3 2 1 takeoff

This week is spring break, and I will, thank goodness, be traveling to warmer places in the country! A lot of bloggers do packing lists and how-to's, and though I thought about it, I'm really not very skilled at making everything fit. Instead, I'll tell you all about something I do know about: books!
Every journey or vacation needs time-fillers. I'm flying to my destination, but if you're able to read in the car as I am, this works for road trips as well. Books are the absolute first things I think about bringing on my trips, and I read not only in the traveling, but also while I am on vacation. Here are some of my save-for-vacation books!

1. Rose Under Fire, by Elizabeth Wein. This is the companion novel to Code Name Verity, which I wrote about here. Code Name Verity is one of my favorite books, and Rose Under Fire picks up close to where it ends. Though the protagonists of Code Name Verity are not the main characters of its companion, it looks as though some of the characters will appear again. I am incredibly, incredibly excited to read this novel, and its companion has certainly given me high expectations.

2. Rose: My Life in Service to Lady Astor, by Rosina Harrison. I'll admit it: I saw this nonfiction work on the "If You Like Downton Abbey" table at my local bookshop a few months ago. When I returned, Barnes & Noble gift card in hand, it had been moved. I then went on a quest to find it, eventually having to ask (horror of horrors!) for assistance. I have begun it, and the incredible tales of aristocracy are certainly worth any trouble the relocation might have caused.

3. The Tragedy Paper, by Elizabeth Laban. This novel is one of a prestigious boarding school, first love, and a story within a story. I have been told hints and glimpses by various reviews, and have been hearing things- good things- about it for months. I finally own it, and have splurged for hardback, as that was the only way to get the beautiful, earlier cover.

4. Mary Poppins, She Wrote: the Life of P. L. Travers, by Valerie Lawson. Mary Poppins was my favorite film for a number of years. It was, as people say, "my childhood"; I would watch it over and over, would dress up and dance along to the music. I knew all of the songs, and was enamored with each and every scene, be it the semi-animated fox hunt or the somber, more metaphoric "Feed the Birds". As soon as I saw Mary Poppins on the cover, I knew I had to own this gem of a biography. 

A One-Sitting Read

I am always looking for new books to read, and so, being that it's right after Christmas (though really, I don't need and excuse), I decided to head to "Barnes & Nobles". And, while I was perusing the shelves, I found this absolute gem of a novel: Code Name Verity, by Elizabeth Wein.

Now, I have known of the existence of Code Name Verity for many months. I've seen in publicized on writing websites and reviewed on blogs. Though I never looked very closely, all of these sources seemed to have loved the book. I, however, started to read Anna Karenina- which, as Tolstoy lovers know, is a process. But a few days ago, I set out to the bookstore, armed with a gift card, and saw Code Name Verity on the shelf. I remembered the blogs and websites that had recommended it, and decided to give it a chance.

I began reading this afternoon, and finished in one sitting.

To begin, Code Name Verity is historical fiction. This is always a huge plus for me, as I so admire authors who put in such time and effort to meticulously reconstruct another time or setting. Also, Wein weaves the history and fiction together beautifully; she does not throw the history in the readers face, saying, "Look! I researched this! This is the exact type of shoe twenty year old working women would wear in the 1940s!" Instead, she weaves the two topics seamlessly together, recreating the World War II setting she has chosen.

But though Wein is writing about World War II, she does not focus on the evils of Germany at the time; instead, she chooses individual people to be her villains. Also, this is not a war book; it is not All Quiet on the Western Front. It is a book about people who are in a war. There is a war on. And there are spies, and airplanes, and secrets. But there are also best friends, and making the hard choices.

Code Name Verity is, in short, the best book I have read in quite a long time. It is heartfelt and emotional. It is well written, with wonderful narrative voice for each of its characters. It's plot is complex and intriguing, twisting and turning down beautifully foreshadowed alleys.

Wein has created a new world between two paper covers.