The Book Thief

by Martin Zusak
New York : Alfred A. Knopf, 2007.

Death narrates the story of Liesel Meminger, a nine-year-old girl who goes to live with foster parents Hans and Rosa Hubermann in the late 1930s Germany.

I first read this when it came out in the United States in 2006, and read it this time around for a book group. I was shocked to find that while I had the impression of the book - a thought-and-tear-provoking read - deeply ingrained, I didn't remember much of the story at all. As a result, this reread was just as powerful and moving as I remember my first being. Death as the narrator is eminently appropriate, not only because of the subject matter but because, while he is sympathetic, he makes observations of humans as an outsider. This is at once a troubling and beautiful read that I highly recommend.

Frontier Wolf

by Rosemary Sutcliff
New York : Dutton, 1981, c1980.

Alexios is twenty-three, young to be as highly ranked as he is in the Roman Eagles, but his uncle is the Dux Britanniarum, and he has risen quickly. When his superior, Centurion Critos, is killed in battle young Alexios suddenly finds himself in command, and he makes an ill-fated decision. Now, he faces the consequences and is sent to the north to lead the Frontier Wolves. Can he ever recover from his mistakes and earn the respect of these men?

I've been slowly reading through the Dolphin Cycle series in chronological order, leading up to the book that I own, The Lantern Bearers. Up until this title, I've been enjoying the books alright, but a little bemused at how lauded Rosemary Sutcliff is. Frontier Wolf changed that for me. I found myself drawn in by the rich descriptions, slowing my reading down so that I could pick up on details (if I blinked and scanned a page too fast, I found that I had missed key information about a character or a season change). The plot unfolds slowly, so that for the first half of the book I wondered where it was going to end, and for the second half I realized how inevitable the results were. There is nothing to mark these as exclusively children's books: the main character is in his twenties, and the pace develops slowly while the characters and description carry the book for some time. Not to mention, this one deals with war in a very realistic way and had such a melancholy tone. I don't think most children would pick up on the nuances of the story, but perhaps I do not give young readers as much credit as the author obviously does. While it's not perfect - the dialog still sounds stilted at times, for example - this book left me excited to read the next book in the series.

Wonder

by R.J. Palacio
New York : Alfred A. Knopf, 2012.

August Pullman, Auggie for short, is going to start fifth grade this year. He's been homeschooled all along, because he's needed multiple surgeries and has a genetic disorder that means he just doesn't look like other people. Told in multiple voices, Wonder tells the story of his first year in school, dealing with the challenges of family and friends from the perspective of a person whom people look at differently because of his appearance.

I found this story heartwarming and powerful. I rooted for Auggie, and really loved him as a character. He acknowledges that people see him as different, but because of the parts of the story in his perspective, we also see that inside, he's just a normal 10-year-old kid. We can also see the perspectives of his sister, Via, and a boy at school, Jack. Each voice is unique and adds to the overall picture readers have of Auggie and the challenges he faces in school. If you loved Rules by Cynthia Lord, I highly recommend this book as well. Not many books make me cry: this one did.

The Goblin War

by Hilari Bell
New York : HarperTeen, 2011.

Previously reviewed The Goblin Wood and The Goblin Gate. Makenna, Tobin and the goblins want to leave the Otherworld before it drains their magic and their lives. Tobin is so sick that Makenna is desperate to cast another gate. Meanwhile, Jeriah begins to realize that despite Master Lazur's contemptible methods, he was right about one thing: the barbarian threat makes relocation necessary, despite the fact that none of the lords want to leave their lands. Can he convince the Hierarch that anything Lazur wanted could be good for the Realm?

The Goblin War wraps up The Goblin Wood trilogy fairly satisfactorily. All three characters are given equal time as they work apart but together to save the Realm from the Duri (the barbarians) and their odd magic. This series is a bit younger and not as complex as some of Bell's others, which may be why it's not one of my absolute favorites (in case you're wondering, those would be The Farsala Trilogy and the Knight and Rogue novels). The ending was a bit rushed after the climax, and I still had some questions about what would happen when I turned the last page. Still, this is a fast-paced, imaginative fantasy, and I enjoyed the time spent reading it.

