"The Book Thief" Stole My Heart!

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“The Book Thief” by Marc Zusak takes place in Nazi Germany and is narrated by Death. He tells the tragic story of Leisel Meminger, a young German child, who is separated from her family when she is only 9 years old simply because her parents were thought to be Communists. Leisel is taken to live with a new family in the town of Molching, Germany where she eventually makes a home for herself. Even though Leisel eventually finds happiness in her new home, the political climate touches her life in many heartbreaking ways.

“The Book Thief” is the best book I’ve ever listened to on audio. Allan Corduner does a fantastic job of portraying the emotions of the different characters. He has a wonderful accent and a beautiful tone to his voice that just carries you through the story. The book is 11 CDs long making it close to a 14-hour listen that I wish never had to end. I listen to audio books at the gym and in the car and this story made the time fly by. I was so excited to drive two or three hours just to be able to listen to a large chunk of the story.

I could seriously gush about the book forever, but for now I must bring it to an end. I cannot think of one negative thing to say about this book. It is definitely one of my favorites.

P.S. If you do listen to the audio book I would suggest at least browsing through the print version because there are some really great illustrations in it. It isn't necessary, but it just made me love the book a little more.

I am back!

The vacation is over and I have survived my first road trip (without parents)! It was a really interesting experience, but I don't think I'm really the cruise kind of person. It was still a lot of fun though!
I read a lot of great books over the vacation and am kind of behind in my reviews... I'll do my best to catch up! Although I still need to review a few books that I read before I even left... so much to do! I read 5 books over the vacation and I have three books that I need to review from before I left... YIKES! I better get cracking!

On vaca!

I'm sorry I haven't posted in a while! School got a bit crazy and I had to pack for the cruise I am currently on. It was sooo hectic I totally forgot my sneakers... YIKES! Anyway, I finished reading 2 books and listening to 2 audio books so I will have plenty to post once I finish writing the reviews. I also am reading a whole bunch on this vacation so hopefully that will make up for my lack of posting last week.
I am totally getting sea sick so this is over and out!

Soon will get "Deeper" in the "Tunnels" series.

I just finished "Tunnels" by Roderick Gordon and Brian Williams last night and I want to read more!

5

Will Burrows lives a rather normal teenage life filled with dysfunction that most people can relate to: he gets teased in school, his mother is obsessed with TV, his sister bosses him around, and his father is out of the ordinary. Will's favorite thing in life is digging tunnels with his father in order to find ancient artifacts. After finding an old tunnel under the heart of London, Will and his father feel as though they may have a career-making breakthrough. They keep their find a secret so they can explore more of the tunnel, but before they get a second look Will's father goes missing.

Will doesn't believe when police tell him that his father probably ran off on the family and decides that he must investigate more if he wants to find out the truth. To make matters worse, Will realizes that irksome men are following him around. With assistance from his friend Chester, Will finds a dig site in their basement that his father was working on in secret. Will can't help but think the tunnel has something to do with his father's disappearance, so the two boys explore it. Instead of finding Will's father in the tunnel system, Will and Chester find themselves hostages of an underground colony that has no intention of letting them escape.

“Tunnels” is a really great book. The thing that surprises me most was that it had so many blindsiding twists it was fantastic! Usually I can kind of guess where a book is going, but not this time. I actually felt like I was on the journey with Will just trying to survive each moment as it came at me!

This book also had intriguing characters. The villains in it were truly scary, especially the one I never saw coming (I wont give it away!!!). There were characters that I couldn't quite figure out, and characters that I flipped-flopped between loving and hating depending on the scene.

I will definitely read the second book of the series “Deeper”! I hear there is a third book that may be coming out this year (have to double check on that fact) and I'll probably be reading that third book as well. ; )

School and pleasure reading is a bad combo!

Sorry that I've been slacking so much on my pleasure reading! I'm getting towards the end of Tunnels, but I do still have a ways to go! Until I update this further I figure I might as well tell you about a great contest available on another blog! Em, as in Em's Bookshelf, has picked 7 books that she will be giving away. I haven't read all of them, but I know many are highly recommended! Just click here to learn more about entering the contest.

P.S. "Eon" is one of the books that you could win! If you do win it then you must let me know whether you think my review is accurate. I like to hear what other people think!