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mjcourchesne's reviews
290 reviews
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
5.0
I will say right now that I would not give all five stars to any book, but I really feel this is one that merits it. Simply, it's gorgeous, heart-wrenching and entrancing.
Like the Harry Potter series, I don't quite understand why this book is classified as young adult. The themes are tough: Nazi Germany, death and war are inescapable on every page. But in reality, teens would be learning about these things in school, so it would make sense for them to potentially pick up a book like this and view that world through different eyes.
Except this time, those eyes are Death itself.
This Death is not very much like Neil Gaiman's vampy goth girl in the Sandman series, but both personifications go about their work of farming souls like you or I go to work every day. It's a job, and like any job, there are parts that are tiring and parts that are fascinating.
This Death is entranced by a little German girl, Liesel, who is given over to foster parents at the start of the war when her mother could no longer afford to care for her. Liesel grows before our eyes, learning to read with her Papa (her foster father), describing the color of the sky and what the weather was like that day (she at one time described a giant cloud come over the mountain and described it as "...a great white beast") with the Jew that her Mama and Papa end up hiding under the stairs, and stealing books to feed her fascination with the written word.
In the end, Liesel writes her own story--the story we read. Although her voice in writing doesn't survive, Death's narrative is just as entrancing.
Like me, you may find yourself at least misty eyed at the end, because all great stories eventually must end.
Read it.
Like the Harry Potter series, I don't quite understand why this book is classified as young adult. The themes are tough: Nazi Germany, death and war are inescapable on every page. But in reality, teens would be learning about these things in school, so it would make sense for them to potentially pick up a book like this and view that world through different eyes.
Except this time, those eyes are Death itself.
This Death is not very much like Neil Gaiman's vampy goth girl in the Sandman series, but both personifications go about their work of farming souls like you or I go to work every day. It's a job, and like any job, there are parts that are tiring and parts that are fascinating.
This Death is entranced by a little German girl, Liesel, who is given over to foster parents at the start of the war when her mother could no longer afford to care for her. Liesel grows before our eyes, learning to read with her Papa (her foster father), describing the color of the sky and what the weather was like that day (she at one time described a giant cloud come over the mountain and described it as "...a great white beast") with the Jew that her Mama and Papa end up hiding under the stairs, and stealing books to feed her fascination with the written word.
In the end, Liesel writes her own story--the story we read. Although her voice in writing doesn't survive, Death's narrative is just as entrancing.
Like me, you may find yourself at least misty eyed at the end, because all great stories eventually must end.
Read it.
Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
2.0
Although I was engaged by the characters in this book, I must admit that the author was a bit too repetitive in her descriptions for my taste. By the end of the book I was ready to leave the characters behind. Although I may go and pick up the remaining books in the series, I don't think it's living up to the hype that I've heard.
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
4.0
This book -- which officially comes out in a few days -- is another delightful story crafted by Gaiman. It's a fairly quick read, and is meant for the YA audience, but I found it a great book to have along on vacation.
Gemma Bovery by Posy Simmonds
3.0
This was a fun read, a quick dip into a world of graphic novels-come-classics. The tale is familiar--Emma Bovary, but brought up to modern-day France and a young wife named Gemma who is spied upon by her baker neighbor (our narrarator). In his musings, he connects young Gemma with her infamous near-namesake, and gets himself into a wee bit of trouble as a result.
I picked this up based on a review of a forthcoming title by Posy Simmonds that will be out in the fall in the UK. I am intrigued enough with her style to check out another.
I picked this up based on a review of a forthcoming title by Posy Simmonds that will be out in the fall in the UK. I am intrigued enough with her style to check out another.
Sarah's Key by Tatiana de Rosnay
4.0
This was a quick read, but what an achingly heart-wrenching read it was. The subject is tough--the Vélodrome d'Hiver round-ups of July 1942--but the story is so well written and the characters she creates so compelling, you can't help but be absorbed into the narrative.
Angels & Demons by Dan Brown
3.0
I'll agree with friends (and my mother) who said this is the better of the Robert Langdon books (Davinci Code being the other, of course). I still have to admit that Brown's trite observations of female (and male) bodies are rather annoying, but that's one of his specialties, I suppose, that keep people coming back.
I think one of the best things about this book is the twists that are thrown in at the end. Just as I was thinking "why on Earth are there 18 more chapters, this thing is solved," another bizarre turn of events kept me reading.
Now I can go see the movie.
I think one of the best things about this book is the twists that are thrown in at the end. Just as I was thinking "why on Earth are there 18 more chapters, this thing is solved," another bizarre turn of events kept me reading.
Now I can go see the movie.
The Sisters Mortland by Sally Beauman
3.0
This is a haunting book, and one of those that I didn't want to like at the start. It took a couple of chapters before I was drawn in, and then it was too late for me to stop.