#marcus zusak

[folklorianhaze]

Marcus Zusak using the phrase “His hair is like feathers” to describe Max Vandenburg is probably my favorite character description in a novel ever

[quote-tournament]

First round, second fight

Quote number 3 :

"How about a kiss, Saumensch?"

-Rudy Steiner, The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak

VS

Quote number 4 : 

"I want to see life. I want to hold it in my hands. I want to leave a footprint on the sand of a desert island. I want to play football with people. I want," he said, and then he paused and he thought. "I want everything."

-Nobody Owens, The Graveyard Book

[1-more-chapter-until-i-pass-out]

Honestly, my all time favourite book is probably The Book Thief by Markus Zusak.

Set in WW2, 1939 Germany, focusing on a young girl called Liesel Meminger, who's brother recently died. The book is narrated by Death himself. Features things like a fist-fighting Jew hiding in a basement, a nightmare-plagued girl who steals books, a foster father who plays the accordion, a sharp mouthed foster mother, a boy with lemon-coloured hair obbsessed with Jesse Owens, and a little German street named after Heaven.

A sweet, sad story with a heartbreaking ending. 10/10. One of the best books I've ever read.

[lovebooksgroup]

The best book in the world IMO is on sale for only 99p Kindle today! The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak #Lifechangingread #booktwitter #Amustread #bookbloggers

The best book in the world IMO is on sale for only 99p Kindle today! The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak https://amzn.to/3STglGT #Lifechangingread #booktwitter #Amustread #bookbloggers

“Saving Myself Through a Book” It has been a difficult journey but I am so proud of how far I have come. I remember when I first experienced agoraphobia and all the worries and anxieties that came along with it. It was like I was in a deep, dark place and could barely breathe. I hadn’t left the house in such a long time. Then one day, my mum brought home a book that changed my life. When I…

[safirefire]

Ahhh look!! I Am the Messenger is one of my favorite books ever it’s by Marcus Zusak who also wrote The Book Thief and this trailer looks so similar to the book. I highly recommend reading this it hooked me from the first sentence.

[projectraindropstories]

Quotes Compilation from 'The Book Thief' by Marcus Zusak!

[wecandoit]

24.01.24

I finished this masterpiece last night and was so moved by it. I know I got around to reading this very late, but I think I read it at a very fitting time for me. Particularly near the end of the novel, the writing style was so moving, once again reaffirming my love for this author.

📖: The Book Thief Marcus Zusak cr: Trick Mirror by Jia Tolentino

[writingquestionsanswered]

hello, do you have any tips for getting more creative titles? Like going for a more poetic style without it being too much. I like for example, "These Violent Delights" and "Our Violent Ends" by Chloe Gong. They're simple, telling, and short - and I just think it's different (from "The" type titles, and the Blank of Blank and Blank format). I also think "The Folk of the Air" is simple yet creative. I feel like I don't know enough words to get the title. I appreciate any advice! Thank you.

Coming Up with Poetic Titles

Some of the most beautiful, poetic titles often stem from actual prose quotes, either from poetry, classic literature, song titles, public domain lyrics, plays, etc.

These Violent Delights and Our Violent Ends, for example, are actually derived from a quote from Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet ("These violent delights have violent ends...") which is appropriate since the These Violent Delights duology is a Romeo & Juliet retelling. Other examples are The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold (I knew a woman, lovely in her bones... “I Knew a Woman” by Theodore Roethke), The Fault in Our Stars by John Green (The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars/But in ourselves... Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare), Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger (What immortal hand or eye/Could frame thy fearful symmetry? "The Tyger" by William Blake), Across the Universe by Beth Revis ("Across the Universe" by The Beatles), To All the Boys I've Loved Before by Jenny Han ("To All the Girls I've Loved Before" by Hal David and Albert Hammond, made famous by Willie Nelson and Julio Iglesias.)

Series titles, like The Folk of the Air series and A Song of Ice and Fire series are usually broad references to what the story is about. I haven't read The Folk of the Air, but I know it's about faeries, so I'm assuming that's a reference to the fae in that story. A Song of Ice and Fire is a reference to a prophecy and history book in the series, but the imagery also references many of the themes and events in the story.

So, whether you're titling a book or series, here are some places you can look for a title:

-- references to relevant source material, such as original fairy tale if you're doing a retelling (Ash by Malinda Lo)

-- references to relevant poems, song titles, lyrics, plays, music, classic literature (Catch a Falling Star by Kim Culbertson)

-- relevant quote, title, person, place, or event that appears in your story (The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, The Cruel Prince by Holly Black)

-- beautiful imagery that appears in your story (Under the Tuscan Sun by Frances Mayes)

-- who or what your story is about (The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak, The Martian by Andy Weir, All the Crooked Saints by Maggie Stiefvater)

My post Coming Up with a Book/Story Title has more tips!

