It isn’t often that there are reviews of books on this website, and I’m pretty sure the time for them has arrived. I just finished reading a book entitled “The Book Thief,” and I have never been so pleasantly happy to escape the world of “Twilight” and “Harry Potter.” Though I love all of those books and subject myself to their contents often, “The Book Thief” quenched a thirst I simply didn’t know that I had.

Narrated by Death, which is a whole story within itself, “The Book Thief” follows the life of a young girl growing up in Nazi Germany, and saying much more than that would give away the integrity of the book entirely. It’s different. It’s moving. It’s totally weird and completely refreshing. Though it is not a new book on the scene, it’s a new book in my world and I simply had to share it. Given to me by senior and avid lover of the book Elizabeth Eikmann, “The Book Thief” kept me entertained and wanting more with every passing page.

As I read, I fell in love with every character, and by the end I felt every twinge of emotion they felt. I know the characters are fiction, and that they don’t exist, but it seems to me a tragedy that Liesel Meminger never took a breath, or read a word. It bothers me to no end that Rudy Steiner was never in love with his best friend, Liesel. That’s how closely this book dug into my chest cavity. I lived with these characters, and everyone should get the chance to do the same.

So, If you need to read a new book, read “The Book Thief” by Markus Zusak. Grow up with Liesel Meminger in her fictional tale, in the very real Nazi Germany.