City of Thieves is wonderful.
The plot: Lev and Kolya are both young men who are arrested in nazi-besieged Leningrad. A Soviet colonel is planning his daughter’s wedding and needs a dozen eggs. He makes them a deal: they can find a dozen eggs during the ultimate siege in a Soviet winter, they get their freedom.
City of Thieves made me feel cold and hungry and desperate. It also made me laugh and think about friendship and community and how we choose who to rely on. This is a wonderfully layered story. Highly recommended.