book of the month club...

I belong to a Book Group.  I'm sure I have mentioned this before, but I don't talk about it every month.  This is the most fantastic group of women...I love each and every one of them.  And we read wonderful, challenging books...books that I would not necessarily pick out for myself.  These books s-t-r-e-t-c-h me.  Make me work and think. 

This month, our book was The Book Thief by Markus Zusak.  It is set in WW2 Germany and is narrated by Death.  It is the story of Liesel Memenger, who is left by her mother in the care of foster parents.  Her father had been a Communist and she is being left for her own survival, but it takes her a while to understand this.  The book is peopled by some wonderful Characters, like Rudy (who wants to run as fast as Jesse Owens), and The Mayor's Wife (who has an entire library full of books that Liesel covets), and Max (the Jewish teenager who is hidden by Liesel's new family). It is a story of love and loss, of the Germans who did and didn't support Hitler. 

Interestingly, it is marketed in the U.S. as young adult fiction, though it was originally published in Australia as adult fiction.  The author, Markus Zusak, is an Australian who based his story on the tales his own German-born-and-raised parents told him of their growing up years in Nazi Germany. 

This book has its positives and its negatives, though I liked it more than I didn't.  I loved the idea that Death was just doing his job and was actually horrified at how people could destroy each other.  I loved how Liesel bonded with the new people in her life, and took advantage of all that she was offered.  I disliked that sometimes the prose was overly florid.  I thought Death's narration was sometimes overly intrusive to the storyline.  I thought that the characters were all very balanced and weren't stereotypes.  I was sad at all the loss this little girl experienced. 

Books we are reading in the coming months are:

• Run, by Ann Patchett
• Brideshead Revisited, by Evelyn Waugh
• The Secret Scripture, by Sebastian Barry
• The Nine, Inside the Secret World of the Supreme Court, by Jeff Toobin
• The Man in the White Sharkskin Suit, by Lucette Lagnado
• Bridge of Sighs, by Richard Russo

Wow, am I looking forward to these!

Comments

[Tonya]

I wish I belonged to a book club! (Or a Kindle club!) In your list, the only one I've read is Bridge of Sighs, by Richard Russo. I love ANYTHING by Richard Russo (have you read his other books?) I also highly recommend the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society — one of the most unique and enjoyable books I've read in a very long time.

[Margaret]

I LOVE my Book Club too. I waited so long to get into one and it was very random how it happened. We read The Story of Edgar Sawtelle for this month, and will read Enrique's Journey(non-fiction) for next month. As you say, it stretches us because we wouldn't pick out some of these books on our own. Because of BC, I've been reminded how much I love Jane Austen, and discovered Geraldine Brooks. I spent wonderful hours reading the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society. We have read Run and it was a mixed review. Many people in my club loved it; I did not. I'll be interested to hear what you think.