As you read the reviews on Bookshop Talk, you'll notice that every review is positive. No, we're not a bunch of literary
pushovers who love everything we pick up; we just see no point in telling you about a book if we didn't like it.

October 22, 2010

THE GUERNSEY LITERARY AND POTATO PEEL PIE SOCIETY by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows, 2008

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (Random House Reader's Circle)
January 1946: writer Juliet Ashton receives a letter from a stranger, a founding member of the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. And so begins a remarkable tale of the island of Guernsey during the German occupation, and of a society as extraordinary as its name. (Amazon product description)

Review by Ann Marie Atkinson, book lover

One of the reasons I bought this book was because I have a friend who grew up on Guernsey Island during World War II. She and her sister were evacuated to England, with other children during the war. She has told me many stories about those years.

This book is about this same time period, during the German occupation of Guernsey Island. The authors make the characters come alive through letters. (The story about the two authors who wrote it is amazing in itself.) It is both informative and wildly funny. If you don’t believe a book about World War II could be funny, just trust me and go get a copy to read! Then you too, will become a member of this wonderful, wacky society.

I have heard nothing but positive reports about this book. Every book club I am aware of is reading it, or has already done so. I loved the format. It is written entirely in letter form—very easy to read and you can hardly wait for a return letter. It was very endearing, comical, romantic, and had enough twists and turns to keep you turning pages way after you should be sound asleep or busy doing the dishes!

I love books that teach me new information. I felt like I had lived on Guernsey, when I finished. I also felt I had a new circle of friends. I kept forgetting the characters in the book were fictional. I hated to see the last page come. It will be one of those books that will be on "Best" books lists, forever.

It is delightful and delicious.

Market:   Adult Fiction
Language:  Mild
Sensuality:  Mild
Violence:  Moderate - the mildest book concerning war that I have read.
Mature Themes:  Survival  skills during war time.  Death and other "uglies" that go along with war.
 
Book formats:
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (Random House Reader's Circle) (paperback)
Guernsey Literary And Potato Peel Pie Society (hardcover)
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society (Kindle)

To learn more about the authors, Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows, go here

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

This is one of my favorite books ever. I love that so many other people love it!

Kim said...

This is such a wonderful book! I adored it!

QueenScarlett said...

I fell in love with the people, the stories...this place through this book. One of my all-time favs.