Code Name Verity

Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I found the last copy squashed out of alphabetical order between two paperbacks on the bookstore shelf, after half an hour's hunt. For all my persistance, I was still dubious. When everyone tells you how fabulous something is, I tend to distrust it. Like my expectations have been built up so high that the reality cannot possibly scale its way to the top.

So I bought a tea and scrounged up a much-coveted single chair in the cafe section to take it for a test drive.

Three hours later, delirious from hunger, the remnants of my tea cooled to ice in the blasting AC, I looked up as if from a daydream. I was halfway through the novel. I knew I could sit another three hours and finish if I wanted. But even if I did, I'd buy this copy anyway, because in hardback I could force it upon all my friends (a distinct disadvantage of e-books). Besides, nature was calling.

They ask you to leave your merchandise outside the restroom before you go inside. I buried this precious final copy under stacks of bestsellers, just in case someone else spotted it on their way out. I suppose that says all that is necessary about this book.

Five minutes later, I unburied it again, paid full price, and over a grilled cheese in a nearby diner, this book and I, we continued our love story to the very end.
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