Classics Club Meme Question

What about modern classics? Pick a book published since 2000 and say why you think it will be considered as a “classic” in the future. 

I didn’t even have to pause with this one. The Book Thief immediately popped into my mind. The book, published in Australia in 2005 and worldwide in 2006, is one of my favorites. It’s unique because it’s narrated by Death, but it deals with universal themes. 

It’s set during World War II and tells the story of a young orphaned girl, her foster family, and their small German town. I think it’s one that will stand the test of time because at this point I’ve seen it presented in so many different ways. Though the book is the absolute best, I’ve now seen it as both a movie and a play as well. I’ve read it, re-read it, listened to the audio version and each time it gets better and I notice something new. 

I think the thing that truly makes a classic a "classic" is that it's relevant to new generations and has something new to say to them. There’s no way to know for sure, but I think that in 50 years people will still be discovering this one for the first time and falling in love with the story.

Join in the fun here.

The Book Thief at the Heartland Film Festival

The Book Thief is one of my favorite books. I've loved it since I first read it in 2007. I've pushed it on friends and family members. When I heard it was being turned into a play I took to trip to Chicago to see it performed at the Steppenwolf Theatre. Then in October I was able to attend the closing night ceremony of the Heartland Film Festival. They premiered the film version of The Book Thief and followed it with a Q&A with the director and the movie's stars. 

Director Brain Percival and actors Sophie Nélisse and Geoffrey Rush answered audience questions and talked about the challenges they faced in filming. I had no idea that most of the movie was filmed in Berlin, which means many of the extras are Germans. It certainly added a layer of depth to scenes like the book burning. Percival said he looked around and saw the shame in their faces and realized how intense that scene was for them. 

There's something incredible about seeing a story you love being presented in such different mediums. Each one tells the story in a different way. A few details change, but the heart of the tale remains the same. I'm so glad I had the chance to experience The Book Thief as a play, film and book. It's a tribute to Zusak's talent as a storyteller that each of those versions are powerful in their own way. 

I hope you all get the chance to see the movie when it comes out in theaters. It really is beautifully done! 

Photos by moi. 

Top Ten Favorite Books Set During World War II

This week's Top Ten from The Broke and the Bookish asks for ten great books with the setting of our choice. I picked World War II, because I have always been drawn to those books and I feel like there are a wide variety of books set during that time period.

1) The Book Thief by Markus Zusak – One of my favorites, this novel tells the story of a young German girl during the war. Oh, and did I mention it’s told from Death’s POV?

2) Maus by Art Spiegelman – This Pulitzer-prize-winning graphic novel is about the author’s father’s time in a concentration camp. Just incredible.

3) Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein – Women are not often the focal point of WWII stories, but this gem tells the gripping fictional story of a female pilot and spy.

4) Between Shades of Grey by Ruta Sepetys – Ever wonder what was happening in Lithuania during the war? This intense book is about the work camps in Siberia.

5) Catch-22 by Joseph Heller – Finding the humor in the direst of circumstances, Heller gives the soldier’s POV.

6) Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand – Plane crash, torture, shark attacks, a nonfiction account of soldiers who survive the unimaginable in the Pacific. 

7) Milkweed by Jerry Spinelli – The Warsaw ghetto shown through the eyes of a young orphaned boy.

8) The Reader by Bernard Schlink – There are very few books that focus on the German guards during the war. This slim book handles the subject in a very personal and delicate way.

9) City of Thieves by David Benioff and The Madonnas of Leningrad by Debra Dean – Both of these books deal with Russia during WWII. One focuses on a soldier’s time and the horrors he sees, the other is more about the famous Heritage museum and the people who lived there during the war.

10) Night by Elie Wiesel and The Diary of Anne Frank by Anne Frank – Two real life accounts of the Holocaust and Jews living in hiding. They are essential for any WWII list.

Image from here. 

Top Ten Favorite Books I Read Before I Was A Blogger

This week's Top Ten from The Broke and the Bookish asks for my Top Ten Favorite Books I Read Before I Was A Blogger. I started blogging in January of 2010, so I had a lot of favorite books under my belt before then. Actually, most of them are still favorite books!

  

1) The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

2) Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt

3) The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

4) The Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling

5) To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee

6) The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams

7) Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

8) Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card

9) A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway

10) Persuasion by Jane Austen

A few bonus ones that could have made the list: A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, The History of Love, The Time Traveler's Wife, Anne of Green Gables, Nine Stories, Empire Falls, Watchmen, Gone with the Wind, Travels With Charley and 84, Charing Cross Road

The Book Thief... a Play!

I am so excited about something and I thought I'd share. The Book Thief, one of my absolute favorite books of all time, was selected as this year's One Book One Town for Chicago. As part of the festivities, author Markus Zusak collaborated with a playwright to turn his wonderful book into a stage production.

The show will be at the Steppenwolf Theatre in Chicago this fall and I have tickets!!! I will be seeing the show October 20th and I can't wait. Here's more info and here's where you can get tickets. 

I'd love to hear if any of you guys end up going!