All the Light We Cannot See

I'm very late to the game of recommending this book, but in case you haven't heard of Anthony Doerr's new book, put it on your reading list right now.

What most impressed me about this book was Doerr's incredible patience in spinning this tale. He told it with little short chapters that each imparted a tiny piece of a larger puzzle, with a time sequence that flowed back and forth across present, past, and further past. There was something as precise in his technique as the careful craftsmanship of the model towns built by a father for his blind daughter in the story. There was something at once lavish and spare about the style, for the book as a whole provided a luxurious lake of detail, but did it one little thimbleful at a time.

I found the technique refreshing and thought it worked especially well for this story, which tells of a blind French girl and a radio-loving German boy whose paths eventually wind together just as the tides of the war turn in August of 1944. It's lovingly written and full of delightful small touches. I hear it took many years to write and I believe it!