(You can catch up on what my Reading Challenge is all about here.)

Book: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows.

Verdict: Amazing. Just, amazing. I got into this book on, oh, about page two. It is just so charming. The entire book is written in letters between the various characters, and it feels just like you stumbled upon your grandmother's old letters, tied up with ribbon and tucked away in a box for safekeeping. It is so different, yet so classic at the same time. It is so hard to believe that the characters in this book weren't real people.

The book takes place in England and the channel island of Guernsey just after World War II. It tells the story of the German occupation of the channel islands and what life was like during and shortly after the war for all of England. My grandmother is from England and was a child in this era, so it was really interesting to learn more about England during that time. I remember hearing that my great-grandmother used to trade clothing rations for sugar rations because she loved her sweets so much. I wonder if she has kept her letters from that time somewhere. I'd really love to read them now.

In fact, this book makes me want to start writing letters to my friends. Letter-writing really is a lost art form. At book club, we discussed how much more was conveyed in letters, how colorful and descriptive they were... now we just dash off an email with little or no thought at all. My grandmother still writes letters to so many people she's met over the years (even though she also uses email); I wish I'd kept all the ones she's sent me over the years. Maybe I'll invest in some stationery and stamps.

I cannot recommend this book enough. I'm going to mail my copy to my mom soon, who will pass it onto my grandmother when she's done.

Next up on the Reading Challenge: Our book club is going to be reading The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. It comes highly recommended from the English-teacher husband of one of my fellow book club members. It's actually a young adult book and he was actually given the book by a student of his.

Posted by: Sarah | June 11, 2009 05:33 AM