The Book Thief

by Markus Zusak

Liesel Meminger never expected her brother to die and that Nazis would discover her parents were communists, but her life really turns around after she steals her first book, The Grave Digger's Handbook. Sent to a foster home to live with Hans and Rosa Hubermann, she quickly builds a new life on Himmel Street in Molching, Germany, finding a new friend in a certain Rudy Steiner. As she is being taught to read by her Papa, she begins to discover the power of words.
After several adventures and a couple more book thefts, Liesel begins to settle in. But just as her life seems to become normal, the Hubermanns decide to hide a Jew, Max Vandenburg, in their basement. Liesel quickly befriends Max and discovers he shares the same passion for words. Through their friendship, Liesel learns not only that words can not only be used for good, but also for bad. However, after an anti-racism action from Hans, Max has to leave Molching for his own safety. Nevertheless, the tough times aren't over for Liesel and her family. As bombs begin to drop on Molching, people start to fear for their lives and safety.

This thrilling yet charming award-winning book is sure to capture you from the start to the startling conclusion. With memorable characters and a captivating plot that will enthrall children as well as adults, this book is a definite must-read. Right from the start, with the unique introduction of Death as the narrator, Zusak demonstrates his beautiful and poetic writing style. Examining important themes such as racism, sacrifice, loyalty, and perseverance in a remarkable way that only Zusak can achieve, this book is a good example of how life isn't always fair. In summary, The Book Thief will leave readers of any age thinking about and seeing the Holocaust in a new light as well as learning the power of words.

*We chose this book for our mother-daughter book club

Bedtime Story by Robert Wiersema

Robert Wiersema is a Canadian author who is new to me, and I discovered this book through the Ontario Library Association's Evergreen list.

The novel is about a writer, Christopher Knox, whose son David falls into a catatonic state while reading an old fantasy book written by one of Chris’s favourite authors. David is trapped within the story, where he must embark on an arduous quest to retrieve a magical object. At the same time, Chris struggles in the real world to rescue his son’s soul and come to terms with his failing marriage.

There is a lot that I liked about this unexpected mix of urban fantasy, high fantasy, supernatural and literary novel: the complexity of the plot lines, the well-rounded characters and most of all, the suspense. I really had a hard time putting the book down. A number of my friends are also reading through the Evergreen list, and so far, all have enjoyed this novel.

Dewey's Read-a-thon: Summary

The read-a-thon is over! After finishing A Noble Radiance last night, I was starting to falter and knew I needed a really compelling read to keep me going. So I picked up Kenneth Oppel's Skybreaker, the sequel to Airborn, and it was the perfect choice. I read for another 1.5 hours last night and half-an-hour this morning before the 8am deadline. Kate slept through the last 10 hours of the read-a-thon but is back at reading, with The Calling in her hands, even though the event is over.

Here are Kate's final totals:
Hours of reading: 5
Total pages read: 378
Books finished: 1
Other books started: 1

My totals:
Hours of reading: 9
Total pages read: 693
Books finished: 2
Other books started: 1
Mini-challenges done: 4
Cheerleading hours: 2

Kate and I spent 16 hours participating (reading and cheerleading) in the read-a-thon, so as promised, we've donated $32 to Free the Children.

Now for the end-of-event meme:

1. Which hour was most daunting for you?
   The final hour. Normally, I'm an early riser but I had a hard time getting up this morning to do that last bit of reading I had planned.
2. Could you list a few high-interest books that you think could keep a Reader engaged for next year?
   Young adult books are always good for read-a-thons. The Hunger Games would keep you reading, if you've not read them already.
3. Do you have any suggestions for how to improve the Read-a-thon next year?
   I've really enjoyed being a cheerleader, but it would be nice to encourage every reader to do a bit of cheerleading. I suspect most readers find it too daunting to commit to a set number of hours, so how about just suggesting that every reader pick 2 or 3 blogs to follow for the day? To keep the "team" feel, you can ask all readers in the Team Polonius list to choose their blogs from Team Falstaff, for example.
4. What do you think worked really well in this year’s Read-a-thon?
   I enjoyed several of the mini-challenges, and many of the ones I didn't end up doing seemed fun and I liked seeing the participants' responses. The best challenges were the ones that were a little bit challenging but didn't take a lot of time to do (so that they didn't take away from reading/cheerleading time).
5. How many books did you read?
   For me: two finished and another started. For Kate: one finished and another started.
6. What were the names of the books you read?
   For me: The Calling by Kelley Armstrong and A Noble Radiance by Donna Leon. Also started Skybreaker by Kenneth Oppel.
   For Kate: Scrivener's Moon by Philip Reeve. Also started The Calling by Kelley Armstrong.
7. Which book did you enjoy most?
   Can't decide -- we liked them all!
8. Which did you enjoy least?
   Can't decide -- we liked them all!
9. If you were a Cheerleader, do you have any advice for next year’s Cheerleaders?
   I temporarily subscribed to all the blogs I was covering so I could immediately see the updated ones in Google Reader.
10. How likely are you to participate in the Read-a-thon again? What role would you be likely to take next time?
    Yes, Kate and I will definitely participate again, and I will do some cheerleading again next time.

