the book thief

"The Book Thief" by Markus Zusak is the heart-wrenching and soul-aching story of a young girl in Nazi Germany. Her friends and family hate the Nazis but go along to survive. I couldn't put it down - I felt so deeply for the characters that it hurt to read. I was paralyzed with dread about who would die next and Death is the narrator so you know it's coming.

The first few pages are confusing and annoying about the colors of dying souls and the sky. But once you get past that, you settle in the story and can focus on the characters. There's an allegory in the middle about the importance of words - as stories as a place to hide from evil - even as words are the source of power for the Nazis.

It's an intense read. I think I need to stop with the Holocaust literature before I have an emotional breakdown.

I also read "On Mystic Lake" by Kristin Hannah. I was delighted to find out it was set in the Olympic Penninsula with lots of great descriptions of the rainy forests and Skokomish River and small towns and highways lined with empty fireworks stands. But the plot was totally predictable and cliched like a Lifetime movie. Woman finds out her husband was having an affair, she goes to her hometown and falls for her old boyfriend, husband wants her back, etc.