The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

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


My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I hate to gush over something I love and build it up so much that someone else has too-high expectations; but gush I must. Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows' The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society was a lovely read, and it did not take long for me to fall in love.

On page 11, Juliet Ashton writes, "That's what I love about reading: one tiny thing will interest you in a book, and that tiny thing will lead you onto another book, and another bit there will lead you onto a third book." My thought at that precise moment was, "Exactly."

Then there was page 24, "There were eight boxes--eight boxes of my books bound up and ready for the basement...Well, there were no words! I was too appalled to speak." I also love my books too much to store them away--who knows when I might want to re-visit with one?

By page 48, the speculation was over, and knew I was hooked. This I know because on October 14, I tweeted "Doing the one city, one book thing. 48 pages into the guernsey literary and potato peel pie society and i love it!"

There are more quotes which I find quite nice, but I leave that to future GLPPPS readers to discover. I would enjoy the opportunity to hear/read what others have to say about their favorite quotes from the book.

The books is actually a series of letters, something of which I am not usually a fan. However, I found this a brilliant literary move. The written banter between characters is witty, humorous, and so descriptive that despite the changing perspectives, the reader always has a clear idea of people and places. So, please do not be turned off by the collection of letters. If I had given into my typical distaste for such books, I would have missed out something that was written for those who loves books and reading.

Many thanks to the Contra Costa Library System for selecting this book for Walnut Creek's "One City, One Book" program. Without the program or the library system, I probably would have never stumbled upon GLPPPS.

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