My guests today are: Malcolm Martland, Babs Simpson, Maggie Perkovic & unfortunately no Brian Lowen as he’s gone to the mainland so we won’t hear his review of Peter James ‘The Truth’ today. Well this is the show before Easter weekend, what are you guys doing, do you still buy easter eggs/chocolate? With Friday, Monday and the weekend off I look forward to sitting down with my head in a book…..maybe a cuppa tea and a bit of chocci to go with it tho. I’ve gotta say Malcolm, its thanks to you that I started to read the first in the trilogy of Stieg Larsson (Girl With the Dragon Tattoo) thank you very much, I have been engrossed in it, it’s a thinking persons crime thriller, I don’t want it to end!!
Anyway, stick around and listen to the reviews of Kurt Wallander, Rachel Hore (that’s spelt Hore), and Joanna Trollope, plus if we have time a Harlan Coben.
I will be looking at those top 10 books of the decade too, so join us after the ads and the weather on the bookshow .
Whats in the bestsellers today - well top three are Stieg Larsson!
Malcolm & Babs favourite 'Love reading book of the decade': The Book Thief by Markus Zusak and Maggies was: The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini.
Showing posts sorted by relevance for query Markus Zusak. Sort by date Show all posts
Showing posts sorted by relevance for query Markus Zusak. Sort by date Show all posts
Monday, 5 April 2010
Wednesday, 5 November 2008
Markus Zusak - The Book Thief
Review by showhost 6th November 2008:
Winter,1939, Nazi Germany. Leisel Meminger, 9yrs old, was on a train with her mother & brother. Their mother, branded a “Kommunist” by the Nazis and unable to afford the care of her children, was taking them to a foster home in Munich. Leisels brother is very sick, he is coughing and Death stops to visit - he collects a soul, leaving only two to continue the journey. Leisel & her mother carry him off the train and bury him in the unknown town. One of the gravediggers dropped his book in the snow. A little black book entitled 'The Gravediggers Handbook'. Leisel picked it up and put it in her pocket. She couldn't read but the words (written or spoken) mesmirise her. At this point Leisel becomes known as the book thief.
Liesel’s mother leaves her with her foster parents, Hans & Rosa Hubermann, in the hope they will feed and educate Liesel.
The story, is narrated by death. It follows Liesels life in Munich leading up to & during the bombing, the Hitler movement and the treatment of the Jews. It tracks her relationship with her foster parents, especially Hans, who teaches her to read and earns the little money he has from painting and playing the accordion. Liesel has a different relationship with the stern, disciplinarian Rosa her fostermother, who ekes out money by doing peoples laundry. One of her customers is the mayor and during Liesels job of collecting and delivering this laundry one day, she takes a book from their vast library. The second book theft.
Liesel makes one very special friend, Rudy Steiner, who is obsessed with the black athlete Jesse Owens and Liesel. All Rudy wants is a kiss off Liesel but he never gets one, while he is alive.
Liesel & her foster family's life change when they hide a Jew in their basement. Liesel begins to read to him and he sketches stories using whitewashed pages from a copy of Mein Kampf to draw on. They live the rest of the war in fear of being found out.
What makes this book so different is the fact that it is narrated by death. It is classed as a 'young adult' book. The characters, once you get into the book, are warm and real and once you get halfway into the book events start to become absorbing. The author deals with the parading and whipping of the Jews through the streets, the differences between the committed Nazi and the ones, like Hans, who live in fear of reprisals for not following Hitlers words, with such insight.
If I hadn't been told to read this book for our book group meeting, I would have given up after 10 pages. I have to admit to flicking through some of the 'monotonous' pages.
It reminds me of the Diary of Anne Frank, though told from a third person perpective by Death (aka the Grim Reaper) himself.
Winter,1939, Nazi Germany. Leisel Meminger, 9yrs old, was on a train with her mother & brother. Their mother, branded a “Kommunist” by the Nazis and unable to afford the care of her children, was taking them to a foster home in Munich. Leisels brother is very sick, he is coughing and Death stops to visit - he collects a soul, leaving only two to continue the journey. Leisel & her mother carry him off the train and bury him in the unknown town. One of the gravediggers dropped his book in the snow. A little black book entitled 'The Gravediggers Handbook'. Leisel picked it up and put it in her pocket. She couldn't read but the words (written or spoken) mesmirise her. At this point Leisel becomes known as the book thief.
Liesel’s mother leaves her with her foster parents, Hans & Rosa Hubermann, in the hope they will feed and educate Liesel.
