The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

Guernsey is a small Island in the English Channel that was controlled for five years by German forces during World War II. After the war, a young female British author, Juliet Ashton, finds herself unwillingly on a book tour to promote her book, Izzy Bickerstaff Goes To War. She's tired of the war, tired of writing under a pseudonym and tired of trying to be funny and lighthearted about such a horrible topic. Unfortunately, her mind draws a blank when it comes to knowing what else to write about. All of this information is delightfully given through amusing letters to her editor, Sidney.

While on tour, she receives a letter written by Dawsey Adams, a native of Guernsey, who has stumbled across her name written in a book by Charles Lamb. Seeking more information on this author, Juliet and Dawsey begin a correspondence that soon involves a dozen or so members of what is known as the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society.

The letters include informations about the conditions during the War, zany character sketches that Island life seems to be best at producing and an emerging story that Juliet eventually realizes is her next book topic. To gather more information for her book, she decides to travel to Guernsey to meet these people she has come to know through letters face-to-face.

I have to include one fabulous quote. It will put a smile on the face of any blogger that has risked a meeting with a fellow blogger for the first time:

As the mail boat lurched into the harbor, I saw St. Peter Port rising up from the sea on terraces, with a church on the top like a cake decoration, and I realized that my heart was galloping. As much as I tried to persuade myself it was the thrill of the scenery, I knew better. All those people I've come to know and even love a little, waiting to see -- me. And I, without any paper to hide behind. Sidney, in these past two or three years, I have become better at writing than living -- and think what you do to my writing. On the page, I'm perfectly charming, but that's just a trick I learned. It has nothing to do with me. At least, that's what I was thinking as the mail boat came toward the pier. I had a cowardly impulse to throw my red cape overboard and pretend I was someone else.

In spite of it's long and confusing title, this is a book I happily recommend to everyone. It's chaming, uplifting, well written, funny, clean, historical, romantic and, best of all...a very easy read. I've read a few disparaging reviews that attack the book for being World War II fluff or not an accurate representation of what a female author in 1946 would sound like in letters. To them I say...fiddlesticks. If you want the nitty gritty of World War II or a proper British tone, have at a long list of other books already available.

If, however, you want to jump into small-town life on Guernsey, remember the thrill of letter writing, and enjoy a collaborative "na-na-na-na-na-na!" at resident busy-body Adelaide Addison - read this book! I have a happy hunch you won't be disappointed.

Great Expectations

As my husband got into bed last night and looked over to see what I was reading, he said, "You're still reading Great Expectations?" I admit that I have not been able to plow through this book. Instead, I have taken many, many detours and interspersed three different, easier-to-read books along the way. I finally finished last night, after about three weeks of off and on reading. Still, I have to say that it's a wonderful book. Like many wonderful books, it should be included on some list called"Great Books That Are Boring". As this was my first attempt reading Dickens's fiction ( also to be considered semi auto-biographical) and I was surprised by how much I loved it but even more surprised by how much I hated it.

Charles Dickens is my kind of guy. He's funny (tons of humorous parenthetical details that add so much to the story) and he's wordy. In the earlier parts of the book, I found myself thinking, "Finally! A truly funny author! Why have I been assuming I have to read Jennifer Weiner or Sophie Kinsella or even David Sadaris to get a laugh? Dickens is funny!" He also really knows how to paint a scene. From the food to the positions of the characters in a room to someone's smell to how they are feeling, Dickens leaves no detail out. This worked great for me...until I got bored. Then, I felt irritated and impatient and simply wanted to know what was going to happen. Enough with the side comments! Enough.

The story begins with young Pip (thus nicked-named due to his Christian name being Philip Pirrip), a young orphan of seven, being brought up by his cruel older sister and her husband, Joe Gargary. One evening, Pip finds himself in the marshes and is cornered by an escaped convict, Magwitch. With the threat of losing his life, Pip helps the convict escape by bringing him a file he found among blacksmith Joe's tools along with some food. Pip continues in his simple, lower-class lifestyle until he is asked to entertain an old,wealthy spinster, Miss Havisham, and her haughty adopted daughter, Estella. It is through this encounter that Pip learns about the finer things in life and begins to aspire to be a gentleman.

