Hello, my bibliophiles. It’s Monday, and I’m glad to be bringing everyone my latest review, and I apologize for the delay. I apologize if my heart doesn’t seem fully in it tonight, but it’s been a hectic weekend, and in the early hours of this morning, I lost one of my sweet cats (I had five). Needless to say, even without work and the like, it’s been an emotional few days with a heartbreaking result.

Anyway, I’m going to try to keep my mind focused. I have at least three or four blog posts that I’m behind on and things are stacking up, so I won’t keep you guys hanging long. The good news at least, is that I’m buckling down on my reading challenge now that it’s down to the wire. I know I won’t make my goal of 150 books, but I’m trying to get as close as I can regardless.

So, tonight’s review. I’m sure some of you will kick my butt for this, but this particular book has been sitting on my shelf for months, I mean MONTHS, and I never got around to it. I finally decided it was best to get the audible version and give it a listen on my commutes. I was NOT disappointed. I know many people told me how beautiful this story was, but I didn’t fully understand the sentiments until I heard it with my own ears. I’m talking about The Book Thief by Markus Zusak.

This was an interesting and heartbreaking read. It was weird to engross myself in a World War II novel from the perspective of a German child. I was not expecting that at all. However, for some reason, I was expecting the narrator to be exactly who he was almost right from the beginning when he introduced himself. As I delved deeper into the story, I knew my gut instinct was right. What a twist!

There were many facets to this story, and I adored every ounce of them. I’m glad that in such a dark period of hatred, the residents of Himmel Street not only showed their hearts to each other and to those who didn’t seem worthy of earning it, but also proved that not every German was quite as heartless as Hitler and his cronies. In that regard, I was totally overwhelmed to get the perspective of the German citizens, and I hurt for them in their times of pain and hardship.

Who doesn’t just adore every page of a story where our protagonist is able to steal and worship books? Her little hobby not only saved her life during a time of war, but they also brought smiles to those around her when they needed them the most.

Now, I need to go watch the movie! Until next time, bookworms…

My Final Rating: five out of five stars