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[the-modern-typewriter]

Hello :) With povs, can you have two different characters’ povs in the same chapter or space ish (third person)? Like could you have one character’s feelings and thoughts shown and then in the next paragraph it’s the others thoughts and feelings? I’m not really sure and I’ve been struggling over this for a while, as well as if you think writing in past or present tense is better for certain writing? I don’t know if any of that made sense but thank you and have a lovely day! :)

It depends on what POV you're using.

The one I think you're looking for is using a third person omniscient narrator. The story is told outside of the perspective of any of the characters, and the narrator knows all and sees all and care share this with the reader. E.g. they can head hop, revealing one character's emotions and thoughts and than another.

Examples of third person omniscient stories include Tolstoy's War and Peace, Lord of the Flies by William Golding, The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak and Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel.

If you were writing in first person or third person limited...don't head hop. The entire point of first person is that it is limited to the 'I' character and so head-hopping would not make sense, because your 'I' would have no way of knowing what other characters are thinking and feeling unless they are a telepath. The same concept applies in third person limited, as while it is slightly more distant than first person, it is still within one character's POV.

With that said...while you can't head hop for paragraphs in first person or third person limited, you can switch to a different character in a different chapter and so have multiple POVs throughout a book that way. But doing it within a few paragraphs when you are not otherwise using an omniscient narrator will confuse your reader.

Present and also has pros and cons.

The key point with POV is to be consistent with whatever you choose.

[msmargaretmurry]

9 books

i was tagged for this by the lovely @irrelevanttous and from what i can tell i'm just supposed to list nine books i love/would recommend? so i stared into the abyss of my bookshelf for a little while and tried to pick out a variety! i think that almost all of these would have content warnings, so if you need those and want to pick any of them up, please do a bit of research or feel free to ask. ❤

they can't kill us until they kill us by hanif abdurraqib i have mentioned On Here before that hanif is my favorite poet, but he is also my favorite music writer and one of my favorite nonfiction writers in general. this collection of essays about music and culture is intimate, devastating, hopeful, gorgeous; i return to it often.

the book thief by marcus zusak speaking of books that are devastating and gorgeous! this novel is also a masterclass in point of view.

beartown by fredrik backman i AM a backman fan in general but beartown's my favorite for obvious reasons (it's a hockey book, lmao). i have NOT read the two sequels yet because i'm afraid of how much they're going to hurt my feelings but one of my goals for this winter is to finally do that.

evvie drake starts over by linda holmes a thing about me is that i mostly do not like contemporary romance novels. HOWEVER, i love this book. the characters are richly drawn, the setting does the whole small town thing without feeling like a cliche, the emotional arcs are cathartic.

the farseer trilogy by robin hobb teen becky was obsessed with these books and adult becky has been saying for years she's gonna reread them for the purposes of finally reading the last trilogy in this fantasy universe, but being a little nervous about it because what if they don't hold up? but multiple people with trusted taste have picked them up recently and enjoyed them so i finally did start that reread and i'm having a GREAT time.

the last best league by jim collins i told myself i was only allowed to pick one nonfiction sports book for this list, lol, so this is the one. breezy summer baseball read! i literally read it on a beach the first time i read it, and that was perfect.

she who became the sun/he who drowned the world by shelley parker-chan drags hands down face the GENDER of it all!!!!!!!!! i read the first one early this year and the second one the moment i could get me hands on it and am 99% sure this duology will be my favorite thing i read this year.

michigan vs. the boys by carrie s. allen i did not expect to like this book as much as i did, because i have mostly outgrown YA (with exceptions!) and because i usually find first-person present tense really grating. but i fell in love with this little story about a girl determined to play on the boys' team. it helped a lot that the author REALLY knows her hockey stuff, and clearly loves the game.

reading like a writer by francine prose as a habitual devourer of anything about ~writing craft~ this was one of the first craft books young becky ever read, and i still think it's one of the best. maybe that's because i imprinted on it, but flipping through it just now when i pulled it off the shelf for this list made me want to reread it, so maybe it will do that soon.

i feel like a bunch of my mutuals have already been tagged in this so sorry if i'm double-tagging you, but!! @moregraceful @postoperation @plaintoast @vivathewilddog @warmupbrawl @devantesmithpelly @loveisworry @slightly @thecroissantgirl no pressure only if u want to! 💞