His life is suddenly completely changed when he is informed by Miss Havisham's lawyer that he is to become a gentleman, on behalf of an anonymous benefactor. Assuming this benefactor to be Miss Havisham, and that she did this to allow for a future marriage between himself and Estella, whom he has fallen in love with, he adopts this lifestyle in both thought and deed. This transformation perversely changes many good qualities about Pip and in addition to the refinement and education gained, he also gained an attitude of pride and snobbery.

In the end, when his "great expectations" are destroyed, Pip is left with a decision about what kind of man he is to become without the fortune he anticipated having. The themes, attitudes and moral lessons in this story are timeless and what makes Great Expectations a classic.

While Dickens's wordiness gets in the way of the story at times, his gift of weaving life lessons into a narrative ultimately makes it worth the effort. Yes...even a three-week effort.

God Wants A Powerful People

I've always considered myself a Sheri Dew fan. Loved her biography of President Gordan B. Hinckley. Her book, No Doubt About It, is truly one of my favorites. I love her strength. I love her leadership. I love her honesty.

However, I did not love this book. It seems beyond sacrilege to not love a church book, especially one with such a message, although I do admit to loving many parts of it. Her masterful references to scriptures, appropriate analogies to really drive a point home and self-deprication are spot on, as usual.

But, there is a judgmental tone throughout the book that left a slight unpleasant feeling afterwards. For instance, there is a part of the book where she is talking about our power and being powerful (I know...shocker) and mentions a young adult (or young woman. I can't quite remember) coming up to her after her talk to thank her for her message and how touched and motivated she was. All Sheri Dew seemed to notice was how the girl was dressed. Apparently, her dress standards weren't as stringent as a 50 year old woman and I felt sad that she pointed it out in her book. It made her story...less. Yes, bring up modesty and all of its power, but don't do it that way. Judging someone without their knowledge is never fair. I just didn't like it.

There are a few more instances, one involving overhearing other women at her workplace (which, I assume, is Deseret Book) discussing an Oprah show and her interrupting the conversation by quizzing them on how it compared to a certain General Authority's talk on the subject matter. Of course, they didn't know, or couldn't remember and she admits feeling disgusted and disappointed with these women for not knowing. Perhaps it's the knowledge that I also could never live up to her personal standards that has me feeling judged and combative, but there is a slight tinge of rancor throughout the entire book. It isn't solely uplifting, or encouraging. At least, not without pulling some others down along the way.

Lastly, she refers many times to some extremely difficult circumstances in her personal life. It's always vague and always...unhelpful. I feel like, if you're going to use something as an example, explain it. Don't dance around it. And if you don't want to share, don't. Only sort of, kind of, hinting of your problems isn't really sharing them.

Obviously, there is much good stuff. I probably should have focused on that in my review, but sadly, the power of the book was weakened considerably by my inability to get past the negative and her inability to solely focus on the positive

Gone For Good

I've decided Harlan Coben is my perfect airplane author. Now that I've finished four of his books, I can say that, like most authors, his books are a bit formulaic, but I like his formula. Likable, clueless guy caught up in a dangerous game that involve his loved ones. Usually turns out sad, but o.k. too. I can deal with that. Especially in the confined space of an airline seat.

Not as good as Into the Woods or Tell No One, but an interesting thriller with plenty of twists.

Good In Bed

Even though this isn't the Blogger Book Club book until February, I went ahead and re-read it because it had been six years!

I still enjoyed it.

Weiner tells the story about a confident woman, who works as a journalist for a paper in Philadelphia, who breaks up with her author boyfriend only to find an article written by him in a magazine about "Loving a Larger Woman".

The article begins, "I remember the day I found out my girlfriend weighed more than I did."

Aaack!

Perhaps it is all the large girl humor I find so appealing. She really nails so much of it. And Cammie, her protagonist, is a great character. Lots of zingers and thoughts and comebacks that make you want to hang out with her in real life.

Like most of Weiner's books (and I have read most of them now), she tends to create a melodrama in what most readers simply want to be a comedy. The conflict, which all books must have, blows up too much and makes the book lose its sparkle. I also have a problem with the reality of one part, which I will wait to discuss with my fellow readers, instead of lodging my complaint here.

Regardless of its imperfections, this is a fun, entertaining, interesting and honest story that most readers (do NOT recommend this for your ward book club - that mistake does not need to be repeated) would enjoy.

