City of Thieves, by David Benioff

This book tells the story of what appears to be (based on the first chapter) the author's grandfather in St. Petersburg during the 900-day German siege on Russia in WWII. This book is a positively fantastic adventure. The writer's voice is absolutely perfect. It is set amidst horrible, tragic events, but the story is told without the slightest hint of melodrama. Benioff reminds you of how awful things were, but in creative ways that are relevant to the story line without ramming it down your throat. For example, he reminds us of Lev's starvation-thinness by his fear of falling down while running because of his heightened risk of a broken bone.

While the book is highly plot-driven, it is really about the relationship between the two main characters, Lev and Kolya, who get sent on a near-impossible mission together by a Russian army official. Lev is a naive boy; Kolya is a conceited playboy with very few reservations. The character of Kolya opens up beautifully throughout the book, though, and he is instrumental in Lev's coming of age. I cared about these characters deeply.

I was incredibly curious about how much of the book is real. I tried doing some research on the main Nazi in the book, but couldn't find anything, leading me to believe names were changed. But then I did some more research and found out, from a Benioff interview, that the book is entirely fictional. Benioff's grandparents were born in the United States. That doesn't change how I feel about the book, though. A good book is a good book.

My only complaint about this book was that it was too short. I loved it. I'm sure we'll see a movie soon, since the author is a main-stream screenwriter.

Little Bee, by Chris Cleave

What a wonderfully written, moving book. I could not put it down. The book is about a teenage Nigerian refugee girl, and a British family with which she is intertwined. Such heavy issues in the book, but told in a light way. As the refugee girl tells us, she smiles when things are terrible because they would be even worse if she did not. I found myself smirking at her ideas for suicide -- that's just wrong, isn't it?!?

This was the perfect combination of present story and flashbacks, told from the voices of the refugee girl and the mother in the British family. I was always 100% engaged with the story being told at any given moment. The book was tremendously sad and powerful. Definitely recommend.

In The Woods, by Tana French

Well, so much for me not liking mystery thrillers. This was a fun, exciting book. It was about two detectives (Cassie and Rob) investigating a child murder in a small Irish town where one of the detectives was from and had experienced childhood trauma. The characters were interesting and believable. Their relationship was complex and did not take the turns that I necessarily expected. The crime itself was a bit predictable - the author could have deleted about 3 sentences of over-foreshadowing from her book. The end of the book was satisfying in its unsatisfying way. Not everything is neat and tidy. It did make me wonder if the author intends to reprise these characters, though. I wouldn't mind; she is a very good writer.