Chosen by: Kelli
Location: Chino Latino in Uptown Mpls
Can't believe it's already time for another limo tour!!! We met at Chino Latino and all ordered small plates and shared. The food is so yummy there that you really can't go wrong. We all were able to make it this year which is thrilling!! The limo picked us up and away we went for another year of wine, giggles and crazy gawdy lights. Actually this year we toured some of the more classy neighborhoods. We jumped out for another picture on some random steps and when we got back to the restaurant, some of us just weren't quite ready to call it quits, so we went over to Calhoun Square and had some Bailey's and coffee and wound down the night.
This book was one of my favorites we have ever read from book club. At the time of the meeting, I had not finished it, only Christina and Kelli had, and they both really enjoyed it, but I did finish it over Christmas and I loved it! It was so unique and emotional and suspenseful, and I was sad when it was over. I kept thinking and thinking about it. Death narrates this WWII era story about a young girl, Leisel Meminger, and her tragic young life. She steals her first book, The Gravedigger's Handbook, at the cemetary where they leave the body of her younger brother, who died in front of her on a train. Her mother, sick, desperate and devastated, her husband already taken away by the communists, takes Leisel to live with a family in Molching, Germany. Her foster mother, Rosa, is harsh and shows her "tough love" while her foster father, Hans, is her rock. He is loving, and nurturing to this lost little girl, and he is "home" to her. Leisel wakes every night from nightmares about her brother and mother, and Hans gets up with her and sits through the night with her, teaching her to read from her stolen book. She goes on to steal a more books and they are her most prized possession. A big part of the story is Max, the Jewish young man that the family hides in their basement. I just can not even begin to imagine the terror, anger, pain, hunger and saddness that a person can take. The author does a great job at character development and brought me to tears several times as well as made my stomach physically nauseous. I love the way he portrayed Death as well. Death basically wasn't too bad of a guy and was just doing his job, which he felt really bad about most of the time. He talked about how busy he was during those years and he kept coming back to watch Leisel bec. she caught his attention when she stole the book from the cemetary. I loaned this book out to some friends, who loved it equally as much as I did, and I can't wait to get it back to read it again, if I can emotionally bring myself to do it. It takes a toll on a person. Good pick Kelli.
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