Best Books of 2013

I've picked out the best books I read in 2013 to share with you. They weren't necessarily published in 2013, but that's when I enjoyed reading them.

The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman

I received a free copy of this Australian novel at a conference, and now that I've read it, it's firmly on my keeper shelf. Excuse me while I pinch content I wrote somewhere else.

One of 2012′s 50 Books You Can’t Put Down, M.L. Stedman’s debut novel draws us in to the lives of Tom Sherbourne and his new wife Isabel. It’s 1926 and Tom is a lighthouse keeper on a remote island off Western Australia. The logbook is supposed to keep a record Tom’s daily activities, but Isabel convinces him to leave out the entry that should read: Boat washed ashore with two occupants: father, deceased; and infant.

Isabel can’t bring herself to give up the baby girl, and Tom can’t bear to see his wife childless and unhappy. The consequences of their decision are not made clear until years later. A delicately balanced story of right and wrong, and the fog in between.

Spin by Charles Robert Wilson

Spin won the Hugo award for best sci-fi novel in 2006 but it is so much more than sci-fi. It touches on science, religion, romance, Martians and the end of the world. It's a long book, and dense. This is more of an observation than a criticism.  It’s excellent, but a bit heavy – like another favourite, Hugh Howey’s Wool – and I find I need to step away and let my mind absorb the themes.

10-year-old Tyler Dupree and his wealthy neighbours, Diane and Jason Lawton, are in the backyard together when the stars go out.  This would be Tyler's story, except that his life is so bound up with the Lawtons' he can't quite separate himself from them. The novel follows Tyler, Jason and Diane through adulthood and makes some very uncomfortable conclusions about the nature of humankind.

We learn that there is a protective barrier around the earth, keeping it from ageing as quickly as it should under the persistent heat of the sun. Earth's scientists dub the makers of the barrier, the Hypotheticals - but who are they, where are they from, and what are their motivations?

All title, no filler

The Girl in the Steel Corset by Kady Cross
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I'm nearly done reading, thank goodness. I've invested enough time that I will finish it but there's no way I'll be looking for the sequel. It had potential! The concept was interesting but the execution was a let-down. It would have been a 1-star but the writing was just decent enough (though there was a lot of show-don't-tell, awkward transitions and speech, and a thin plot). The steel corset of the title makes an appearance as armour, but is not a pivotal plot point. I think it's just there to sound cool.

I love the name Finley. I hate that she was so easily swayed by Griffin. When he came to collect her at Dandy's I wanted to slap her for being so cooperative.

Two other major plot points that have annoyed me (SPOILERS):

Duh, if someone steals a waxwork of Queen Victoria and later you find the figure's clothing and glass eyes missing, and calliper marks in the wax face, not to mention the Queen's hairbrush was stolen... Meanwhile there's a guy called The Machinist who makes automatons... did you not think earlier that he might be making a Queen automaton that looks exactly like her?
OK so I didn't guess that The Machinist would be able to create a sentient being, but I guessed the hair had to have something to do with it. Really, the sentient automaton that reacts to its surroundings and changes to suit its attackers is JUST TOO MUCH. (PS: Finley saw the wax figure before she met the Queen in person, but she was still surprised by Victoria's lack of height!?)

Griffin is supposedly rich and powerful and intelligent. Yet he hasn't previously investigated Leonardo Garibaldi? (Unless I missed something while I was slogging through this book.) Griff knew that Garibaldi had disagreed with the Queen's command to keep the Organites a secret. (side note: the overuse and frequent mention of Organites become more annoying than steles and runes in Clare's Mortal Instruments series.) Even if he hadn't put two and two together that Garibaldi was the Machinist, he could have investigated whether he was a suspect in the murder of Griffin's parents. Instead of using his influence to investigate, he uses the Aether. *facepalm*

I'm done.

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The Local Press

My flat white in its heavy blue teacup was just $3. It is creamy (I don’t do skinny coffee) and nutty and smooth. It could be a little hotter – I risk having a cold last mouthful or two. But they roast their own beans, and I can see them in the hopper, bouncing around like popcorn. The staff seems friendly, smiling even at the various small people who accompany their parents. They must had a recent shop makeover, as one of the regulars (who was called by name) says it’s become very bright and open. The man behind the counter said they’re getting a lot of good feedback and had a write-up in a magazine last week. Oh! And they make their own muffins. I will have to try one. I generally find café muffins bland and artificially over-fluffy.

