You know when you read a book that will stay with you forever. When the words are more than just ink on paper and the characters are more than creative figments of a writer’s imagination. When each page makes you want to select at least one sentence to record again – in your own hand – to keep as your own. The Book Thief is that book.

It suffices to say that at some point in time, I will be standing over you, as genially as possible. Your soul will be in my arms. A color will be perched on my shoulder. I will carry you gently away.

The Book Thief is the story of a girl growing up in a war. She lives on an ordinary street in Munich, Germany, but she – and her story – are anything but ordinary. Her name is Liesel Meminger and her tale is narrated by Death.

A nine-year-old girl finds herself watching as her younger brother is buried in the cold snow, standing alone as she is left by her mother, fearing the unknown as she is delivered on the doorstep of her foster parents – all while her country is falling under the spell of Hitler. Hans Hubermann, her foster father, teaches her to read; to understand the power of words. It is a lesson that Liesel will never forget. It will become the thing that saves her life.

Powerful, profound, and unforgettable, this is a book that will keep a permanent home on my over-crowded bookshelf. More than just a story – an illustration of the might and the majesty of words.

There was once a strange, small man . . . but there was a word shaker, too.”

The Book Thief on Goodreads
About Markus Zusak