so very good. I, too, keep thinking about it and the situations in which the characters found themselves. A little romance, a little comedy, some suspense, just an excellent book. I've read The Book Thief and enjoyed it as well.


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## John F. Blair Publisher (Apr 27, 2010)

We at Blair adored _The Book Thief_ - as well as Zusak's earlier book, _I Am the Messenger_ (published as _The Messenger_ in his native Oz). I think _IAtM_ was nominated for the Michael L. Printz Award, while _The Book Thief_ actually won.

One thing about Zusak: From sentence one, you know you're reading Zusak. Love him or no, it's pretty rare to have an author with such a unique voice.


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## Magenta (Jun 6, 2009)

Wow...  I just finished.  Also, to reiterate the warnings....this is not a read-while-commuting-in-public-book!  I had to wait until I was home with a full box of tissues nearby.

It's not so much about WWII, but about hope and the human spirit in spite of the war. 

Simply a beautiful story.


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