The Book Thief, or What Books Do You Most Want to Share?

I read The Book Thief in 2007, and it blew me away.  I’d always been drawn to books about some aspect of World War II (the first I can remember reading is Starring Sally J. Freedman as Herself by Judy Blume when I was a young girl), but The Book Thief re-ignited my passion…er…obsession.  It’s been on my list of favorite books since then, and I couldn’t wait to share it with my daughter when she was a bit older.

Fast forward to last week.  The Girl was lounging on my bed just chatting about whatever while I was organizing my stacks of unread WWII books.  The Book Thief was in the pile because I wanted to re-read it at some point, and it caught The Girl’s eye, as she’s now at the stage where my book shelves are more interesting than hers and she’s constantly asking me whether this book or that book is appropriate for her to read.  When she begged to read The Book Thief with me, I couldn’t resist.  A chance to share one of my all-time favorite books with a girl who loves to read as much as I do, who also is drawn to WWII books, who actually likes watching the History Channel documentaries about that period with me?  I couldn’t pass up the opportunity.

I knew I’d made the right choice, first when she told me we couldn’t take turns reading aloud anymore because she wanted to lean back with her eyes closed and picture the story while I read solo.  Next, when she kept shouting, “One more chapter!  One more chapter!” and nearly cried when I told her she really had to get to bed or her father would be angry at both of us come morning.  And then, when Death does his foreshadowing, she gasps and says, “Oh, no!” in that absorbed and please-please-don’t-tell-me-something-bad-will-happen-to-my-favorite-characters kind of way.  And also when she laughs at the same parts I remember laughing at, or when she so maturely tells me that people are wrong if they think all Germans were bad during the war because Liesel and Hans are German and they aren’t bad.

We’re a little over 100 pages from the end, and I’m anxiously waiting to see if the book makes her cry the way it made me cry…and whether I’ll cry again the second time around.  I can’t wait to share my thoughts next week about re-reading the book, including The Girl’s reactions and thoughts and what it was like to share a book that means a lot to me in a way that I can’t even describe.  Maybe I’ll try to put all that into words.

So this got me thinking about other books I’d like to share with her some day.  Jane Austen’s novels, The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan, The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien, Night by Elie Wiesel come to mind right away, and I’m sure I could think of more, but the poor girl needs to choose books on her own, too, right? 🙂

Now I want to hear from you:  What books do you love so much you want to share them with your children (or anyone really) at some point??  If you’ve already shared a beloved book, please tell me about your experience, whether they loved it as much as you did or how you handled them not liking it at all.  Do tell, please!

© 2012 Anna Horner of Diary of an Eccentric. All Rights Reserved. Please do not reproduce or republish content without permission.