 A small breakfast menu is chalked on one wall, including sourdough toast with ricotta, tahini and honey, or smoked trout with poached eggs, goats’ cheese and hollandaise. They also advertise an apple pie and cinnamon milkshake for $5.50. There’s a full menu but I haven’t taken a peek yet.

There’s a regular stream of customers – half a dozen ambulance workers, locals out for their morning walk, moms and dads in casual wear, and a few people in business clothes. There are four staff members behind the counter for the morning rush, one of whom pops out to tend to the beans. It’s amazing how fast they roast to a rich brown. Mmmm coffee!

I went back for a little pot of English Breakfast and a muffin. I picked strawberry and found mango hidden in its depths! The muffin is substantial and cakey, but in a good way - dense and perfectly baked. And the teapot has a silly bit of script on it: oh darling, darling, stand by TEA.

Zoo City: Smart, Vivid Alt-History

Zoo City by Lauren Beukes
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Fresh metaphors, an atypical heroine, and a Sloth. Add a setting of alt-universe modern-day Johannesburg and situations that you don't see coming. This book has action, a bit of blood magic, moral dilemmas, and a protagonist with a very clear voice. The writing is so vivid, you'll find yourself wanting to read some passages aloud, or at least highlight them to savour them later. If you like urban fantasy or alt-history you'll probably like it, but it's impossible to cram it into a single genre. It's smarter than the average urban fantasy novel, and social issues give it depth without seeming contrived.

I probably wouldn't have picked this book up on my own, but it was part of the Humble Bundle, and I'm glad I read it. Beukes is an author to watch.

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Family Secrets and Fairytales

The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

4 1/2 stars (spoiler-free review)

I am a great lover of readable historical fiction, and I also love grown-up fairytales. The Forgotten Garden has so many elements that make it lighter than its 547 pages would suggest. There are fairytales woven throughout the book, beautifully written scenes and settings, shifts in time and place, and family secrets revealed. Yet more secrets and things that have been "forgotten" reveal themselves as well.

Morton's writing is deft, with characters who aren't entirely good or evil; although I wanted to unravel the protagonists' stories from each of the time periods, I didn't find myself skipping over the antagonists' narratives. Each character is interesting and you can imagine that they have a backstory, and have not been created simply to wind a plot around.

The Forgotten Garden manages to be atmospheric, intelligent, and intimate, with the shadow of a family mystery thrumming at its heart.


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An Angel with Purpose

Unearthly by Cynthia Hand
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

It was a tossup between three and four stars for Unearthly, and I've gone with 4 for the following reasons:
1) I'm an adult, and if I were a young adult I would rate it 4 stars
2) It was superior to the other YA angel story I read recently, Halo by A. Adornetto.
3) It wasn't predictable, and I want to read the sequel
4) The writing was good, the main characters actually had some character, and the romance didn't make me want to switch off my Kindle in disgust.

The main character, Clara Gardner, is one-fourth angel, and as she matures on Earth, she must discover her "purpose." Clara rises to the challenge, learns to trust in her abilities even when she doesn't understand them, and doesn't just wait around for things to happen. I found it fun but not laugh out loud funny. Still, quite an enjoyable read, with room for development, and it moved at a good pace.

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A Christmas Sendoff for Elena & Clay

Hidden by Kelley Armstrong
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This novella was a welcome "tie-up-loose-ends" sort of story for Armstrong's fans of Clay and Elena. I've read most of Armstrong's novels but her werewolf ones have been my favourite. After the prologue, the story picks up in Elena's voice, pitch-perfect. Yes, she's older now (41) and has four year old twins with Clay, but she's still Elena, and now that she's Alpha-elect, the political stakes are higher.

Armstrong could have just made a warm, fuzzy, feel-good story about the holidays, but it wouldn't have felt right. Fans will be pleased to see Clay and Elena doing what they do best - researching, tracking, and keeping the Pack safe - while spending Christmas with their kids, who haven't been told Mommy and Daddy are wolves. Elena and Clay's past issues and the challenges of parenthood are deftly worked into the story, resulting in a satisfying and fun read.

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Some Pig

This afternoon I took the train to Beenleigh to see my friend's directorial debut as a musical director. The Beenleigh Theatre Group is performing a musical version of E.B. White's beloved children's book, Charlotte's Web.

