Book Thief

Book Thief
by
Markus Zusak
Young Adult/Adult Historical Fiction

I wasn't thrilled to read yet another World War II book (Yawn, aren't there enough of these already)? This was a pretty good book, however.
A girl is in a foster home in Nazi Germany. Her father is unknown and her mother has been accused of being a Communist. Times are tough with food shortages and poverty abounding. Liesel witnesses the deportation of Jews and experiences bombings on her village. She encounters a number of memorable characters as she grows up and becomes part of the Bund Deutscher Mädel, or League of German Girls. Along the way she and her friends take to stealing apples and other things we today take for granted, like books. There are some great book burning scenes, but I won't ruin them for you by telling you too much.
Highly reviewed by many, many sources. Winner of many awards.
It was hard to figure out this book at first and I almost gave up on it a number of times during the first 30 pages, but then it got less confusing. The unusual point of view of the book is first person from the view of a personification of Death. Death tells the story about how Liesel eludes him at many turns where others are taken into his grasp.

Postmistress

Postmistress: A Novel
by
Sarah Blake
adult historical fiction

I was a bit reluctant to pick up yet another romance/chick lit book set during WWII or the Civil War. I think these stories are overdone and I would rather explore a different time period. How about the Korean War? Crimean War? Spanish Civil War? War of 1812? Texas Independence? Give me something original!
That being said, this was a perfectly fine novel that follows three ladies - a gung ho American reporter that goes to London to cover the news, a doctor's wife who is left wondering about her husband working in London, and the postmistress at home in Massachusetts. They are all looking for order and sense in this seemingly senseless war. The reporter is trying to figure out what the Nazis plans for the Jews are.
I recommend this for the wide audience of 18-100 year old lady readers, but I wish she had chosen a less-explored time period. Maybe her next book will be more original.
Kudos to the author for letting her postmistress be a postmistress instead of dumbing down our language to make all females exactly the same as males. I think postmistress and aviatrix and executrix and actress are perfectly fine words that do not need to be abandoned.
- A word from the Library MISTRESS