Here are my favorite books associated with Germany. Click on a book title or image to purchase.

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The Book Thief – Markus Zusak

Location: Munich Germany (The book takes place in a fictional town just outside of Munich and nearby Dachau concentration camp).

In Nazi Germany, Liesel finds a book by her brother’s graveside one snowy day. The orphan takes the book, beginning her career as a book thief. Liesel’s passion for books and words blossoms when the orphan is taken in by a foster family who teaches her how to read and gives her access to new books. What once began as randomly taking books, progresses into an orderly thieving of every piece of literature she comes across. Liesel shares the stories she reads with people who are in desperate need to escape the horrors they are forced to endure … people like her neighbors when they are sheltering during bomb raids, or the Jewish man her foster family is hiding in the basement.

Thoughts: As an avid reader and someone who loves words, I adore Liesel’s character and her obsession with books. I enjoyed Zusak’s unique choice to have Death narrate the novel. For the plot, this highlights the horrific circumstances Liesel grows up in. For readers, the narration choice is one of the things that sets this story apart from others and gives insight into what is to come in the characters’ lives. Zusak’s diction is beautiful and poetic. His vivid imagery brings the characters and story to life, thus creating a bond between story and reader. Fair warning though, don’t read this book without a box of tissues by your side.

Prisoner of Night and Fog – Anne Blankman

Gretchen Müller has grown up in the National Socialist Party under the watchful eye of “Uncle Dolf” Hitler. When her father died protecting the fuhrer, Hitler became the main influence in Gretchen’s life. He refers to her as his “sunshine” and she thinks the world of him in return. Gretchen’s world is turned on its head though when a Jewish reporter named Daniel Cohen tells her that her father did not die protecting Hitler, but was actually killed by one of his own comrades. As Gretchen searches for the truth, she finds herself inexplicably drawn to the handsome Jewish boy she was taught to hate and pulling further away from the leader of the Nazi party who has become like family. Such bold actions cannot go unpunished in Hitler’s Germany.

Thoughts: Two thumbs up! This book sat in my Audible library for too long, before I finally gave it a chance. I’m a sucker for historical fiction, but this book could also easily fit into the genres of thriller, romance, or mystery. Blankman clearly took the time to thoroughly research 1930s Germany, and having visited Munich, I can attest her descriptions of the city’s physical appearance and famous landmarks are spot on. Gretchen’s perspective offers unique insight to what the Nazi party’s individual members and their families may have experienced working closely with someone so tyrannical and duplicitous. Her father’s mysterious death and Daniel’s Jewish status add another dimension of suspense and intrigue. I could not stop listening!

Conspiracy of Blood and Smoke – Anne Blankman

In this sequel to Prisoner of Night and Fog, Gretchen has finally escaped Hitler’s inner circle. A year later, she finds herself posing as a German immigrant in French town so Hitler cannot track her down. She is quite happy with this new life until her boyfriend, Daniel, leaves unexpectedly for Germany after receiving an alarming telegram. When Gretchen hears a few days later that Daniel is wanted for murder, she knows that she must track Daniel down and save him from the Nazi’s conspiratorial ways, even though it means she must face all the dangers she tried so hard to escape. Gretchen and Daniel must work quickly to find out who really killed the girl he has been framed for murdering, because Hitler and his men are hot on their heels.