The Book Thief

I loved this novel, and I must confess that I had serious reservations about it. I mean, it was hard for me to imagine being sympathetic with a German family in the midst of WWII. But I was wrong--the family is wonderful, the characters memorable. I especially loved the way the story was told--through the voice of Death. I definitely would recommend this novel. It's an anti-war book, which we certainly need right now.

This was simply an awesome book for general reading but also for the depth put into the day-to-day living of an ordinary german in ww2. The narrator was extraordinary chilling and the graphics made we stop in mid-stream. Awesome, awesome

In a word: Fabulous. One of the top 20 novels I have ever read. It transports the sensibilities of Catcher in the Rye and To Kill a Mockingbird to Nazi Germany (of all locales). The writing is truly poetic. It moved me like few other books. I have alrady alerted numerous people to this unforgetable saga. I have little to add to the other glowing reviews except for again pointing out the fully-formed characterizations of every major and most minor actors. The love stories-Mama and Papa; Papa and Liesel; Liesel and Max; and especially Liesel and Rudy displayed the greatest humanity within the most terrible of crucibles.

This may well have been the most beautifully written book that I've read in years. The story is compelling and the narrative is absolutely exquisite. This novel should be listed and marketed as adult fiction. The "young adult" categorization will turn some readers away and it will be their loss. Do not pass this one up.

but by the time I wiped away the tears at the end of it I knew I needed to give it five. This book was released as an adult book, rather than young adult in Australia. I picked it up, having never heard of it or anything about it. It was obvious from the first few pages who the narrator was, so I'm not sure why there seems to be a lot of reviewers who say they were confused about it. This book was very easy to read and did have an interesting storyline, coupled with loveable characters. All of the charactes have some flaw in their personality. That is what makes them real and that is what makes you relate to them. This is going to be one of those books that I continue to re-read for years to come.