So, let me get a couple of things out of the way right up front. First thing is, I read, know, and love books for a living, but I don’t have a favorite. Second thing is, I don’t really believe that perfection exists, anywhere in the world. There’s no such thing as a perfect book.

Sure, there are perfect books for certain people at certain times, for certain occasions, certain states of mind. But a perfect book for everyone? For anyone? That book would have to contain a little action, a little adventure, and both a tight, fast plot and strong characters. It would have to be both poignant - serious, even - and laugh-out-loud funny. It would have to be rooted in history, but also one hell of a yarn. And it would have to have some romance - but not too much romance. It goes without saying that this - all of this - would have to be wrapped up in a conclusion that was imminently satisfying, without feeling contrived. In short, this so-called perfect book would read a lot like David Benioff’s City of Thieves.

It’s January 1942, in the midst of the Siege of Leningrad. The city is locked down, the enemy is everywhere, and teenaged Lev finds himself in the wrong place at the wrong time. He’s arrested, and thrown into a cell with Kolya, a dashing slacker, aspiring intellectual, and deserter from the Red Army. Lev and Kolya are given a task: find a dozen eggs for an officer’s daughter’s wedding cake. If they succeed, they are free. If they fail, of course, they’ll be shot. A grocery run in a city that is slowly starving to death seems unlikely to end well, but they’re sure to be executed if they refuse. So, our heroes head out into the cold, on a fool’s errand that will, naturally, lead to untold adventures and hijinks, reveal some heavy insights into human nature, and change both of them forever.

City of Thieves isn’t new - it came out in 2008 - but I’m regularly surprised by the number of people who have never read this absolute treat of a novel. It’s smart, funny, poignant, and wise. It’s a little sad, yes, but triumphantly hopeful. It’s edge-of-your-seat thrilling. And while it is marketed as an adult novel, it is a great crossover for young adult readers, too. For the past decade, I’ve recommended this book to countless readers, ages 13 to 80. I can’t say for certain that they all loved it, but none of them ever complained.

It’s gifting season, and mighty late in gifting season, at that. It’s likely some of you are still desperately seeking a gift for someone: either they’re impossible to buy for, or you don’t know them well, or all you know about them is that they’re interested in World War Two. Maybe they read a lot. Maybe they don’t. Maybe your list is checked off, and you just need a book to escape into yourself come Boxing Day. In any case, I present to you City of Thieves.

I still maintain that there’s no such thing as a perfect book. But City of Thieves comes pretty close.

Sam Kaas and Emma Nichols own and run the Norwich Bookstore.

Previous Enthusiasms:

• Carin Pratt on Ash Davidson's Damnation Spring
• Peter Orner on Shirley Hazzard's The Evening of the Holiday
• Rena Mosteirin on Sybille Bedford's A Legacy
• Allie Levy on Chris Bohjalian's Hour of the Witch
• Jared Jenisch on Marc Hamer's Seed to Dust
• Kari Meutsch on All of Us Villains, by Amanda Foody and Christine Lynn Herman
• Carin Pratt on Stanley Tucci's Taste: My Life Through Food
• Peter Orner on poet Ruth Stone
• Rena Mosteirin on Little Women
• Allie Levy on Louise Erdrich's The Sentence.
• Jared Jenisch on Nastassja Martin's In the Eye of the Wild.
• Kari Meutsch on Station Eleven, the book and the series