0 Small Things And One Awesome Book

First up today is VikLit's Celebrate The Small Things weekly bloghop where participants share good things from the week. (Click on the pic to the left for a complete left of participants.)

This week I am celebrating the kids in my life. They constantly amaze me and amuse me, and I love them all to death.

First up is my almost 10 year old niece. I didn't actually get to see her this week as she was home sick the day we usually visit, but I thought I'd share these snippets of conversations we had during our visit to the Ren Faire.

Her: You don't need a corset. You're too skinny.
Me: Okay.

Her: Who wears a hoop skirt anymore?
Me: Half the people here?

Her: A choker is like a corset for your neck!
Me: *helpless laughter*

Her: Pretty soon we'll be able to wear each other's clothes!
Me: Yes, I guess that's true.
Her: You can borrow my clothes if you want.
Me: Okay. Do you want to borrow my clothes, too?
Her: Uh...no. But we should go shopping sometime. I'll pick out some clothes for you.

And then there is my 12 year old goddaughter was recently cast in a production of The Nutcracker. I'm just so proud of this kid. I've been watching her dance since she was three years old, and the leaps and bounds she's made over the years astound me. She's one lovely, talented young lady. Seriously, I'm not sure I could be more proud of her.

Next up is The Cephalopod Coffeehouse hosted by the Armchair Squid. This monthly bloghop asks participants to simply share the best book they've read over the previous month. (For a complete list of participants, please click on the pic to the right.)

My selection this month is Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein. Here's the synopsis, courtesy of Goodreads:

I have two weeks. You’ll shoot me at the end no matter what I do.

That’s what you do to enemy agents. It’s what we do to enemy agents. But I look at all the dark and twisted roads ahead and cooperation is the easy way out. Possibly the only way out for a girl caught red-handed doing dirty work like mine — and I will do anything, anything, to avoid SS-Hauptsturmführer von Linden interrogating me again.

He has said that I can have as much paper as I need. All I have to do is cough up everything I can remember about the British War Effort. And I’m going to. But the story of how I came to be here starts with my friend Maddie. She is the pilot who flew me into France — an Allied Invasion of Two.

We are a sensational team.

So, I loved this book. Like, seriously loved. And I want to gush about character and voice and story and the plot—because, in my humble opinion, they're all pretty freakin' brilliant—but to do that would be doing a disservice to any of you out there who haven't yet read this book and intend to.

It's one of those stories where it's one million times better if you don't already know the ending or the big twist. So I'm not going to tell you anything about it except that I loved it so much that I immediately went out and bought its companion novel (not a sequel) Rose Under Fire.

Haven't had the chance to read that companion novels yet, but I can't wait to get to it.

That's going to do it for me today. Thanks for stopping by, and I hope y'all have a great weekend!