Thanks to the organizers for another extremely well-run event!

Dewey's Read-a-thon: Update #3

We're in Hour 15 now. Kate has gone off to bed and I'm also starting to fade but will try to hold out for a little bit longer. I've just finished A Noble Radiance by Donna Leon (277 pages) and my total number of hours read is 7. Leon is a new author to me and I enjoyed this mystery novel featuring Commissario Guido Brunetti. I found the plot on the weak side but I did like the characters and setting. I loved touring Venice with my family a few years ago and it was great to revisit it in this novel.

Kate started The Calling by Kelley Armstrong and managed an hour before bedtime, bringing her total to 5 hours for the day.

Dewey's Read-a-thon: Update #2

We're now in Hour 12. Kate had an intense afternoon of reading and put in 3 hours, to bring her total reading time to 4 hours. She finished Scrivener's Moon by Philip Reeve (263 pages), the third book in the Fever Crumb series. She says she did not enjoy it as much as the first two books, but it was a good read all the same, and she plans to review the series on this blog at a future time.

I put in another 2.5 hours to bring my total to 5.5, and I'm two-thirds of the way through A Noble Radiance by Donna Leon. If I weren't having so much fun visiting other participants' blogs, I'd probably get more reading done!

Dewey's Read-a-thon: Update #1

We're entering Hour 7 now. I've read for a total of 3 hours and I've just finished my first book, The Calling by Kelley Armstrong (326 pages). This book is the second of her Darkness Rising series, and it felt very much like a second book of a trilogy: a lot of character development, some revelations but still lots of threads hanging. There was plenty of fast-paced action, though, so it was a perfect read-a-thon selection.

Kate had to attend a two-hour rehearsal with her strings school this morning, which was why I got first dibs at this book. While waiting for me to finish, she started on Scrivener's Moon by Philip Reeve. After an hour of reading, she decided she'd better put some time into her homework but promises to read more later in the afternoon.

I've also spent a little bit of time visiting other blogs. It's great to see how everyone else is progressing.

Dewey's Read-a-thon: Introductory Post

Kate and I have our pile of books ready! While I highly doubt we'll get through all (or even most) of this pile, it's good to have a few to choose from. We've both been wanting to read The Calling, the second book in Kelley Armstrong's Darkness Rising series, but there is a huge waiting list at our local library. However, yesterday morning, I saw in the on-line catalogue that a single "no holds allowed" copy was just returned and I grabbed it!

My other candidates include:

• A Noble Radiance by Donna Leon
• River of the Dead by Barbara Nadel
• Silence by Jan Costin Wagner
• Skybreaker by Kenneth Oppel
• English Country House Murders by Thomas Godfrey
• The Last Song by Eva Wiseman

Kate's other candidates include:

• Scrivener's Moon by Philip Reeve
• Dust City by Robert Paul Weston
• Here Lies Arthur by Philip Reeve

Here are our answers to the Introductory Questionnaire from the Hour 1 post:

1. What fine part of the world are you reading from today?
   We're at home today in Southwestern Ontario, Canada!
2. Which book in your stack are you most looking forward to?
   Kate and I will be fighting over our single copy of The Calling by Kelley Armstrong.
3. Which snack are you most looking forward to?
   Salt-and-vinegar chips, if Kate leaves some for me.
4. Tell us a little something about yourself!
   In my spare time, if I'm not reading, I'm probably knitting, and sometimes I'll do both at the same time. Kate, if she's not reading, is usually making music in one way or another. 
5. If you participated in the last read-a-thon, what’s one thing you’ll do different today? If this is your first read-a-thon, what are you most looking forward to?
   For once, I don't have other commitments scheduled for the day and can devote the entire day to reading. Kate, sadly, will have to do some homework, which she had managed to avoid successfully in previous read-a-thons. (Note: Her Mom is not the one insisting she do her homework today!)