The Book Thief

Markus Zusak
2005
978-0-375-84220-7

Liesel meminger is the daughter of a communist - a precarious thing to be in 1939 Germany.  She is given to a foster family in a new town, and she is taught to read from a gravedigger's manual - the first book she steals.

Words become her life, along with her new papa and Max, the Jewish fighter who is living in their basement.  Max, who depends on Liesel to be his eyes in a terrifying, hateful world.  There is also Rudy, the boy next door, her best friend and partner in crime, who can't understand why she steals books and not food.

Liesel is watched by the narrator, the busiest narrator during one of his busiest periods, and he shares her story in her own words.

Exquisitely crafted, this story lures you in to a life of everyday poverty, the spectre of war and of battles with bullies.  There is humour to be found here, and love.  And heartbreak.

This is a story that will stick with me for a long time to come.  It is haunting and chilling, intense in dark moments and endearing in lighter ones.

This is a story that I'm immensely grateful to have found.

Finished 16/11/13.
Read for Online Book Club December group read

The Boy who Lived with Ghosts

John Mitchell

2013

ISBN 0615793207

This is not a book I would choose without a prompt to do so, but I’m glad I gave it a go.

The settings - housing estates and pubs - paint a vivid picture right from the beginning, and the interactions of the family members bring to life an interesting and volatile childhood that, although it’s revealed in a touching and amusing way, is quite shocking at the same time.

I liked the way John parroted the phrases of the adults around him, casually pointing out that he’d break his bloody neck one day, and the way he started each chapter with a complete deconstruction of any earlier optimism made it hard to remember that this isn’t fiction - this was a real childhood, shocking in places and difficult by any standards.

Margueretta takes centre stage, claiming any and all attention, healthy or not, and in the early days of mental illness diagnoses, created every kind of tension in an already tough situation.  I felt sympathetic to the entire family, but perhaps for John’s mother most of all, and her breakdown was more expected than surprising. 

This was a fascinating glimpse into a different time, and a different way of life.  

Finished 28/10/13
Read as monthly read for OnlineBookclub.org

The Poe Shadow

By Matthew Pearl

A nonfiction theory couched in a fictional tale of mystery and conspiracy... this book was much larger in scope than I'd expected, and much more intelligently written.  So many threads have been pulled together that I was a little surprised that I was able to keep up with the different names, roles and theories about each character.

Not being an American, I haven't had much exposure to Poe and his works, so much of this was completely new to me, but it was fairly easy to pick up.  I assume that this story has been written with the same formal style that Poe himself used, and once I got used to the slightly slower atmosphere, it was really enjoyable.

The mystery itself was vague, which wasn't a bad thing, and the pace was both steady and surprising.  Set in the nineteenth century, there was quite a bit about proper etiquette and the do's and don't's of civilised society, which was interesting, but it didn't detract from the progress of the mystery itself.

I did feel that the climax of the book was separated from the mystery a little bit - Quentin's own fate was far more interesting to me than Poe's, by the end.

Rating: 3 out of 5 - would read another book by Pearl, but not sure if I would actively seek one out.
Date finished: 08/10/12

Edit: realised I'd managed to mess up the rating...

What-The-Dickens

The Story of a Rogue Tooth Fairy
By Gregory Maguire

This book is two stories in one.  The first is a (possibly) post-apocalyptic 'real' world tale of a man and his young cousins.  It's serious and dire, and serves as a stark contrast to the main story, a fantasy tale about an orphaned tooth fairy named What-the-Dickens.  As this second story is being told to the children in the first tale, it's much lighter and clearly has a much younger target audience.

Although it deals with some pretty serious stuff (death, loneliness) it manages to do so without dragging the reader down, keeping it light-hearted and amusing.

Both tales are left with no definite conclusion, leaving you to wonder, or, better yet, imagine your own endings.  Utterly different to Maguire's Wicked, this book is loosely structured, enchanting and sweet.  It's easy to imagine this one as an animated movie.

My rating: 4 / 5

Something Wicked This Way Comes

By Ray Bradbury

I've never read any of Bradbury's book before, but this one popped up as a book club read.  It took me the first half dozen chapters to slow down enough to savour the way it had been written, and once I settled into the poetic, hazy imagery, I really enjoyed it.

I know that a lot of other, more talented authors have said a lot about Ray Bradbury and his writings, so I'm not going to try and describe the story itself - except to mention that it was different to in-your-face gory horror that abounds today.  Poetic, imaginative and beautiful, I thought it was superb.