Defending Jacob

by William Landay
New York : Delacorte Books, c2012.

Andy Barber, the first assistant DA in Newton, recounts the horrible murder of his son's classmate, Ben Rifkin, and his attempt to find Ben's killer, until he is taken off the case because evidence seems to point to his son, Jacob.

Can you imagine a more terrible thing than your child being accused of murder? Barber's story is harrowing in more ways than one. We jump right into the story with Andy being interviewed by a former co-worker in a grand jury indictment - just exactly what this indictment is and for whom, we don't know, but the pace drives towards the merging of these two story lines as the reader starts to imagine what really happened one fall day before school started. This is the rare book that I'm absolutely wowed by but don't think I could ever reread because it was so emotionally draining. I highly recommend this, even more so if you can find someone to read and discuss it with.

Bitterblue

by Kristin Cashore
New York, NY : Dial Books, 2012.

**Spoiler warning for Graceling.**

When we first met Bitterblue, she was a scared ten-year-old girl fleeing her father, King Leck, who had the terrifying ability to change people's perception of reality. Katsa and Po rescued her then; eight years later, they are still her friends as she attempts to heal Monsea from Leck's reign and determine the truth of what happened while he was king. She starts leaving the castle dressed as a servant, and finds that someone does not want to let the truth get out.

Bitterblue brings together the stories of Graceling and Fire, showing us the aftereffects of the rule of a twisted, sick man. She is young, though, and doesn't know a lot about what happened during her father's reign, nor can she lean on her memories as being accurate because of Leck's Grace. I read this fast - over two evenings - so I'm still reeling a little bit trying to frame my thoughts in a way that make sense. I had some niggling issues with how it seemed that Bitterblue's escapades in the city are at the convenience of moving the plot forward, but again, since I was reading so fast I'm not sure that there weren't some clues as to why she leaves when that I skipped right over in my thirst to know what happens next.

Overall, I found it a satisfying read and would probably reread the series in a few years given the chance.

Hit Lit

Hit Lit: Cracking the Code of the Twentieth Century's Biggest Bestsellers
by James W. Hall
New York : Random House Trade Paperbacks, c2012.

When I think of capital-L Literature, I usually think of what you read in high school and college: tomes or thematically difficult books that I analyzed to death as an English major. So it surprised me to discover in the foreword of Hit Lit, an exploration of bestsellers, that author James W. Hall had his start in academia with a specialization in postmodern literature. When he had this idea to teach bestsellers - and not just your run-of-the-mill gets on the list for a few weeks and then drops away, but multimillion copies selling still popular books - he discovered that these books had several things in common.

He focuses on the following twelve titles:

• Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
• The Godfather by Mario Puzo
• The Dead Zone by Stephen King
• Valley of the Dolls by Jacqueline Susann
• The Hunt for Red October by Tom Clancy
• The Exorcist by William Peter Blatty
• Jaws by Peter Benchley
• Peyton Place by Grace Metalious
• To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee
• Bridges of Madison County by Robert James Waller
• The Firm by John Grisham
• The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown

I recommend that you read the books on the list that you intend to before tackling Hit Lit, unless you don't mind massive spoilers. If you haven't read some titles, or don't intend to, the Appendix has an overview of the plot of each. Hall explains why he chose each book, and then goes on to argue what they have in common and what the American public finds so appealing about them, including elements such as the pace and sympathetic charaters. Hall's points are thought-provoking, though his comments about each book did get a little repetitive; since I tended to read it in large chunks, I hadn't had time to forget the last time he mentioned some examples that get repeated when making a different point later. He is tongue-in-cheek at times, but generally is not snobby in his approach and truly seems to have respect for popular reading. An entertaining and sometimes thought-provoking read.