The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

Dates Read: November 2011

This is another book (like Sarah's Key) that I borrowed from Elaine. The title sounded odd, but I trust her opinion so I decided to read it this week. Let me just tell you - it was wonderful!!!! It was witty and charming, it made me literally laugh out loud (seriously, while trying to secretly read on my lunch break, I laughed out loud - so much for being secretive), and it included some interesting historical information regarding the Channel Islands during WWII. The story is told from the perspective of a series of letters and I was nervous I wouldn't be able to keep up with the characters, but I quickly learned I had no trouble remember the people because they were all so wonderful and entertaining!! Seriously, go read this book!!

Summary: (from Amazon.com and nypl.org)
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.

As London is emerging from the shadow of World War II, writer Juliet Ashton discovers her next subject in a book club on Guernsey--a club born as a spur-of-the-moment alibi after its members are discovered breaking curfew by the Germans occupying their island

Sarah's Key

Dates Read: November 2011





Elaine recommended I read this book and she let me borrow her copy so I had no excuses not to read it. It was such a great read! Part of it takes place during the roundup of the Jews in France in WWII and part of it takes place within the last few years. There were parts of this book that were hard to read (sad how many Jewish children from France died!) and there were parts where I cried, but it was such a good read and I'm glad I read it.

Summary: (from Amazon.com)
Paris, July 1942: Sarah, a ten-year-old girl, is taken with her parents by the French police as they go door to door arresting Jewish families in the middle of the night. Desperate to protect her younger brother, Sarah locks him in a bedroom cupboard—their secret hiding place—and promises to come back for him as soon as they are released. Sixty Years Later: Sarah’s story intertwines with that of Julia Jarmond, an American journalist investigating the roundup. In her research, Julia stumbles onto a trail of secrets that link her to Sarah, and to questions about her own future.