The Book Thief

by Mark Zusak

I can't say I really enjoyed this book. Set in Nazi Germany during World War II, this is not one of your feel-good, purity of heart triumphs over evil books. The narrator of the story is Death, and the author does an exceptional job of making the narration feel brittle and dry like you would expect Death to talk, and it is a perfect tone for the craziness of the time and place, but unfortunately I feel this distances the reader from the characters. Without the connection, the story drags a little long and ends with no resolution. After all, Death may not care, but we humans like some sort of closure, like an idea of how the events of the story impact the main character.

The Elegance of the Hedgehog

by Muriel Barbery

This is an interesting book to review. It was not a page turner, which I was glad for because I had my own writing and other projects to do, but it did keep my interest. While I could identify with the main characters' love of art and learning, they had cocooned themselves in their minds and their own self-importance (in a backwards way, they thought everyone else was more condescending). I kept wanting to shake them and say, "You are missing the point of life, the beauty is in the connections with other people, as feeble as we all may be." But it was a relief to read the ending; tragic as it was, they got it.

So if you want a slower paced book, give this one a chance.