Review of The Book Thief

My book club book this month was The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. What an amazing novel. Not only is it the first book I've read from the view of regular German citizens during World War 2, but it's the first book I've ever read where Death was the narrator. Having death speak for this period in Germany is brilliant. The novel was about a girl who learns to love reading by reading books she has stolen with her father. The family hides a Jew in their basement to protect him from the Nazi soldiers. Max, the Jew, because close friends with the girl and he writes her a book called "The Word Shaker." I loved the story of the word shaker. It spoke about the strength of words and how powerful they can be if you stand behind what you say, or how weak they can be without support. While it took me about 20 pages to really get into the writing style, I became addicted and I'm so glad I stuck through this novel because it is absolutely original and brilliant.