Joining Charlotte and a sweet-voiced Wilbur are the selfish Templeton the rat, the goose and gander (with charming repeat-repeat-repeat lines), and a ewe and her lamb. Fern Arable is believable as the girl who saves the runt of the litter, and her interactions with her family and the animals in the barn are delightful. The song she sings to her mother ("Mama, You Don't Understand Me") echoes what many of us felt at 13.

Songs of summer, the Zuckerman barn, and spinning a web move the action and create a unique experience, even for those who are familiar with the story. Charlotte is particularly notable as she sings and dances in a cleverly designed costume. The duet between Charlotte and Wilbur ("Who Says We Can't Be Friends?") is lovely.

The show is suitable for young children, and there is an interval between acts. Autographs are available from cast members following the Sunday matinee. Programs are $4. Family tickets (2 adults, 2 children) are available for $54. See Beenleigh Theatre Group's website for more details, and to book.

Shows run Saturdays at 2pm and 7:30pm, and Sundays at 2pm, until July 9th.

Superstar at QPAC

This is what I did today.





A friend recommended I go to see the encore performance from Harvest Rain Theatre company, which ends its limited run tomorrow (Sunday). The evening show is sold out but at time of writing there are a few seats left for the 1pm. Luke Kennedy as Jesus and Naomi Price as Mary were fantastic. Kennedy's falsetto is superb, and boy, can he hold a note. He sings with emotion and power. Price put a different spin on "I Don't Know How to Love Him" and it was hard to take my eyes off her when she was onstage.


Lionel Theunissen as Pontius Pilate was a standout for me, and Caiaphas' performance was chilling. I can't find the name of the performer, unfortunately, but he had Ozzy Osborne hair and sounded absolutely amazing. The high priest's right hand (wo)man, Annas, was unfortunately difficult to understand through her high-pitched and speedy delivery of the lyrics. As I said to the woman sitting next to me, who had never seen a production of JCS before, it's not an easy score to sing! I'm not sure if the levels weren't quite right in the theatre (I grabbed a last-minute seat in the balcony of the Playhouse at QPAC) or what, but sometimes the musicians drowned out the soloists' quieter notes.


My friend and I both saw a production with Shaun Kohlman as Judas, and in today's performance there were a couple of cracked notes in his first song. He did very well in what is an extremely demanding role, but I was disappointed not to have seen the much-hyped Tod Strike as Judas. (He's the one in the video.)


For a production of this scale, you can't get much better. There were 15 musicians tucked into the edges of the set, plus the apostles and their women, plus the priests, Mary and Jesus - there were often 40 to 60 performers onstage at one time! Incredible. The choreography was tight but not full of perfect lines, which suited the mood and energy of this rock musical. The costumes used similar hues to make a pleasing patchwork across the ensemble, and the set - the interior of an ageing cathedral - had enough stairs, doorways and platforms to make it interesting.


I love the rock musical theme throughout Superstar, and I remembered the music well enough that I didn't lose the plot if I missed a line, but not so well that I could anticipate every phrase. In my last year of high school I played one of the apostles, so this musical will always have a place in my heart. Harvest Rain Theatre produced a vivid and confident production of Andrew Lloyd-Webber and Tim Rice's classic, and I look forward to seeing more from them while I'm in Brisbane.

Tea for Two

I am a big fan of tea. I don't know whether it's my British ancestry or the ceremony of making the tea, or if it's simply having a few minutes to myself to regroup, with a warm cup nestled in my hands.


My husband Jody is also a tea drinker (unless it's morning - then he needs his espresso!) so recently, we  had a mini date in Southbank at Tlicious. They offer Devonshire Tea for $7 - a scone with jam & cream, along with a personal pot of loose tea. Sweet deal!



The tea was lovely and the china wasn't too pretentious, which suited the relaxed vibe of Southbank. I had Darjeeling and Jody, Assam. The server brought a very unique timer to our table, which you can see in the photo. Depending on how strong you like your tea, the sand will tell you when to pour.

It must have been busy that day because there were no plain scones left, so we opted for chocolate chip for Jody and pumpkin for me. Usually I adore pumpkin scones, but these were too literal - plain scones dotted with soft nibbles of pumpkin. The choc chip is reportedly yummy but messy...



If you like the tea you chose, it's available inside the shop to take home. The perfect tea timer was a nice touch, and the tea and scone were of good quality. Bottom line? Recommended: for girl time, a mini-date, or a solo time-out.