The story, is narrated by death. It follows Liesels life in Munich leading up to & during the bombing, the Hitler movement and the treatment of the Jews. It tracks her relationship with her foster parents, especially Hans, who teaches her to read and earns the little money he has from painting and playing the accordion. Liesel has a different relationship with the stern, disciplinarian Rosa her fostermother, who ekes out money by doing peoples laundry. One of her customers is the mayor and during Liesels job of collecting and delivering this laundry one day, she takes a book from their vast library. The second book theft.
Liesel makes one very special friend, Rudy Steiner, who is obsessed with the black athlete Jesse Owens and Liesel. All Rudy wants is a kiss off Liesel but he never gets one, while he is alive.
Liesel & her foster family's life change when they hide a Jew in their basement. Liesel begins to read to him and he sketches stories using whitewashed pages from a copy of Mein Kampf to draw on. They live the rest of the war in fear of being found out.
What makes this book so different is the fact that it is narrated by death. It is classed as a 'young adult' book. The characters, once you get into the book, are warm and real and once you get halfway into the book events start to become absorbing. The author deals with the parading and whipping of the Jews through the streets, the differences between the committed Nazi and the ones, like Hans, who live in fear of reprisals for not following Hitlers words, with such insight.
If I hadn't been told to read this book for our book group meeting, I would have given up after 10 pages. I have to admit to flicking through some of the 'monotonous' pages.
It reminds me of the Diary of Anne Frank, though told from a third person perpective by Death (aka the Grim Reaper) himself.
Friday, 1 January 2010
New Years Eve show 2009
What was your favourite book of 2009 and least favourite? That was the question I put to my guests (Maggie Perkovic, Ro Bennett & Babs Simpson) and the listeners. Also visitors & possibly a local or two, logged their favourites throughout the year. So here's what my guests had to say:
Ro's favourite: Janet Evanovitch - Finger Lickin 15. Ro loves the humour of her books and looks forward to the next year when the follow on comes along.
Ro's least favourite: Susan Hill - The Beacon. The story was boring, the characters easily forgetable and the plot? It left Ro wondering what was that about?
Masggie's favourite: The Great Lover by Jill Dawson: Maggie loves this era early 1900's, and really enjoyed reading about Rupert Brooke, who was held up as a glamorous romantic poet,(see her review on this blog).
Maggie's least favourite: Jacky Trevane - Invisible women: Maggie enjoyed the first book 'Fatwa' but didn't enjoy this one as she felt it was just cashing in on other peoples tales.
Bab's favourite: Markus Zusak - The Book Thief: Death is a brilliant character in this very unusual book. It is beautifully written and set in the WW2 era which Babs loves. But on a par was 'Guernsey Potato Peel Pie and Literary Society' written by Annie Barrows & Mary Ann Shaffer. Again set in 1940's during WW2 it told of the German Occupation of Guernsey through letters.
Bab's least favourite: Victoria Hislop - The Return: Babs loved the Island (based on a Cretan leper colony) but this book set during the Spanish civil war was a disappointment. I felt that I was reading an article from an encyclopaedia and the story around it was dull and predictable. I had to agree with Babs on this one!
Some listeners comments:
Steve Watt: Best Book - undoubtedly 'Wolf Hall' by Hilary Mantel A brilliant historical novel but I have to put a word in for Cormac McArthy's 'Border Trilogy' (see reviews in this blog). As for the worst I only managed the first three pages of 'The Lost Symbol' by Dan Brown - admirably and accurately described by the Guardian as 'a steaming pile of clunk.'
Ellie: best & worst both by same author Stephanie Meyer. Best, 'Eclipse', because it had a lot of action and bit of gore. Worst, 'New Moon',because nothing much happened in it.
Win Grant: Best book Hilary Mantel - Wolf Hall
Toby (St Martins Bakery): Jose Saramago - Blindness
Here's what the visitors said:
BOOK, AUTHOR & COMMENTS
Paul Torday - Salmon fishing in the Yemen: excellent read, unusual, reminds me of tv series 'yes misister'
Dodie Smith - I capture the Castle: My favourite book ever! Especially the bit with the escaped bear on the train
Jo Verity - Sweets From Morocco:I wrote it!
Edwar Cummings - Ghosts of Rosevear: Very interesting - and a good read too based on an island off St Agnes
Mark Haddon - The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nightime: About autisitic boy sometimes amusing & shocking, a real insight
Thomas Bloor - Worm in the Blood: Wonderful love story that shouldn't work but really does make me cry
Tom Rob-Smith - child 44: Gripping crime novel set in Stalinist Russia. Realistic and ultimately haunting
Ian Sansom - The Case of the Missing Books: Quicrky & humourus novel about a Jewish librarian who takes up a job in Ireland only to find all the books missing
John Connelly - Bad Men: Spooky crime thriller set on an island off the coast of Maine USA
Sue Monk Kidd - The Secret Life of Bees A wonderful story out of nowhere which sends you on a roller coaster of emotions but end up feel good. Set at the start of the 1960's civil rights movement.
