Leningrad on my mind

It just so happens that I have read three books on the siege of Leningrad in the last few months. Two were for my Vino Libro bookgroup: City of Thieves by David Benihoff and The Winter Garden  by Kristin Hannah.  The third, The Madonnas of Leningrad, by Debra Dean, was for my local Rollingwood bookclub.   The first and third were very good but I found The Winter Garden pathetic.  I am convinced that Hannah read the Madonnas and thought, okay, I can write something similar, and I said as much to my closest VL friends, but then, I am a cynical old cow. The others really liked it.

I thought City of Thieves, however, was wonderful. And the coolest thing is that I just finished it 20 minutes ago and I read it ON MY PHONE. Last months I got a new smartphone -- a Droid -- and I am still admiring its clever design. It came with an application to link to my Kindle, which means I can read books while waiting in line at the supermarket, or, I suppose at red lights.  Very dangerous.  The screen is barely 2" by 3 1/2" but held sideways, it is comfortable to read and I can swipe page turns at about the rate I can read the screen. It works surprisingly well.