His Majesty's Dragon by Naomi Novik

In this book Captain Will Laurence, upon making a routine capture of a ship, discovers a dragon egg. He's unexpectedly chosen by the dragon, and he must give up a life on the sea, adapt to the aviation Corps, and train the dragon, all while under a strict time crunch--the Napoleonic Wars aren't going so well. I liked this alternative history, and I think the book does some interesting work thinking about class and family. But the real reason to read it is to see the beautiful bond developing between Laurence and his dragon, Temeraire. I look forward to the next books in this series.