May I Recommend...

I just finished reading The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. And when I say 'just' I mean it quite literally. Its such a gorgeous story I felt immediately desirous to open my Blog and post quickly about it. But I'm not very good at book reviews--I give away too much, or jumble the story. Suffice it to say the book takes place in World War II Germany, and tells the story of a young girl who learns to love words, and recognize the power of words. The book is narrated by Death. And the writing is gorgeous. The author's language is scattered with awesome symbolic images and metaphors--but not to the point of sounding pretentious. The entire story really flows and by the end I honestly wanted to weep. I can say most assuredly that if I wasn't reading in class with a bunch of Middle Schoolers, I would have given in and let the tears spill over. There's something so fantastic in the experience of having the written word bring me to tears. It doesn't happen that often, and I cherish the books that can bring about that reaction.

I guess this is my strong recommendation, therefore, to read Zusak's The Book Thief. I think you'll be glad you did.