Maus by Art Spiegelman

This is another example of a book I wouldn't normally read but did for my book group. Again I absolutely loved it. Maus is a graphic novel telling the story of Art's father as a Jew in Poland during WWII. This is juxtaposed with the knowledge that he escaped to America and now has a very difficult and argumentative relationship with his son and second wife.

The story in itself is amazing, the amount of times this man and his wife nearly died and the amount of times he saw his family and friends taken away is heartbreaking. Art tells it through animals, so all the Jews are mice, the Nazis are cats, the Polish are pigs and the Americans are dogs.

If graphic novels aren't your thing, I completely recommend that you try this one as a way into the genre - it's brilliant.