The Book Thief
by Markus Zusak
In Nazi Germany, a young girl steals books and shares them with those hiding from the war, and Death himself narrates. Moving, lyrical, and widely loved. Read the full description
Best for: Readers who like moving historical fiction
The Book Thief is #100 on BookWard's Top 100 books for September 2026, with a BookWard Score of 47 out of 100.
The Book Thief: reading interest over the past 12 months
Sources: Open Library’s public reading-log and ratings data (dump of 2026-08-31), Wikipedia page views and Wikidata. Monthly counts are exact; they show relative interest among readers of these public sources, not total readership.
Ranked against the other books on this list, The Book Thief’s reading interest has run from #66 to #92 over these 12 months. Interest rank blends shelf adds, Wikipedia page views and rating activity, each compared with the other 99 books that month.
Shelf adds by month
The Book Thief was added to Open Library readers’ shelves 381 times in the past 12 months, peaking in January 2026 with 48 (51% above its monthly average of 32). Over the latest three months (Jun 2026 to Aug 2026) shelf adds were down 18% on the three months before. 83% of the adds were “want to read”, 6% “currently reading” and 12% “already read”.
Want to read Currently reading Already read
Wikipedia page views
Its Wikipedia article was viewed 286,232 times in the past 12 months, peaking in December 2025 with 27,462 views. The latest three months were down 5% on the three before.
Source: Wikimedia monthly page views for the article The Book Thief.
Adaptations
- The Book Thief (film), 2013
Adaptations are listed from Wikidata; a release date near a rise in the charts above is context, not proof of a cause.
What the data says about The Book Thief
- Moderate swings. Monthly shelf adds averaged 32 with some ups and downs.
- Busiest and quietest months. January 2026 was its busiest month (48 adds), about 2.4 times its quietest, June 2026 (20).
- Attention and shelf adds move independently. Its Wikipedia views and its shelf adds did not rise and fall together over these 12 months (correlation 0.11).
- Against its genre. It had 44% fewer shelf adds than the average Literary fiction book on this list.
- Share of the list. It accounts for 0.4% of all shelf adds recorded for the Top 100 over these 12 months, #89 of 100.
- Its age. First published in 1998 (28 years ago), it is older than 59% of the books on the list.
Each finding is computed from the public data above and shown only when the numbers support it.
The Book Thief on the Top 100: rank history
First charted in September 2026. The chart gains a point with every monthly update, so its peak, climbs and falls will show here as they happen.
| Month | Rank | Score |
|---|---|---|
| September 2026 | #100 | 47 |
Is The Book Thief rising or falling?
Cooling It ranks lower this week than over the past year, so interest is softening from its recent level.
On Open Library, The Book Thief ranks outside the top 200 this week, #147 this month, and #154 over the past year. A longer bar means a higher position. Comparing the three windows shows whether readers are arriving faster than the book's long-term pace. Readings as of 2026-09-30.
Why The Book Thief made the Top 100
The Book Thief made the list mainly on reader love (+14.4 points) and momentum (+13 points). Its smallest contribution is rising (+0.3). The BookWard Score blends five public signals, each scored from 0 to 100 and weighted as shown.
The reading-now, rating and rank signals come from Open Library’s public data, not from BookWard’s own readers. The score measures reading interest, not quality or sales. How the score works.
Open Library reader stats for The Book Thief
Source: Open Library public reading logs, as of 2026-09-30. BookWard’s own monthly snapshots are added to the picture, and anonymous BookWard reader data will be layered in as the community grows.
More readers have The Book Thief open right now than 15% of the other books on this list. These counts come from one public source, so they show relative interest rather than total readership.
Where it sits among Literary fiction books
It is #8 of the 8 Literary fiction books on this month’s list.
About The Book Thief
In Nazi Germany, a young girl steals books and shares them with those hiding from the war, and Death himself narrates. Moving, lyrical, and widely loved.
Why it’s here: It is one of the most recommended novels for readers of all ages.
Best for: Readers who like moving historical fiction
At a glance
- First published
- 2006
- Genre
- Literary fiction
- Also described as
- young adult fiction, historical fiction, Holocaust fiction
- Length
- about 560 pages (the median across its editions)
- Original language
- English
- Languages
- editions in 16 languages listed on Open Library
- Editions
- 109 on Open Library
- Setting
- Germany
- Characters listed
- Mark Owens, Liesel Meminger, Death
From Open Library and Wikidata public records. Missing rows mean the records do not list that fact.
Themes
- The power of words and books
- Death as narrator
- War
What reading it is like
Lyrical, narrated by Death.
At about 560 pages it is a long read: roughly 11 hours at an average reading pace (about 250 words a minute, 300 words a page). Audiobook and edition lengths vary.
Good to know
Set in Nazi Germany. Heavy subject matter.
The premise
In Nazi Germany, a young girl named Liesel steals books and shares them with the people around her, including a Jewish man hidden in her basement. Death narrates.
What you’ll get
- A moving, unusual narrator
- Beautiful language
- An emotional story
You might skip it if you find sad war stories hard.
Pairs well with: The Kite Runner · A Thousand Splendid Suns
Keep exploring the chart
Also on the chart at #99 and #101
Questions about The Book Thief
What rank is The Book Thief on the Top 100 books?
The Book Thief is #100 on BookWard's Top 100 books for September 2026, with a BookWard Score of 47 out of 100.
Is The Book Thief rising or falling?
Cooling. It ranks lower this week than over the past year, so interest is softening from its recent level. On Open Library, The Book Thief ranks outside the top 200 this week, #147 this month, and #154 over the past year.
Why is The Book Thief on the Top 100?
The Book Thief made the list mainly on reader love (+14.4 points) and momentum (+13 points). Its smallest contribution is rising (+0.3).
How many people are reading The Book Thief right now?
Open Library's reading logs show 151 readers currently reading The Book Thief, 2,513 who want to read it and 274 who have logged it as read (as of 2026-09-30). These are counts from one public source, not all readers.
How much interest has The Book Thief had over the past year?
381 Open Library shelf adds in the past 12 months (peak January 2026, 48); latest three months down 18% on the prior three; 286,232 Wikipedia views in the past 12 months (down 5% over the latest three months); Adaptations on Wikidata: The Book Thief (2013). Figures come from Open Library and Wikipedia public data.
Who is The Book Thief best for?
Readers who like moving historical fiction.
Ask a question about The Book Thief
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How we know
This page is built from public data: Open Library’s dated reading-log and ratings dumps, Wikipedia page views, Wikidata, and BookWard’s own monthly Top 100 snapshots. The interest rank blends shelf adds (45%), Wikipedia page views (30%), rating activity (10%) and, for months where a snapshot exists, BookWard’s own score (15%), each as a percentile among the Top 100 books. Every month shown is real data; nothing is estimated. Rankings reflect reading interest, not quality or sales, and can be affected by data gaps. Last updated September 2026. Read the full methodology.
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