French Elegance

Author: Muriel Barbery
Book: The Elegance of the Hedgehog
Language: Translated from French
Publisher: Gallic Books, 2008

A writer friend of mine urged me to read this book, so when I saw it in the airport bookshop I decided it would keep me company for the flight home from Barcelona. My copy has a beautiful cover, with dreamy-coloured French houses in twilight, a stained-glass window effect and (appropriately) elegant text. Humour and levity balance the profound thoughts of life,  culture and the delicacy of human interactions.

The hedgehog of the title is the book's main character, Renee. More cultured and observant than any concierge ought to be, Renee is a clever but understated woman who conceals her inner elegance. She is known as Madame Michel to the residents of the prestigious Paris apartment on the Left Bank. The novel is propelled by two narratives, one from Renee and the other twelve-year-old Paloma, who lives in the apartment where Renee is the concierge. Paloma is not your typical preteen. She is determined to escape what she believes is a 'predictably bourgeoise future' (Gallic, back cover copy) and is intent on writing 'profound thoughts' in her journal prior to committing suicide on her thirteenth birthday. She is one of three people who sees glimpses of the intelligence Renee tries to hide.

The characters' speech is nuanced just so, and the travails of everyday life are expressed in sure, deliberate prose. Barbery's supporting characters could easily have been empty caricatures, but each contributes to the atmosphere of Renee's Paris. The book is charming and accessible, and French down to the spine.

Forgotten Books are Dangerous

Author: Carlos Ruiz Zafon
Book: The Shadow of the Wind
Language: Translated from Spanish
Publisher: Penguin, 2005

My family is full of readers, and this past Christmas, my mother-in-law insisted I read a book she'd brought on her trip from Canada to Australia, which had been given to her by her sister in America. So this is a well-travelled book, with two satisfied readers already - and it's been on the New York Times bestseller list.

If you like gothic romance, Barcelona, dark family secrets, power struggles, bookshops and books about books, this is for you. It is overpowering and at times over the top, but its whole is masterful.

Even through the translation, Zafon's words are gorgeous. A poor translation - or a poor synopsis - would have made this novel read like a Dan Brown thriller, but instead the story builds in suspense and is full to bursting of gothic-novel-worthy settings, plot twists, violence and heartache. Above all, though, this is a "love letter to literature" (Entertainment Weekly) and to the booksellers and readers who seek out precious volumes and keep them on their shelves and in their hearts.


The novel follows Daniel Sempere, an antiquarian book dealer's son, from childhood to tortured adulthood. His father entrusts him with a great secret - the location of the Cemetery of Forgotten Books - and charges him to choose a single volume and keep it safe for the remainder of his life.

"This place was already ancient when my father brought me here for the first time, many years ago. Perhaps as old as the city itself. Nobody knows for certain how long it has existed, or who created it. I will tell you what my father told me, though. When a library disappears, or a bookshop closes down, when a book is consigned to oblivion, those of us who know this place, its guardians, make sure that it gets here. In this place, books no longer remembered by anyone, books that are lost in time, live forever, waiting for the day they will reach a new reader's hands." p. 6

When Daniel discovers that his copy of The Shadow of the Wind is the last in existence, he is mystified, and devotes his life to finding out more about its author and its publication history. But it is no accident that the author's entire canon has been destroyed, and soon Daniel is too close to the truth...

The Alexia Tarabotti Novels

Author : Gail Carriger
Series : The Parasol Protectorate
Publisher : Orbit, 2009-2010

The steampunk-esque cover for Soulless had been taunting me from the shelf for weeks, but it had the potential to be one of those books that couldn't live up to its cover blurb. So I hesitated. When one of Sydney's best sci-fi/fantasy bookstores gave it a very favourable review, I couldn't resist anymore.

* Image from The Mad Hatter's Bookshelf and Book Review

Gail Carriger packs a lot into the first novel of the Parasol Protectorate. Vampires, werewolves, the concept of "Soulless" - I won't give that away - and high tea. The series continues to build on Alexia Tarabotti's forays into the unforgiving social world of Victorian England, tempered by Carriger's stylish and humorous writing.

I had concerns that steampunk + supernatural + Victorian comedy of manners = too much goodness, and it does - but in the best possible way. Carriger's impetus for this peculiar bundle is a character-driven plot, in which England could not have maintained its autonomy without the help of supernatural forces. Vampires, you see, are masters of society and its manners. Werewolves are master tacticians. Together, the two are an unbeatable combination, and the royal family has wisely used this combination to build an indomitable England.

