Favorite (um?) Friday: Book

Ok... blogger fail. I do recognize that it is now Tuesday, but I couldn't not put this up just because I missed Friday last week somehow!

I wanted to tell you about my favorite book. Well, one of them at least. I LOVE reading, and pretty much fall in love with any book that I'm reading at the moment. I can't help it! I get sucked in and even as I close the book, my mind remains cocooned in the pages of some far off, fictional place and I imagine what the characters are doing and thinking and saying between point A and point B. When I was younger, I used to walk around with a book in one hand and my nose shoved into the pages, breathing in the smell of ink and glue that always sang of possibility and hope to me. Reading can transport you anywhere in the world and you can experience things beyond your own imagination. You can crawl into other people's minds and explore times and places that would otherwise remain mysteries. But I don't mean to wax romantic about reading...

One of the last books, that I really, really, REALLY loved was The Book Thief. And, yes, I read it like five years ago, and, yes, you have probably read it by now because everyone and their mother has had it recommended to them, but if there is any chance that you have not read it yet then GO. NOW. The movie just came out, and I think we can all agree that you must read the book before you see the movie because the book is always better.

The Book Thief follows the story of an orphan girl during WWII and it is narrated by Death. It is fantastically written with the most beautiful and poetic descriptions and even though He tells you what is going to happen from the beginning you don't realize it until it is too late and then you're sobbing for your friends on these pages and begging for things to be different. But they can't be, because that was life and fate and even when it's terrible and tragic, it is incredibly exquisite. Plus, I have a thing for WWII books. The characters are always fantastically strong and I think it is because the people of that time were truly strong people.

I'll leave you with the preview to the movie, just in case I haven't convinced you yet. But seriously. Do yourself a favor and just read it.