I Am the Messenger by Marcus Zusack

me: Hey guess what!

you: What???

me: I started my very own IRL book club!

you: What the heck does IRL mean?

me: Oh - In real life.

you: Oh... You spend way too much time on the internet.

me: Possibly... But anyway - so not the point.

you: Yes, what is the point?

me: I started a book club in Dallas! We already have a ton of members and we had our very first meeting a few weeks ago.

you: Oh... Hey, that's actually kind of cool. What book did you read?

me: I Am the Messenger by Marcus Zusack

you: Huh. Never heard of it. Is it good?

me: I thought it was fantastic. It has a great story line that keeps you guessing till the very end. My favorite character was The Doorman, who was Ed's (the main character) smelly old dog.

you: sounds weird...

me: Not at all. It's an easy read with a great message to it. It was so different than anything I've read. I feel like the author could have made it about 60 pages longer - the ending was rushed... But overall I loved this book.

you: Hmm... So worth picking up?

me: Yes, Definitely! The language was beautiful. He kept dropping these little gems. I love this one which personifies books in such a cool way:

The clues must be in the books, so now I shove the other ones to the side and focus on the three finalists. I feel kind of sorry for the ditched ones, to be honest. They look like the losers of a dramatic, tumultuous race, sitting on the floor. If they were people, they'd each have their head in their hands

you: ... ... ...

me: Or this part:

Lua and Marie are holding hands.

They look like they're so happy, just inside this moment, watching the kids and the lights on their old fibro house.

Lua kisses her.Just softly on the lips. And she kisses back.

Sometimes people are beautiful.

Not in looks.

Not in what they say.

Just in what they are.

You: Yeah... I guess that's pretty.

Me: Just read it.

You: Okay...

Verdict: B+ I really really enjoyed this book. I feel like it falls only slightly below his other work, The Book Thief. I think it is a great read for any one and it relates to both genders. I just wish he'd fleshed out the last half a bit more and focused on more character development. Definitely check it out, though.