Added to My List of Favorites (and maybe even to my collection . . .)

There's nothing like a good book.

When I find a novel that

*forces me to skip ahead to the last page to see what happens,
*gets me thinking/worrying about the characters as though they were real people, or
*makes me give the book to Jason the moment it's finished so I can talk to him about it ASAP

. . . well, that's a good book.

I love it when I'm reading something I can't put down . . . and literally carry around everywhere I go in case I get a minute to read here or there. And it's not really unusual for me to feel this way about what I'm reading.



Once in a while, though, I like a book even MORE than all that . . . and then I have to add it to my list of all-time favorites. There is simply no other choice!

Until yesterday, the last time this had happened was February 2008 when I read A Thousand Splendid Suns.

Yesterday, however, everything changed when I finished The Book Thief. Yes, the universe as we knew it ceased to exist as my list of favorite novels was extended by one :)



Seriously, though, this was a good book!

The overall concept of the book is unique and artistic, the story is thought-provoking and nicely paced, even the sentences are beautifully crafted--but the depth and believability of the characters is what I found most incredible.

The back cover calls The Book Thief "the most talked-about book of 2006," so this might be old news to most of you . . . and it does make me feel a little behind the times (where have I been?), but for anyone (like me) who hasn't encountered it yet . . . it is my humble opinion that you should read it!

I think I might even have to steal the book from the person who lent it to me and become a book thief myself just to show my enthusiasm for the novel.

It is that good :)