The books might be laden with new ideas but they are by no means heavy, and they made me laugh out loud on several occasions. Aside from Alexia, our witty but soulless heroine, there is a string of memorable and engaging characters. From werewolves in waistcoats and flamboyantly gay vampires, to a woman who is far too fond of ridiculous headgear, Alexia's acquaintances populate the pages with quirky charm. Changeless and Blameless are excellent as well, and the story speeds along with dashes of fiery romance, mischievous deeds, secret labs and dirigible flights.

This is worldbuilding at its best, and I can't wait until July 2011 for book four, Heartless.

A word of warning : don't read blurbs for books 2-5 on Gail Carriger's official website until you've read the novel previous. As River Song would say, "Spoilers!"

Getting some Zzzzzz's

I haven't felt like I've gotten quality sleep lately. It's not that I'm staying up reading Stieg Larsson - that at least it a plausible excuse for sleeplessness - I'm just waking up tired, even if I've been in bed close to 8 hours. So the question is, am I imagining the poor sleep, or is it really happening?

Browsing the apps available on Android (I got a swish new smartphone because my little cell phone just wasn't working anymore), I found something intriguing : Sleep as an Droid. I decided I'd use its two-week trial period to see if I could uncover something about my sleeping habits.

The app tracks your sleep patterns, keeps track of your sleep deficit, enables sharing (though why I'd post daily updates to facebook I don't know) and the paid version adds nature sounds to the alarm options. Plus, it has a cute logo - don't you think?

The principle is this : use the sensors in your smartphone (in my case, a Samsung Galaxy S) to determine how much you move around during the night, thus guessing what type of sleep you are in and for how long. The trick of course is that you have to put the phone on the mattress when you go to sleep, so this won't work for "burrowers" or "flailers" who may knock the phone to the floor as they doze.

The official webpage does a much better job at explaining the aim of the app:

https://sites.google.com/site/sleepasandroid/

So far, my first night's sleep looks similar to the sample graph, and I slept well last night - likely because I didn't eat too late, and we had the air conditioner on and a blanket so I felt like it was time for sleep. Napping on the couch without blankets? No problems. In fact I managed to fall asleep midway through a TV movie a few nights ago, gunshots and explosions notwithstanding.

Oh - and this isn't a single incident. See this blog for two more sleep aid apps.

On top of mapping my sleep patterns, Sleep as an Droid has a few features I'll be trying out :

• Gentle wake - begins to wake you with a pre-alarm, from 30 minutes to an hour before your set alarm, but only if it senses you are not in deep sleep
• Lullaby mode - quiets text and message alerts
• Music volume turns down as you fall asleep

I'll let you know if this is bunk or it actually works... Even if it doesn't, it might be worth it for the gentle alarm, according to other reviewers.

Winding Down

Oh, I am so happy the big conference week is over.

Yesterday I had most of the day to myself - first thing in the morning, Jody made blueberry pancakes & bacon at home, and I cleaned up after he and our three guests had left for a "code sprint." As far as I can tell, a bunch of coders and users get together and try to solve a problem using only the power of many laptops & some serious wi-fi.

I put on sunscreen and a hat, downed a glass of water, and walked to the next suburb to find the library. It was a nice walk, just under half an hour, and I walked slowly because it was noon and getting quite warm. I had my iPod (2nd gen turquoise 4G - still good!) so it was quite an enjoyable trip.

The library did indeed have the aforementioned book on the hold shelf for me, with the "J" in my name written backwards ( I guess her hearing isn't the only difficulty the staff member I spoke to has). They also had the fourth book, and I already had #3 from my last library run - so now I have books two to four of The House of Night to churn through. Yay for light reading! I wouldn't say they're phenomenal, but 1) the pace makes them hard to put down, and 2) I am trying to write a story with some similarities, and am hoping that mine isn't so parallel it will look like a House of Night rip-off. So far so good.

To those of you wondering, I'm halfway through book 2 now (Betrayed) and, while it's a fun series, I wouldn't likely read it more than once - and despite Visual Bookshelf app's combined reviews stating it's "Not to be Missed," you could miss it. But if they're at your library, you may want to pick them up for something fun - just don't expect the teenagers to actually sound like teenagers. The language is a little too clean and there are too many full sentences, compounded with the irregularities of words and phrases that are supposedly slang. Unfortunately for the Cast writing duo, teen speech is hard to master on the page. (I hope I can do a good job with my own writing - but I am definitely concerned about that.)


