Very good book. It's isn't my typical fare, as WWII stories involving German and Jewish people very rarely end well. This particular book is somewhat popular I suppose, so I probably don't need to give too much of the story away, as you've probably already heard it. But just in case... 
 A girl, taken from her mother, a convicted communist, in very late 1930's is sent to live with a foster set of parents in Munich. The book covers her life from then until some time in 1943. And yes, she stole books. 
 It's a coming of age story, and a powerful one. One thing that I think diminished the book somewhat is probably one of the things that so many people probably think made it great, but the narrator was immensely annoying. Why? Well, it was death, the grim reaper, the being sent here to collect souls for God. He's the guy telling the story. 
 Why does that bother me so much? I'm not sure, I suspect it has to do with his insistence on telling me about a character, who might be playing soccer with friends in a scene, is going to die a bloody and horrible death in a couple of chapters. What the crap? I would whip somebody for doing that to me in a movie, why in the world would somebody think it's a good idea to do something like that? He did it over and over again, giving away plot points offhandedly, chapters before they were revealed in the story. 
 That actively annoyed me, as in, it was distracting. And I disconnected a bit from those characters that I already knew were going to see a bad end. I don't think it helped the story. Maybe it made me feel more sympathy for the main character, maybe, but it wasn't worth it. 
 That said, the author, Markus Zusak, can write wonderfully. I was drug along with the story in spite of my annoyance and did find myself hoping beyond all hope that somehow, it would have ended better for some of the people. War sucks. The final chapters were particularly powerful, emotional, and beautifully written. 
 So please, if you ever wanted to know what it might have been like to be a poor little girl growing up in Germany during WWII, please read. It really is very good.