One to read

The Book Thief

Quality, quality book! For me, what some have labelled 'Harry Potter and the Holocaust' (don't be put off!), would happily sit alongside 'The Kite Runner' or Philip Roth's 'The Human Stain'. Beautifully crafted, it's a novel that constantly provokes the thoughts and stimulates the emotions.

Narrated by 'Death' it's a rather unique book that takes some getting into, but it's well worth the effort. As one reviwer put it 'it's a book that bestows a self-congratulatory glow upon anyone willing to grapple with it.' With an element of the fanciful it celebrates the power of language as it deplores human misery.

Unusual as the concept is, the book's narrator (death) seems sorry for what he has to do. "To me, war is like the new boss who expects the impossible," he confides, on one of many occasions when he campaigns to win the readers' approval. While on another occasion he says "You see?" when referring to the demise of one of the book's best-liked characters. "Even death has a heart."

Buy it, borrow it, or do what I did and get it out of the library - whatever you do, if you get the chance - read it!