The Story of Beautiful Girl by Rachel Simon

There are very few books that make me cry but this is one of them and not just once. This book and I however did not get of to the best of starts even though I was very much looking forward to reading it, I couldn't get into it and started to think Oh No when all of a sudden the voice within that had told me to keep going won out and everything went click! And never stopped.
The remarkable story of Homan and Lynnie, who are deaf starts with a bang and takes you on the most unexpected Road Trip your ever likely to take. The words the author uses paint a portrait which both captivates and rewards the reader, rich and evocative, damming and searing, heartbreaking and loving, it is just the most wonderful story of the mountains that love, empathy and persistence can push aside, even if it takes time. Weaving the interlocking stories using different narrative voices can sometimes present the reader with a challenge but in this case it simply gives more power to the story and takes you into the lives of the central and supporting characters in a manner that enhances the story, it shows the power and ability of Rachel Simon to be able to do this and for it to work. The book is a light that tells a story that many disabled people and their families would well recognise. It also has a bundle of humour and some wonderful adventures that are unexpected in so much as you might not expect them to be the experience of the disabled well that's my lack of knowledge not theirs. Never will I forget the Healing Service and the unexpected consequences or all the spot on names that Homan gave to those he encountered along the way, his was a rare and wry genius when it came to summing up people, Lynnie so artistically gifted, a gift that so easily could have been over looked and not nurtured and those who loved and supported them as their paths crossed.
To tell you anything more would spoil your experience but this is a book I will never forget and I will forever be grateful that I listened and kept reading. In case you didn`t realise it I loved this book! I could have actually finished reading it a couple of days ago but I couldn`t  bring myself to do so.
Available in Soft Cover from all good bookshops.

the book thief by Markus Zusak

This may be one of the best books I have ever read.
First published in 2005 its subject was just not my thing and so I never ever picked it up, it was recently a Book Club Pick so I nabbed a copy and never put it down.
Set in Germany during WWII, it tells the story of Liesel, her family, neighbours and her wonderful love affair with books. Narrated by Death it is lyrical, captivating, horrifying and redeeming, the words dance, they skip, they rush, they drag, they pull you along into a time and a place that is so hard to describe, na time when the normalcy of humanity is turned on its head, infected with hatred and yet such grace. Such dignity and such compassion run right alongside all the Nazi atrocities with beautifully drawn characters no matter their views and actions and it shows us that fear of the magnitude of that which Hitler inflicted on all Germans can result in behaviour that only the strongest can survive. It also shows us that Hitler failed to wipe out the power of love and compassion and even in the hardest of times a kind of life was lived and that joy could still be found.
The books power lies in its ability to entrust the reader to challenge their own perceptions, to absorb life experiences that are not their own and to realise the magnificent power of the written word.
If you haven't read this book, please do.