The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer

This story is a historically-based fiction about Guernsey, one of the Channel Islands, during the second world war. I wish we'd been able to visit there while we lived in England...

The story relates the creation of (and the events that follow) their literary society.

It was a fun book. The story was told by the means of fictional letters. I like stories told in that format. I have to say that I really expected to rate it higher than a four, but the end seemed very abrupt to me.

All told, if you like historically based fiction or books about WWII, it's worthy of your time.

I'm not very good at reading as a member of a book club.

Generally I find that I simply read much more quickly than everyone else.
If I try to keep apace with everyone else I tend to lose interest.


But, hey, even if I've been looking forward to reading a title I tend to lose interest once I "have" to read it. 


That's a bit different this summer. Actually, it's really different and I'm happy for it.


I told my best friend about a book I knew would be perfect for her. She said "I'll read it if you read it again, with me." And so I am reading it a second time. I am really enjoy it. It's the right time for me to reread it.


I am rereading another title. This one is because my husband and I decided I would homeschool our 16 year old in literature and writing this summer. I gave him ten titles from which to chose two or three depnding on their length. We are in the midst of the first selection. We'd be finished but we postponed our reading while he took a summer Russian course at the local university; his first college course. We are both really enjoying the book; him for the first time and me for the second.


Our daughter has a summer reading assignment for her upcoming sophomore Honors Literature course. She's been assigned a book that I previously read and really appreciated. The book was on my list of books that I would suggest our kids read during high school. That would be a "must read" list if I were still homsechooling. 


The results of all of my joint reading adventures will eventually be posted here!


Titles:


A Fraction of The Whole by Steve Toltz


I Am the Messenger by Marcus Zusak


The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak


(It's just a coincidence that two of the titles are by Zusak! In fact, both titles were given to my son as part of his ten titles for choice. The two titles are so very different from each other in writing style. Both were really terrific books in their own, differing ways.)