City of Thieves by David Benioff

I’ve mentioned before how much I like reading about WWII history and this is no exception. In fact, it’s a really quick read and covers the story from the Russian point of view, which is a nice twist. City of Thieves is the author’s grandfather’s story of his time in Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg) during the siege. When he is caught looting a German paratrooper’s body, Lev is certain he is going to be summarily executed, but instead wins a reprieve when a Colonel offers him his freedom in exchange for a dozen eggs. Now coming up with a dozen eggs in wartime is harder than it sounds; eggs hadn’t been seen in months and the majority of the country was slowly starving to death during the long Soviet winter. But Lev, and his new comrade in arms, Kolya, an accused deserter, take on the challenge and the next week, which the novel covers, is one adventure after another. For not only do Lev and Kolya decide to find the eggs, but they also decide to kill the leader of the local occupying German forces. This book is not very long and is an extremely engaging and quick read. The pages just fly by as you wonder what will happen next.