by Markus Zusak, 2005, Alfred A. Knopf, New York

Very interesting book about a German family in WWII.  The narrator of the book is Death and he has a sense of humor and a personality.  This approach reminds me a bit of C.S. Lewis’ book, The Screwtape Letters,  where the devil was the narrator.

The characters in the book were also interesting but perhaps not as fully developed as they might have been.  Also, I wish the book had tied in a bit more with the progression of the war.  Stalingrad and the effects it had on the neighbors who lived next door was incorporated, but the realization that the Germans were losing the war didn’t seem to enter the novel.

Despite some shortcomings, this is a worthwhile book to read.