I recently finished reading The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. What a fabulous book! I think this book has moved to the top of the list of my favorites. I highly recommend it. I give it two thumbs up!

This is a fictional story of a nine-year old Liesel who is sent to live with a foster family in Molching, Germany. She has stolen her first book, The Gravediggers Handbook, even though she cannot read. (What a delightful topic for a nine-year old . . .)

Her foster mother has an acid tongue. Her foster father is gentle and loving. Liesel is feisty and plagued with nightmares about her little brother’s death. Liesel makes friends with Rudy. She steals books from the mayor’s wife. Her family befriends Max, a Jewish refugee. All this while World War II rages on and slowly marches toward Molching. All these elements are cleverly intertwined to create a compelling story. (I don’t want to give more details because I don’t want to spoil the story for you!)

Zusak, a thirty-something author, is an excellent writer. Sometimes his descriptions are so unique, beautiful, and profound that you just have to stop and savor them, letting their juices drip into your senses like butter dripping onto your chin while eating corn on the cob.

The book was published as an adult novel in Australia (where Zusak hails from). However, the publishing company, Knopf, is promoting it as a young adult novel here in the United States. Now, the young adult reader age bracket is from 12 to 18. Somehow, I don’t think a twelve-year old will appreciate, understand, or enjoy this book as well as a more ‘mature’ young adult reader might. And, even though this is in the young adult section in the book store, adults will enjoy it, too.

Zusak has also written I Am the Messenger. I’ve read mixed reviews about it. However, I do believe I will read it. He wrote Messenger before The Book Thief so Zusak’s writing might not be as ‘mature’ as it is in The Book Thief. Still, I anticipate it will be an enjoyable read.

If you have an older teen-aged grandchild, you might want to give this as a gift. It is great reading and would be fodder for some great conversation between grandma and grandchild!

Hope you read it!
Digi-Gram

I recently read the book Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking by Malcolm Gladwell. It was an easy read, an interesting read, something totally different from what I was expecting.

Gladwell discusses the first two seconds of looking, of knowing something in an instant and of how we make snap judgments. He relates story after engaging story of examples of people making snap decisions and the resulting effects. I was intrigued about the example of Katlin during the O. J. Simpson murder trial, the account of the most expensive war game ever conducted by the Pentagon, and how the failure of rapid cognition by police officers ended up in the tragic murder of Amadou Diallo in the Bronx.

The study about facial reading explained a phenomenon that I have personally experienced but until I read this book I didn’t understand. There’s a fellow I know who makes me slightly uncomfortable when he laughs. Now, one would think that when you are sharing a good natured laugh with someone that there would be a flow of positive feelings. But not with this fellow.

After several years, I finally concluded that every time he laughed, it never affected his eyes. His eyes always seemed cold and harsh. In Blink, Gladwell explains how it is totally impossible for people to consciously use the muscles around the eyes when they are spontaneously delighted. So, as much as this fellow put on the front of laughing good naturedly, he really wasn’t!

Gladwell is a great story teller and provides food for thought. This could be a nice birthday present or Christmas holiday stocking stuffer for those readers on your list.

Enjoy!
Digi-Gram