An enduring best seller and one of the few books you'll see that has a sympathetic WWII-era Nazi in it. Don't let its thickness scare you; it's not a 530-page book, it's a 300 page book. There's tons of air in it because its chapters are seldom longer than three pages. The chapters shift back and forth between the two main characters and in time and sometimes reading it is like watching a table tennis match. But don't let that keep you from it. Despite the brevity of the chapters, there's lots going on, both in the story and the writing. Doerr has the gift of phrasing and it's so subtle you'll want to make yourself slow down.
This is a novel worthy of studying and discussing with others, the better to get more out of it.