The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, 550 pages

"It is 1939. Nazi Germany. The country is holding its breath. Death has never been busier, and will become busier still.

By her brother's graveside, Liesel Meminger's life is changed when she picks up a single object, partially hidden in the snow. It is The Grave Digger's Handbook, left there by accident, and it is her first act of book thievery. So begins a love affair with books and words, as Liesel, with the help of her accordion-playing foster father, learns to read. Soon she is stealing books from Nazi book-burnings, the mayor's wife's library, wherever there are books to be found.
But these are dangerous times. When Liesel's foster family hides a Jew in their basement, Liesel's world is both opened up and closed down." -Back Cover

Markus Zusak is an amazingly gifted writer. What he does with words in this book is absolutely incredible. His descriptions are beautiful and haunting. This book is narrated by Death who, for the most part, is unbiased in his feelings yet also sympathetic, and who is burnt out and worn out from his work. I loved that the story's told from his perspective. It added a whole new element. Death uses colors with the most amazing imagery. The power of words plays such an important role in this book both for good and for bad. Here's a paragraph that touched me in particular:

"On June 23, 1942, there was a group of French Jews in a German prison, on Polish soil. The first person I took was close to the door, his mind racing, then reduced to panting, then slowing down, slowing down...
Please believe me when I tell you that I picked up each soul that day as if it were newly born. I even kissed a few weary, poisoned cheeks. I listened to their last gasping cries. Their vanishing words. I watched their love visions and freed them from their fear.
I took them all away, and if ever there was a time I needed distraction, this was it. In complete desolation, I looked at the world above. I watched the sky as it turned from silver to gray to the color of rain. Even the clouds were trying to get away.
Sometimes I imagined how everything looked above those clouds, knowing without question that the sun was blond, and the endless atmosphere was a giant blue eye." pg. 350

This book is why I love reading so much!