Goose Girl

Poor Shannon Hale. I think the most frequent comment I've heard about her as an author is, "She's LDS and like Stephenie Meyer, doesn't write LDS fiction."

I'm not sure it was a good enough reason to check out her book, Goose Girl, but I did it anyway. My sister, Jen, liked this book and that was one more reason, but a good enough one for me.

It was a nice break from some of the meatier stuff I've been reading. It's not meatless, exactly, but written as a fairy tale in the voice of a young princess so it's about as meaty as Chicken Noodle Soup.

There are some worthwhile themes throughout the book. Ambition, gifts, honesty, work. The princess, whose name was blessedly shortened to Ani for most of the book, lacks the power of persuasion that her mother, the Queen, possesses. The author calls this gift "People Speaking" and while Ani doesn't possess that particular gift, she does possess the rarer, and less esteemed "Animal Speaking" and later "Nature Speaking" gifts. She can talk to swans, as a girl, and later, while in hiding when her lady-in-waiting pulls a coup during their journey to meet her betrothed, learns to speak to the geese she keeps. Ultimately, she uses these gifts, especially her ability to talk with wind, to restore her place as Crown Princess, leaving us with the lesson that we can rely on the gifts we possess to accomplish what is necessary. I think. At least, that's what I'm taking away from it. A la....To Thine Own Self Be True without all the fancy talk.

Those elements create the fairy tale, as well as all the prince and princess stuff, but this felt surprisingly modern to me. There were times the dialogue seemed appropriate to the time of the story, but most of the time, I heard the voices of young, spoiled American teens in my head, especially when the ruthless Selia spoke.

In any light, Goose Girl is an easy read, with some sound moral backbone - as fairy tales usually have, but isn't incredible literature - as fairy tales usually aren't. But sometimes, it's nice to simply read a good story. Goose Girl is that.

Gap Creek

The title is Gap Creek: The Story Of A Marriage. I had to keep reminding myself that this was a book about perspective. I think. I hope.

All books are, but I was so annoyed at the hard, bleek perspective the author chose to give us, that I wanted to shout out loud at the characters. Be nice! Say Thank You! Find a job!

Of course, their life WAS hard...which made their marriage hard. But, mostly, it was their lack of opportunity that made it so unbelievably difficult. Their lack of education and vision and plans for the future gave them no future. They just lived their hard life day after day.

I suppose there are lessons to learn and examples to follow. I always wonder, "What is this book's point?" Is it, that marriage is hard? That life in the South Appalachians at the turn of the century was hard? That you had to work hard and then you died? Well...that is a point. But not a very enjoyable one.

I would classify this as women's literature, because I cannot fathom a man enjoying this book, but it was written by a man. He says he wanted to tell the story of his grandparent's first year of marriage. I thought it interesting that he gave the voice to the young teenage bride. Her husband invokes little sympathy from me, but, again, I reminded myself...perspective. It's hers.

If this was the story of a marriage, it sure made me glad for my own.

The Golden Compass

This series, written by Philip Pullman, was recommended during my reading rut by Anne and I have to say that I am so glad for her recommendation. I don't think I would have picked it up, otherwise, and this was highly enjoyable reading for me.

The series is called His Dark Materials, and The Golden Compass is the first book in the series. In it, the main character, Lyra, an eleven year-old girl, is introduced. Also introduced is the idea of daemons, which, while never actually explained, I'm going to describe as a kind of soul for human beings. Each person has a daemon, which is an animal who is with its person at all times and sort of reveals the mood and character of their human partner. Childrens' daemons can change, and do depending on need and situation. Lyra's daemon, Pantalaimon, changes between a moth, when Lyra is trying to hide, a lion when she's trying to intimidate someone else, and everything in between. I absolutely loved the symbolism it provided throughout the entire story.

Lyra is given an alitheometer, which is a truth telling compass that, through a series of needles, point to objects symbolizing the answers to questions she asks. No adult knows how to read it, and Lyra herself seems unaware of the great gift and power she possesses. Again, lots and lots of symbolism.

While this is billed as young adult fiction/fantasy, and has all of the exciting story lines that would provide hours of amusement and discovery for that age group, this plot...this idea is so complex that any adult should enjoy it. The dark materials, Dust, is viewed by some in the Church as evil, only because it is misunderstood, and therefore to be removed and destroyed. Experiments have revealed that Dust surrounds adults, but not children, and a theory is proposed that it settles only when a person's daemon becomes permanent and cannot change anymore. To test their theory, the group of researchers funded by the church, kidnap children of the poor and experiment "cutting" away their daemons so that this process can never happen. The children are left soulless and all die from confusion and shock.

