April’s book club pick is The Book Thief. I wasn’t sure how much I would enjoy this one because historical fiction is not usually my genre of choice but that is what books clubs are for, expanding reading horizons. I am so glad this was the monthly pick and I zoomed through the last 100 pages. The middle, while containing pertinent details and story building, did drag on a bit. The setting is World War II in Germany, right on Himmel Street, where we meet our main character Liesel Meminger. The story is told by a unique narrator, death, which given the setting you can imagine will have a strong presence. I loved this perspective and believe it really allowed the story to develop in the most interesting way for the reader. As we get to know the main character Liesel, we get to know her adoptive family and the neighbors in their typically quiet town. We learn a fictional account of what the people of this time went through and what the Hitler-run government required from their citizens. Liesel is adopted by a working class family, who doesn’t have much during these tough war times but she does have the love of reading and it brings her through some of the darkest days and might just have saved her life. I will not spoil the ending but I was slightly disappointed. I wanted more closure with the open-ended questions we were left with. Overall rating: 4 stars
Collectively,
Karmen
