What is a best seller? Is it a book that has sold lots of copies over time (like The Bible), or an exceptional number of copies within a short time after its initial publication (like Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows)? Either way, the books our reviewers have chosen from our collection this week have been hugely successful and for good reason. Read on to see what you have may have missed out on in the book popularity stakes.
Shannon Harmon read The
Book Thief by Markus
Zusak This one has been sitting in my ‘to read’ pile for a while, and the film in the ‘to watch’ pile – my rule is you can’t see the movie without reading the book.
The Book Thief (820A ZUS 1C BOO/PAN) is set in Germany during World War II, with Death as the narrator. With all the souls that Death sees, he follows the young life of Liesel Meminger, after her brother dies on her way to her new home in Molching. Liesel steals four books throughout the story, each with a unique story and reason behind its theft. The family she lives with hides a Jewish man in their basement, a risky and dangerous option during the war. Leisel develops a friendship with Max Vandenburg, and they bond over books and reading.
Death provides a commentary about what is happening in Germany and the days when even he is sickened by the number of lives he sees and carries over. In the beginning I found it difficult to be invested in the characters and to be back in the zone when picking up the book again, but it didn’t take long to adjust to.
Rebecca
Franks read The
Eye of the World by Robert
Jordan
The Eye of the World (810 JORD(R) 1C EYE) is the first book in an epic 14 book fantasy series by Robert
Jordan, called The Wheel of Time. This series is one of my favourites and is one I
have read over and over again. I even have a Wheel of Time related tattoo -
that is how much I love these books! This series has a huge following of
dedicated fans, has its own yearly Wheel of Time convention (JordanCon in the
US and The Land of Madmen in Australia), and a Facebook group with over 14,000
members.
The Eye of the World is centered on
protagonists, Rand, Mat, Perrin, Egwene and Nynaeve. They come from a small
village called Emond’s Field and after being attacked by creatures of the Dark
One called Trollocs, they are forced to flee their homes accompanied by an Aes
Sedai (magic user) Moiraine, and her Warder (bound protector) Lan. As they flee
they become separated while being pursued by creatures of the Dark One, who
they learn are not mere stories made up to scare children. All the characters
experience their own adventures and begin to learn they all have special powers
(of one kind or another) as they struggle to accept and fulfil their destiny.
This series is often compared to
Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings (which is another one of my favourite series) and,
while they can be similar at times, they differ in themes. The Wheel of Time
establishes strong female lead characters in a world ruled by The White Tower
(an exclusive female group of Aes Sedai) with strong political themes.
I cannot recommend this book
enough for those who love epic fantasy series with a rich, descriptive world
and characters you can connect with (you will either love them or hate them!).
Brenda
Carter read Who
Moved My Cheese? An Amazing Way to Deal with Change in Your Work and in Your
Life by Spencer
Johnson
Who Moved My Cheese? An Amazing Way
to Deal with Change in Your Work and in Your Life (158.1 JOH) is a motivational fable to
help people prepare for and deal with change in their life and work. Who Moved My
Cheese? remained on the New York Times’ bestseller list for
almost five years. It has sold more than 26 million copies worldwide in 37
languages and is still one of the best-selling business books.
The story follows the
reactions of two mice and two ‘little people’ whose regular supply of cheese
dries up. Cheese is a metaphor for what people
may want in life, such as a good job, a loving relationship, money or
possessions, health or spiritual peace of mind. The maze is where you look for
what you want - perhaps the organisation you work in, or the family or
community you live in. The characters display four different ways of
responding to change and loss with varying results. The book also touches on
other themes such as whether the pursuit of ‘cheese’ is a means or an end,
whether ‘cheese’ is necessary at all, the need to face one’s fear of the
unknown, and the pitfalls of overanalysing.
At only 94 pages, it’s a short and snappy way to reflect on
our own ways of responding to continual change in different aspects of our
lives.
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