City of Thieves by David Benioff

Publisher: Penguin Group (USA)

Pub. Date: March 2009

ISBN-13: 9780452295292
Pages: 272
Rating: 5 out of 5

Summary: It is 1942, and Leningrad is under siege by the Nazi Germany. Lev Beniov, a Russian Jew, is thrown into jail after being caught for looting. While in jail, he meets the tall, handsome, and confident Kolya who's jailed for deserting his Army. A Soviet colonel decides to spare their lives if they accomplish an outrageous mission: They must obtain a dozen eggs for the colonel's daughter's wedding cake. Sure, a dozen eggs can't be too hard to find, but Leningrad is torn by the war where food supplies had been cut off, forcing Lev and Kolya to go behind the enemy lines.

Review: After reading The Bell Jar and Of Mice and Men, City of Thieves was a breath of fresh air. I was absolutely entertained by this story. It had adventure, suspense, and comedy. I was immediately hooked by the story, and it was impossible for me to put the book down. Mr. Benioff is an awesome writer.
The story started out with Lev who got caught after trying to loot a dead (yes, dead) German soldier whose life ended due to the cold. (This is in the dead of winter in Russia, after all.) He was sent to jail since the dead soldier was actually the Russian government's property, and therefore Lev was stealing from the Russian government. By the way, did I mention that the soldier was dead?
Just when I thought the reason for Lev's incarceration was ridiculous, a Soviet colonel decided to spare him and his companion in jail, Kolya, from execution if they accomplish this amazing feat: Get a dozen eggs so the colonel's wife can bake a cake for their daughter's wedding. Getting a dozen eggs ought to be simple, but unfortunately this was war time. Invaded by the Nazis, Leningrad was cut off from food supplies. The Russians were dying either from getting killed or starving to death.
Lev and Kolya go through plenty of near death experiences such as escaping from Russian cannibals and also from the Nazis. Yet despite the odds of the odds against them, Kolya's humor remained intact. I thought Kolya was a loveable and unforgettable character with his easy going attitude and wise-cracking remarks. Lev, however, held up on his own as a main character. Only seventeen, he was a naive city boy but later showed courage when danger was imminent.

Recommendation: I love this book and it's a keeper. It is highly recommended if you are looking for the following in a book:
1. Action and adventure
2. Comedy
3. A coming of age story
4. A story of friendship

Update: Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet

Anna has kindly let me include Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford to be included in my WWII reading challenge. (Thanks, Anna!) I now have read two out of five books in this challenge. Sweet!

Here's my review for the Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet. It can be found in my other blog, A Reading Collection.

Tallgrass by Sandra Dallas

Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Pub. Date: February 2008
ISBN-13: 9780312360207

Pages: 336

Rating: 3 out of 5

Synopsis: In 1942, the US government decided to open a Japanese internment camp called Tallgrass near Ellis, Colorado. The lives of the townspeople including Rennie Stroud and her family were never going to be the same again. Rennie, a thirteen year old, was forced to grow up quickly due to the effects of the war, prejudice, fear and family problems. Just when things couldn't get any worse, a white young girl was raped and murdered in her farm which was unfortunately near Tallgrass. The hatred of the Ellis townspeople grew, and they blamed the Japanese-Americans for the brutal fate of the young girl. The rift of between the people of Ellis and the Stroud family grew when Loyal, Rennie's father, decided to hire Japanese Americans to work in their farm.

Review: I decided to read Tallgrass after I read Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet, since I enjoyed the latter so much. I thought the plot was great but as I went on, I felt that some parts of the story felt weak. The novel dragged towards the middle, and I wondered if the murder of the girl was ever going to be solved.

Some characters were enjoyable. I particularly liked Mary Stroud, Rennie's mother. Her views for the Japanese Americans shifted from indifference to acceptance. However, I also felt that some characters like Daisy, Harry, and Carl, the Japanese Americans the Strouds hired in the farm, should have been developed more by the author. I wished I could have seen more of how life was for the Japanese Americans in Tallgrass, but since the story was told in Rennie's point of view, it would have been impossible for the reader to see this.

Recommendation: I would still recommend this book since some of the characters were fairly interesting enough. It wasn't bad, but if you're like me who loves character development in the story, it's limited in this book. I also think this is great for people who like "a coming of age" type of story.