I meandered through Vinnies (Australia's short form of St Vincent de Paul thrift shops, aka "Op shops," yet another short form - "opportunity shops") and found a cheap towel to aid in hair-colouring, a pair of brown sandals, a short sleeved white blouse, a cute casual skirt, and FINALLY a collection of charms I can use to make a necklace I've had in my head for months. I also picked up a lovely Portmans blouse that is minus its belt, which I will be mailing to someone in Canada in the hopes it will fit.



Hungry, I chose a friendly-looking cafe and ordered a beef burgundy pie & side salad and a Sprite. It was a little while in coming to my table, but I realised that I had nowhere to be, and could simply sit at the table with my book and watch the world go by. Such a nice change from all the madness of these past several weeks. I had a serving of house-made Strachiatella ice cream to top it off, then took a walk down the main road.

The nail salon I'd already passed a few times was still busy, and I thought that must be a good sign. They had time for me, so I booked a mani-pedi and spent some time being pampered. My nails are now a lovely shiny cranberry. Usually I do my own nails (unlike most Sydneysiders) but it was such a treat to have someone else tend to them. I had just finished up when Jody called to say the code sprint was over and people were heading out for burgers, so I hopped on the tram to save time walking and met up with the nine of them for dinner.

Dinner turned naturally to drinks at our place, and later in the evening I improvised a mango and puff pastry dessert, so it was quite a nice evening, if impromptu. And plans were made for breakfast (at a cafe this time) before Code Sprint Day Two.

Corn hotcakes with poached eggs, bacon, and tomato ragout with a side of potatoes. Delicious!

It's noon now and it's been raining, so I am going to take it easy - do a load or two of laundry, make some tea, read my book. Other than taxes (due Oct 30th) I am actually winding down now. It is such a nice feeling to have my spouse paperwork done - and now the wait begins.

Scrivener Trial

I downloaded a copy of Scrivener from Literature & Latte and will be giving it a trial run on my aluminum 13" MacBook this month.

If I'm lucky, it will make it easier to make some headway on my single-chapter-long novel "Turned." Last night, I transferred the text from my Open Office file into Scrivener, which allows you to separate text into chapters and scenes. The look and feel is not too far away from iTunes, with a left-hand gutter called the 'binder' that can be turned on or off - this is where you can see the structure of your document. There's also a nifty 'corkboard' view which allows you to pin up virtual index cards with brief synopses of each chapter/scene, and makes it simple to view pieces of your work. Rearranging the pieces is easy with the Outline tool, which shows the synopsis and draft number along with the title of each section. When you're ready to see how the pieces fit together, you can either Export to a document or PDF format, or view a selection of your scenes as a continuous file within Scrivener.

There can be as few or as many chapters and scenes as you like, and each can be 'tagged' so you can keep track of which draft you're on, whether it's a scene or a concept, et cetera. In addition to text, Scrivener can be used to store all those bits of research any writer needs - photos, maps and other images, and other media such as music or video. So there's no need to have more than one program open, and everything flows together! I popped a photo into the Research 'binder' by drag-and-dropping it straight from iPhoto, and it let me resize the picture right there. Easy. And for less distraction, an annoyance second only to writers' block, there's a Full Screen Edit view that hides everything from your e-mail to the dashboard.

When I'm more familiar with Scrivener's capabilities, I'll give a more thorough review. For now, keep watching this space!

Markus Zusak's "The Book Thief" : a mini review

It's the kind of book that stuns you with its gravity. The full power of The Book Thief is not felt until its conclusion. which, like the story's narrator, Death, silently slips into your consciousness as the end nears.

Though the story itself is beautifully told, punctuated by sadness, poetic phrasing, and sketches, that shows only a hint of Zusak's craft. His WWII Nazi Germany is masterful in its scope. The dual narrators of Death and a book-hungry teen girl coexist within the world the Fuhrer believes is of his own making, and the result is an exquisitely crafted plane of words, souls and priceless gifts.

This book will stay with me. It might be the best thing you'll read this year.

***

The New York Times calls it "Brilliant and hugely ambitious...the kind of book that can be life changing."

And the Age deems it "A triumph of control... one of the most unusual and compelling of recent Australian novels."

Amazon link to The Book Thief

In case you want more info, click the link above... I have an Australian copy, with a stunning cover. I wish I had a scanner. A hooded figure is walking across a crisp, snow-covered grove in a rather bleak photograph, and bright red splotches of blood are dashed across the photo and title bar. I like it much more than the American cover shown on Amazon and Facebook's Visual Bookshelf app.