Incredible analogies, fascinating settings and fantastical characters make this series one I look forward to reading!

The Good Earth

Written by Pearl S. Buck, an American citizen who spent most of her childhood and much of her adult life in China, in 1931. It was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1932. I've heard much about it, mostly about a moment in the story when a woman gives birth and then goes back to work in the fields the same day, and have wanted to read it for quite some time.

I think it's always intimidating to read a classic. They are usually reserved for English classes or intellectuals and I worry that my understanding won't be up to snuff. Here goes:

The story begins on Wang Lung's wedding day. He is a peasant farmer, in China, who goes to the house of a wealthy farmer to pick up the bride his father has arranged for him to have: a plain, unattractive slave whose feet have never been bound and appear hideous to him. Large feet notwithstanding, he quickly learns to admire his hard-working and frugal wife. With their hard work and savings, Wang climbs up the economic ladder by being able to buy additional land to farm on. It's ALL about the land, in Wang's opinion. Land is forever. Land cannot be taken away.

Sure enough, what I heard about birthing and returning to work in the fields the same day was true. O-Lan, Wang's wife, is this incredibly docile, unassuming woman. She's the kind of woman that made me feel like a slacker for sitting around reading a book. Or taking a few weeks off of going to church after having a baby. I longed for more O-Lan, but that wasn't what this book was about. There were moments when I saw her pain, when I understood that in this culture, no one really loved O-Lan, despite her humility and service. Not her parents, who probably considered having a girl a burden and sold her as a slave when she was very young, not her owners, not her husband, and eventually, not even her own children. Wang appreciated her but all his appreciation did was allow him to feel ashamed when he brought a concubine to the home.

The beauty of the book, to me, was the irony that Buck skillfully weaves throughout the story. The rise and fall of the House of Hwang, where O-Lan was a slave, parallels Wang Lung's own story. It's the whole Nephite Pride Cycle! In fact, Buck's style of writing felt a bit like reading the scriptures. It was written dispassionately, even when writing about the character's passion. I also appreciated the Epic nature of the story. There is something to be learned from the successes and the tragedies.

As much as I liked it, and I liked it very much, I wasn't completely smitten. I read some of the original reviews which led to the Pulitzer Award, and most of them focus on the groundbreaking honest look into China. Apparently, up until that time, China, or the Orient, was poorly understood and most of the stories about it were romanticized and mystifying. Buck wrote about the China she saw, the day to day work and customs, the glory of sons to their families and the disregard to their daughters. While many parts of the story transcends time, parts of it felt obsolete and simple. Kind of like the first of anything. An original...yes. Groundbreaking...definitely. But then other books follow suit and readers have a choice of style and characters. I've read several books before that tell the chilling tale of peasant life in China. Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress and Snow Flower and the Secret Fan each detail the beauty, simplicity, horror and hardship of pre and post revolutionary China. Perhaps that exposure kept me from truly loving this story. Or maybe my expectations were too high.

No doubt, some of you who did read this in a class and had the opportunity to dissect it with an instructor, see what I am missing. If so...please share.

Until being convinced otherwise, my opinion is that this is a great book. Definitely a classic. But not one of my favorites.

The God of Animals

Alice Winston is a 12 year-old girl whose dysfunctional and isolated family life has left her unable to cope when a classmate of her dies. Her father, Joe Winston, a horseman with too many of his own problems to worry about his daughter's, leaves her emotionally starved and physically overburdened. He doesn't notice as her clothes become too small and too tight and expects her to muck the horse stalls, take care of the horses and help out with her clinically depressed mother who hasn't left her bedroom in over a decade.

In this burdensome environment, her sixteen year-old sister elopes with a rodeo cowboy creating an even wider gulf between Alice and other girls her age. Sheila, a girl her age but from the other side of town, starts coming out for riding and showmanship lessons. The family financially depends on this girl and her money, forcing Alice to befriend Sheila although she has few of the necessary social skills to do so.

