City of Thieves

City of Thieves (2008) by David Benioff. During the siege of Leningrad in World War II, two young Russians are thrown together and find themselves trying to perform an impossible task. In order to avoid execution for trumped-up crimes, they must find a dozen eggs for the wedding cake of a powerful man's daughter. Since it is a time of war and privation, this is by no means an easy quest. The book follows the two men on their journey, as they get to know one another and try to avoid the many ways to die along the way. I found it not only very readable, but unique in its perspective on life during World War II in Russia. The events described seem too weird not to be true, and yet the author says the book is largely made up. Grade: A

Killing Rommel

Killing Rommel (2008) by Steven Pressfield. Fictional war memoir about a team of British warriors who are called on in 1942-3 to track down and kill German Field Marshall Rommel in North Africa. It's a kinetic, action-packed story which, to its credit, doesn't quite glorify war. Grade: B

Personal Days

Personal Days (2008) by Ed Park. A rather strange novel about the denizens of an office and how they are affected by the machinations of a bogus employee who sets out to destroy the company they work for. A pretty entertaining story, but the book is a bit hard to read -- especially the last chapter, which consists of one 30-page run-on sentence. Grade: B+