Page by page...

I've had a lot of downtime in the past weeks, nursing this useless arm. In this time i have truly contemplated many things. At the end of the day, braking my arm has afforded me a chance to examine my life and the choices i make. I am really happy with the direction i'm headed.

On a less existential note, i have been reading like crazy. It's my new hobby. At any given point and at any given place you will find me with one novel and one cycling magazine. The periodicals get systematically digested, each flimsy page wrung dry of words, while the novel's pages are turned slowly, with a new found loving attention. I walk around downtown with my head down, eyes tracing lines from left to right, left to right. I've yet to stumble out in front of a car, thank god.

Since this is how i'm spending my time, i thought i'd share a little about the books i'm invested in, in hopes that someone reading this might pick them up.

Book Number One: Please, please read this book



The Book Thief is truly one of the most magically constructed books i've read in a very long time. Every book that i have read that truly sticks with me has something that instantly inspires me. There are almost too many with this this book. If i had to pick one quality of The Book Thief that has changed the way i look at literature, it is the vividness of Markus Zusak's descriptions. He manipulates the very being of your senses. You have no control as you smell, hear, see, and feel what he writes. Every page has hidden shallow in it's layers one, if not many, gems. As simple as a sentence, these gems will stop you. your eyes explore them, you are lost in wonder. This writing is truly beautiful.

The story itself is a refreshing departure from the tragically necessary, yet overwhelmingly huge volume of writings dealing with Nazi Germany. It takes the perspective of a young german girl, living with foster parents in a poor suburb of Munich during World War II. The relationships she builds shape the story that is told by death himself. The people in this story will haunt you long after you set the book down, closing the cover on the final page. To say the characters become familiar would be a pure understatement, as you truly fall in love with everyone, feeling the raw sinews of humanity stretched farther than they should ever be. Please, please, read this book.