The Book Thief: A Review

"I Have Hated Words and I Have Loved Them and I Hope I Have Made Them Right"

- The Book Thief

First of all, what a stunning and beautifully written novel. It was written a little differently than what I am used to but, it fit the story so well. What a heartfelt and beautiful story to be told. 

When I first heard of The Book Thief and that it took place in Germany during WW2 I knew I had to bump it up on my "To Read" list. I have always been interested in such a sad time in our world's history. I enjoyed Elie Weisel's "Night" and I have read Anne Frank's "Diary of a Young Girl" at least 3 times. I have also seen "Schindler's List" a few times, although long and sad. I think what gets me the most is that, in a sense of time, it is recent history. There are still people living who remember it quite vividly, including my 90 year old Grandfather. 

The book is narrated by Death. Morbid right? Not at all. It makes death seem more peaceful and not alone. I loved that it was narrated by "someone", for lack of a better word, who had the outside set of eyes, who seemed to love this tale just as much as the reader would. I also loved how they told you what was going to happen in the book but then, at the end, it is not what you expected and all the pieces fit together. 

Liesel Meminger is an extraordinary character. She is full of love, hate, confusion, innocence, and memories. She cherishes all of it. She knows the world that she lives in is not a fair one but, that speaking out about it would deem dire consequences for her and her family. I think her innocence saves her on more than one occasion. 

Her friendship with Rudy is one that everyone can relate to. They play nice, they play mean, they get into mischief and they do what they need to do to survive this war torn world that they live in. It made me think of how simple childhood is while at the same time, all the challenges that youth face since they don't always understand why things are the way that they are, especially in war torn Germany. 

Then there is the character of Max, I felt like he really showed what it was like to be Jewish in Germany during World War 2. The secrets, the hiding, the hatred, and the longing for things to be better. I think I liked Leisel's character the best when she was in the company of Max. Her innocence truly shone while in his presence but, he ignited the spark in her that would never be put out. 

The story itself was reminiscent of other WW2 stories that I previously mentioned. You can feel the fear of the world during that time and the sadness that encompassed the people of Europe as war raged on in their backyards. The sacrifices they made and the way they survived. I always feel like the stories are heroic even though they are of ordinary people since it took heroism to survive war torn Europe if you were not a prominent member of the Nazi party.  

I do not wish to share much more with you because I think this is a book that has to be read and appreciated. I think it is a novel that will become a classic and hopefully be read for years and years to come. 

Cleaning OUT!

So as I was browsing through Facebook I saw a link someone had posted to another blog which had a post entitle 40 Bags in 40 Days 2014 Challenge and had a picture of a trash bag. Naturally, as a clutterbug married to a hoarder, this intrigued me. So, I clicked on it to find a wondrous blog about cleaning out over a period of 40 days, kind of like Lent!  

To give a brief overview, you fill a bag a day, no matter the size, with clutter from certain places in your house. You can also choose to donate, sell, etc things that you do not want/need. You can make a list of the places you want to tackle and then take the 40 days to tackle them. I would suggest clicking on the link where she has created printables for you to use and goes into further detail if you are completely interested. 

So, since my husband is gone most of the time because the Navy likes to steal him away from me, I thought this would be a great challenge to spring clean our house. Especially since not only am I not Catholic but, I also do not enjoy giving up chocolate or cookies for Lent. 

So my first project... our "catch all" table, otherwise known as the dining room table (that we obviously never use). It looked like this...

It's okay, I am appalled as well. It's almost embarrassing to put this out there but, such is the challenge. I knew it wouldn't take long for me to get through it, I just had to tackle it. 

20 minutes later it looked like this...

Amazing, there is a table top there! I had to put the box under the table since I had already wheeled the trash can to the end of the driveway. I plan to get a mail holder to hang on the wall this weekend so I can remove the mail from the table. I am also going to mail those books off to my step-children and throw the dogs soccer ball outside when it isn't raining. So, a work in progress obviously but, still looks much better! 

My husband is gone until mid-March and then leaves again at the beginning of April so, I will have plenty of time to de-clutter the house! 

Here are some of my other projects...

Alas, my poor bookshelf. More books than space and in need of organization. This isn't half my books, the others take up a shelf in the extra bedroom plus a few boxes in the closet. No, they will not be going anywhere, just getting organized!

This is the spare room and where my step-children's toys are kept. Since they live far away and we only see them every two months or so, this really needs to be organized. I have a treadmill in that room that I use and several shelves that need organizing as well!

This hateful hall closet. You might think, "This looks great!". Don't be fooled my friends. We never use this closet because those coats are stuffed so tightly that we can't get one out without knocking three more down. Also, the things on those shelves, haven't been touched since we moved in here two years ago, I think I can clear some of that out! 

I hope you will join in on the challenge. I think it's great! Click on the link above for all the juicy details!