Gabriel Garcia Marquez - 100 years of Solitude a complex & involving story of one family in South America. It slowly tells a potted history of the continent as seen through eccentric eyes.
Terry Pratchett - Unseen Academicals: Brilliant!
Stephanie Meyer - Twilight Saga: NEVER a fan of romance, but enjoyed Twilight! Currently curbing my obsession!
My favourite? Chris Cleave 'The Other Hand', it really made me stop and think differently about some of the plights of immigrants held in detention centres.
Worst: Spies of Warsaw by Alan Furst: boring & dull and I didn't care what happened to the characters (who were they anyway?).
Happy New Year to all! (definition of a hangover: Wrath of Grapes!)
Ro's favourite: Janet Evanovitch - Finger Lickin 15. Ro loves the humour of her books and looks forward to the next year when the follow on comes along.
Ro's least favourite: Susan Hill - The Beacon. The story was boring, the characters easily forgetable and the plot? It left Ro wondering what was that about?
Masggie's favourite: The Great Lover by Jill Dawson: Maggie loves this era early 1900's, and really enjoyed reading about Rupert Brooke, who was held up as a glamorous romantic poet,(see her review on this blog).
Maggie's least favourite: Jacky Trevane - Invisible women: Maggie enjoyed the first book 'Fatwa' but didn't enjoy this one as she felt it was just cashing in on other peoples tales.
Bab's favourite: Markus Zusak - The Book Thief: Death is a brilliant character in this very unusual book. It is beautifully written and set in the WW2 era which Babs loves. But on a par was 'Guernsey Potato Peel Pie and Literary Society' written by Annie Barrows & Mary Ann Shaffer. Again set in 1940's during WW2 it told of the German Occupation of Guernsey through letters.
Bab's least favourite: Victoria Hislop - The Return: Babs loved the Island (based on a Cretan leper colony) but this book set during the Spanish civil war was a disappointment. I felt that I was reading an article from an encyclopaedia and the story around it was dull and predictable. I had to agree with Babs on this one!
Some listeners comments:
Steve Watt: Best Book - undoubtedly 'Wolf Hall' by Hilary Mantel A brilliant historical novel but I have to put a word in for Cormac McArthy's 'Border Trilogy' (see reviews in this blog). As for the worst I only managed the first three pages of 'The Lost Symbol' by Dan Brown - admirably and accurately described by the Guardian as 'a steaming pile of clunk.'
Ellie: best & worst both by same author Stephanie Meyer. Best, 'Eclipse', because it had a lot of action and bit of gore. Worst, 'New Moon',because nothing much happened in it.
Win Grant: Best book Hilary Mantel - Wolf Hall
Toby (St Martins Bakery): Jose Saramago - Blindness
Here's what the visitors said:
BOOK, AUTHOR & COMMENTS
Paul Torday - Salmon fishing in the Yemen: excellent read, unusual, reminds me of tv series 'yes misister'
Dodie Smith - I capture the Castle: My favourite book ever! Especially the bit with the escaped bear on the train
Jo Verity - Sweets From Morocco:I wrote it!
Edwar Cummings - Ghosts of Rosevear: Very interesting - and a good read too based on an island off St Agnes
Mark Haddon - The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nightime: About autisitic boy sometimes amusing & shocking, a real insight
Thomas Bloor - Worm in the Blood: Wonderful love story that shouldn't work but really does make me cry
Tom Rob-Smith - child 44: Gripping crime novel set in Stalinist Russia. Realistic and ultimately haunting
Ian Sansom - The Case of the Missing Books: Quicrky & humourus novel about a Jewish librarian who takes up a job in Ireland only to find all the books missing
John Connelly - Bad Men: Spooky crime thriller set on an island off the coast of Maine USA
Sue Monk Kidd - The Secret Life of Bees A wonderful story out of nowhere which sends you on a roller coaster of emotions but end up feel good. Set at the start of the 1960's civil rights movement.
Gabriel Garcia Marquez - 100 years of Solitude a complex & involving story of one family in South America. It slowly tells a potted history of the continent as seen through eccentric eyes.
Terry Pratchett - Unseen Academicals: Brilliant!
Stephanie Meyer - Twilight Saga: NEVER a fan of romance, but enjoyed Twilight! Currently curbing my obsession!
My favourite? Chris Cleave 'The Other Hand', it really made me stop and think differently about some of the plights of immigrants held in detention centres.
Worst: Spies of Warsaw by Alan Furst: boring & dull and I didn't care what happened to the characters (who were they anyway?).
Happy New Year to all! (definition of a hangover: Wrath of Grapes!)
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