You stole it!!

Megan Whalen Turner's The Thief was one of those books that I made time to read.  Any free second I had during the day I devoted to reading this book-it was that engaging.

This cover is much more intriguing
than the one on my copy of the book.
Honestly, my copy's cover was a
bit off-putting.  

The Thief is the story of the thief (obviously) Gen as he works with high ranking officials to steal...well I can't tell you that because-spoilers-but it's a very important object.  Turner weaves the myths of this society throughout the story and she fully admits "Nothing in this book is historically accurate." It may not be historically accurate but The Thief has all of the depth and intrigue of any society with a rich history.

Gen is one of those characters you feel like you're not supposed to like, because he's a thief, but you can't help it!  He is clever and snarky (apparently spell-check doesn't think this is a word which is a real shame as it's one of my favorites)-in the best possible way.  Gen is the perfect underdog to root for.  His companions are equally entertaining though radically different.  To explain them all to you would create too many spoilers, so you'll just have to read the book.

Rooting for the "bad" guy....that's kids stuff