Title: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
Authors: Marry Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows
Number of Pages: 274
Number of Stars: 3.8
That could possibly be the longest and strangest title of a book ever. Weird title aside I mostly enjoyed this book. It was funny and quick witted. The characters were likable. I thought the whole book being written in letters made it unique and gave a break from the traditional narrative type story. Reading all of the letters made me wish that people would still sit down and write hand written notes every once in a while. The bad part about that is there is no delete button, which I find I use on a daily basis. Maybe it's a good thing we don't still write that way? It was nice in the fact that I could sit down for 30 seconds or 30 minutes to read. The actual writing was pretty good - and very witty. I can only wish to ever be able to write like that. There was some dark content, but it was evenly balanced with humor and love. This was a little piece of history that I had never been introduced to before. My favorite thing about this book is that it all boiled down to what choices we make in life. Do you realize how one seemingly small choice can have major consequences? Would you sacrifice your life for a complete stranger? Would you stand up for your beliefs in the face of fear, danger, and unpopularity? I wish I could say "yes", and right now I do say "yes", but when faced with the actual choice - I really don't know! This book points out the incredible amount of things we take for granted like: salt, meat, any food, soap, clothing, shoes, heat, wood to burn, freedom to meet with friends, freedom to be with our families, and so many more. Like a few of the ladies in book club, I also didn't appreciate the undercurrents of accepting homosexuality and the fact that family is easily replaceable by friends. The ending turned a little more into a romance novel that I felt it should have. I am glad I read it, I probably won't read it again, unless it is another book club book. I would love to travel to Guernsey someday...someday.
