The Book Thief and The Horse and His Boy

Title: The Book Thief
Author: Markus Zusak
Number of Pages: 550
Brief Summary: It's just a small story really, about among other things: a girl, some words, an accordionist, some fanatical Germans, a Jewish fist-fighter, and quite a lot of thievery. Set during World War II in Germany, Markus Zusak's groundbreaking new novel is the story of Liesel Meminger, a foster girl living outside of Munich. Liesel scratches out a meager existence for herself by stealing when she encounters something she can't resist--books.
How I Came To Own This Book: Bought it at Half-Price Books
History With This Book: Confession: I only bought this book Friday, but since I hadn't read it and I do own it, I think I can count it. Especially since I spent so much of my weekend with it.

I can hardly begin to explain how much this book now means to me. When I first heard about it and read the book jacket, I wasn't sure what I'd think of it. It seemed interesting, and I hoped that it was good. However, I tried to not get my hopes up too high. I underestimated it.

I don't think I've ever had such an emotional response to a singular book. It usually takes having read a few books in a series for me to become so emotionally connected with a story. I cried when characters suffered or died in Harry Potter because I had known them for a few books, but this book had me hook, line, and sinker. Honestly, I finished it nearly twenty-four hours ago and my eyes still well up with tears when I think about the events of this book. If your eyes don't at all if you read this book, you quite literally have no soul.

One of the most interesting things about this book is that it's narrated by Death, but it's not the traditional, cold-hearted, scythe and black hood Death. He's more vulnerable. He is omniscient, but he wasn't always when it comes to Liesel's story. It's also pretty convenient because having him as the narrator, instead of hearing it straight from Liesel, is that he's able to take us to other characters, in other parts of Germany. We were able to get a more general overview of what was happening alongside Liesel's story.

This book has also convinced me that the characters I love most are destined to die. Luckily, only one of my two favorites died...unfortunately, it was my very favorite. A fair warning: There is lots of death in this book. You will cry.

As much as this book made me cry from sadness, it also made me cry from all the heartwarming moments in the book. One that comes to mind at the moment is one of the Christmases, the one when Max is with the Hubbermans. (Short background: Max's father is the reason that Herr Hubberman survived WWI. To pay him back, Hans agreed to hide Max from the Nazis.) After not having seen outside the basement for months, Liesel brings snow downstairs to Max on Christmas Eve and they have a snowball fight and build a snowman.

There's so much more that I could say about this book, but I would rather you just read it instead.

Now, to my next book.

Title: The Horse and His Boy
Author: C. S. Lewis
Number of Pages: 240
Brief Summary: Narnia, where horses talk and hermits like company, where evil men turn into donkeys, where boys go into battle, where the adventure begins. During the Golden Age of Narnia, when Peter is High King, a boy named Shasta discovers he is not the son of Arsheesh, the Calormene fisherman, and decides to run far away to the North -- to Narnia. When he is mistaken for another runaway, Shasta is led to discover who he really is and even finds his real father.
How I Came To Own This Book: I think I got this through one of the Scholastic book fairs or something
History With This Book: I've owned this book since grade school. I've read the first two books of the Chronicles of Narnia a couple times but never got to the other five, for some reason. Apparently, at some point, I tried read this book, but I only got to page 23. I don't know what made me quit because it's not a bad book so far (I'm just past that point).