The Book Thief

Good, though I am a little surprised by its immense popularity. It's Holocaust fiction that focuses on a family of Righteous Gentiles trying to get by in their town amidst the rise of the Nazi party and surviving the war (rations, bombings, etc.).

The mother's nonstop verbal abuse (and occasional physical abuse) is jarring— she constantly refers to her husband and daughter as “asshole” and “bitch” respectively, and the daughter picks up this habit with her friends. But it's always written out in German, so it's somehow meant to be more endearing?