[bookishjules]

do you ever look at your tbr and just want to start crying from indecision??? send help in the form of book recs please 🥺🥺

so so real T-T why must there be so many books calling out to us at any given point in time ugh

first of all, i would obvi rec anything i post about that you haven't read hehe (which as far as i know includes both pjo and tsc?? (i.e. shadowhunters lol not aftg's tsc) both of which are urban fantasy)

for realistic fiction, a book i always recommend is i am the messenger by marcus zusak. also anything by fredrik backman (if you haven't read anything beyond beartown)

oh!! idk why but i feel like i could also see you reading the gone series by michael grant. it's ya sci-fi. i've only read the first like 2 books i think bc i was 14 and just not ready for the weight of it, but i really enjoyed what i did read and i remember my brother just loving the series.

if you've already read all of these, or you don't find any of them particularly appealing, lmk and i can send more your way! i just know i could go on forever and i don't want to overwhelm your tbr even further <3

[thiswindyplace]

@diesinphony

"Like most misery, it started with apparent happiness"

Marcus Zusak

[burnbrighterthanever]

a.x.e. judgement day, kieron gillen // full spectrum resistance part one, aric mcbay // the butcher's sher, daniel kahn and the painted bird // unknown // nice people made the best nazis, naomi shulman // the book thief, marcus zusak // the butcher's sher, daniel kahn and the painted bird // incredible tails aka. rosencrantz and guilderstern in space, bluemeany // powers of x, jonathan hickman // carpe jugulum, terry pratchett

[sheryl-lee]

what u reading now, or read lately, anything good to rec? also, some of your fave books in general?

i'm currently reading / just finished reading:

plain bad heroines by emily m. danforth (i believe she wrote "the miseducation of cameron post" too, which i haven't read yet. but this one is really good so far, i love the writing style, the sapphics, and the gothic imagery)

looking glass sound by catriona ward (i love her novels! "the last house on needless street" is one of my all-time favorites. this is her newest novel and it's a wild ride)

eileen by ottessa moshfegh (going to read this before i watch the film)

circe by madeline miller (i read this about a year ago after reading "the song of achilles" and as a fan of greek mythology, i adore madeline miller's works so much. she's a phenomenal author and storyteller)

family of liars by e. lockhart ("we were liars" was one of my favorite YA books as a teen, so i had to pick this one up! i'd highly recommend both)

all time favorites (besides the ones mentioned above):

beloved by toni morrison (one of the best novels of all time for a reason!!!)

and then there were none by agatha christie (my favorite whodunnit/murder mystery novel ever. i'd also recommend the BBC 2015 miniseries, it was a really good adaptation)

the long walk by stephen king (king wrote this under his pseudonym richard bachman; it was one of the first books he ever wrote. i read this in high school and have not been able to stop thinking about it since. highly recommend, especially since an adaptation is in the works! misery & pet sematary are my other two favorite king novels)

a storm of swords by george r. r. martin (his best book and the best asoiaf book and one of the best books of all time!!! would be amazing if he'd finish the damn series already though. or at least give us winds of winter. im begging. fire & blood is another all time fave but it's not for everyone; it's more like a history book. i love it though)

the book thief by marcus zusak (read this when i was eighth grade and was sobbing my eyes out in math class because i was reading it instead of paying attention)

the unbecoming of mara dyer by michelle hodkin (the entire series is fairly good. the og trilogy are my favorites, especially the second one. i started the series when i was in seventh grade and she still hasn't published the last book. i'm convinced she's trying to rival GRRM at this point. like girl. write that book!!!)

[boghermit]

top 5 favorite books?

Oh god it's gonna be so hard to pick just five. 😭I'm going to omit graphic novels just because they would overwhelm the list.

In no particular order

The Passion by Jeanette Winterson. Everyone talks about Sharpe and the Aubrey-Maturin series but no piece of historical fiction I've read on the Napoleonic Era has stuck with me like this one. I can nitpick all I want about how she portrays the Russian winter, but it's still an excellent book, some of the best prose I've ever read.

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. It's just damn good.

The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak. Also just damn good. Interesting point of view and formatting, lots of endearing characters. Don't bother with the movie though.

Watchmen by Alan Moore, Dave Gibbons, John Higgins. It's just one of the best graphic novels ever made. Bizarre formatting, beautifully garish colors, excellent twist on the superhero genre.

Maus by Art Spiegelman. It's a soul-crushing, nightmare-inducing read that will suck the life out of you, but it's very good.

[wecandoit]

19.01.24

This summer I went away with my family to Sydney and Brisbane. I lugged my film camera around with me everywhere, but the lighting in the Art Gallery of NSW does not do its pieces justice. I had a great vacation, and I've settled back into the routine of everyday life again. I still have over a month left of the break, and I'm already counting down the days.

📖: The Book Thief Marcus Zusak / 101 Essays that will Change the Way You Think