Book One: The Guernsey and Potato Peel Society

I have finished my first book! One down, 22 more to go.

The first book on my list was "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society". I bought this book at the beginning of the summer, but in the midst of moving and traveling it was thrown into a box that was left, unpacked, in my basement until a couple of weeks ago. I had actually forgotten that I even had this book, so it was quite a surprise to find this treasure packed among my old college binders and textbooks.

Let me tell you about this book. It is by far the best book I've read in years! I devoured it in just a few sittings. The book takes place in London and the Guernsey Islands off the coast of Normandy. The main character is a writer from London that begins corresponding with the Literary Society of this small island after a man there sees her name written in the front a book by Charles Lamb and decides to write her a letter. The entire book is told through letters, and as the writer, Juliet, learns about the German occupation during WWII and the lovely and eccentric people of the Society, she falls in love with them and so did I. This book is about so many things; friendship, WWII, writing, and of course love. I found it a little hard to keep track of all the characters at the beginning, but by the end of the book they all had their place in the Guernsey I imagined in my mind.

I'll admit that this is one of those books that caused me to stay up much later than I intended, and on a school night. I started reading at 10:30p.m. and was so enthralled with the characters and their story that I just could not put it down. I had to know what happened at the end, and so I kept reading. The ending of this book was perfect. I sighed, smiled in delight, and finally closed my eyes at 1a.m.. Was I tried the next day? You betcha. Was I sorry I stayed up that late reading this book? Not at all; it was so worth it!