I found this only intermittently interesting, mainly in the asides on book collecting and interviews with book traders who do genuinely love books. Ken Sanders, who tracks down the book thief of the title, is also an interesting character and one I felt the author didn't focus on enough.The book's problem is that Gilkey is singularly unlikeable and beyond an initial recounting of his actions, uninteresting. The author seems to like him, but cannot convey any convincing reasons for doing so. When first introduced, he appears deluded, entitled, and selfish, with no redeeming qualities. The rest of the book just confirmed this, without adding anything further. His motives actually seem pretty simple and the need for years worth of interviews escapes me. Despite the title, it's also clear that he does not love books at all; rather he views them as status symbols and occasional sources of funds.The author's moral dilemmas seemed forced, and in my view, her resolution of them (doing nothing at all for the most part) was inadequate.