As the family business struggles financially, her father submits to what he calls his last resort and allows other people to board their pedigree horses in their barn. A group of rich women, dubbed the Catfish by Alice, start coming too frequently to socialize, ride their horse and drink out of paper cups and one of the women begins a dangerous flirtation with Alice's own emotionally starved father.

There are so many things I enjoyed about this book. The writing is beautiful and the author, Aryn Kyle, does an amazing job weaving in the landscape and weather to amplify the mood and the world of horse breeding and shows as the catalyst for Alice's coming of age. This would have been a much different story if told by her father, or her mother or even her older sister. But it was told through Alice and we understand her low self-worth, her confusion and desire to please, her ultimate need to know that she was being taken care of. I wanted to reach through the book and hug her and reassure her that she was doing a good job and that I noticed. All she wanted was to be noticed and accepted for who she was and what she was good at.

A haunting family story with a beautiful but harsh landscape, Alice grows up understanding that dreams don't always come true, the good guy doesn't always finish first and that nature can be cruel.

Gift From The Sea

I had never heard of this book a month ago. Andrea bought it for last month's book club book exchange and after all of the books were opened, switching so she could have it back. Curious about her motives, we decided to read it this month. I didn't know the author. Lindbergh. Not an obscure name for sure but I didn't connect the dots at all (she was the wife of Charles Lindbergh - the pilot of the Spirit of St. Louis). Four nights ago I climbed into a hot bath and started reading. I immediately recognized that this book was special. Why does this woman know my thoughts?

Lindbergh uses the seashells she finds on her vacation as representations of the various stages and complications in a woman's life. The beginning of her book talks about the importance of finding space and solitude every once in a while for balance and recharging. What woman doesn't need that? What human doesn't need that? The next phase is the early love, the passionate period, when the relationship is pure and intense. I don't think this is exclusively romantic love either. I couldn't help but think of friendships with other women when you are first getting to know each other and we show our best selves. Then after a few years of friendship, the flakiness shows up or the selfishness. Children, work, callings, husbands -- crowd that former ease and to remain friends takes much more effort. The effort moves into the next phase which was my favorite because it is life - the oyster phase. The shell is not necessarily beautiful but strong and purposeful. The bond between the two halves has many connections - habit, love, devotion, history. The last part of the book delves into the later years, which I'm sure I will find deeply profound when I am experiencing it.

At the end of this copy of the book, the author revisits her words twenty years later. In that bathtub, I thought, "I had no idea this book was written in the seventies/eighties." Only to discover that it was written in the fifties. I would have never thought that my GenXness would relate to a famous, upper class woman on the east coast fifty years ago. To achieve such timelessness is a worthwhile feat. It wasn't her intent but the result speaks for itself. It is our lives as women and while we are essentially alone to experience it, we have this commonality that once acknowledged, should give us tremendous support to one another.

Goodnight Nobody

Funny timing. This book is actually a lot like my last post. The main character is a harried mother of 3 under the age of 4 and feels like she doesn't compare with the mothers in her neighborhood. I've read all of Jennifer Weiners' books and enjoy them. I loved her first book - Good In Bed- but have been mildly disappointed with her last two. This is better than either In Her Shoes or Little Earthquakes. She ventures a bit from her norm by making this a mystery but it still contains all of her large girl humor that I find so appealing.

Well written but a very disappointing ending. Come to think of it, most of her endings are pretty bad. It's as if she sets herself up as a comedic author and then attempts to end each book with this somewhat depressing, unresolved, facts of life conundrum. Um....I think I'll stick to Anita Shrieve if I want to read about messed up, complicated home lives.

I have obviously never met Jennifer Weiner but her protagonist in this book seems familiar. A smart, pretty but larger Jewish woman who always has a fantastic friend to lean on and a situation of unrequited like. Looking at her picture, her name and reading her bio, I'm going to venture a guess that this character isn't much of a stretch. Especially since she uses her in each book. But I really like her protagonist and I'll keep reading what she writes.

Her title comes from the children's story Goodnight Moon. The part that says Goodnight nobody. She feels a bit unfulfilled in the stay-at-home lifestyle and feels like a nobody. A bit whiny but anyone that has ever felt an eensy bit bored, mentally underused, and frustrated with the competition that mommydom can be will identify with parts of her story.

The Great Divorce

Not my usual read. In fact, this is the first C.S. Lewis book I have ever read other than "The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe." Of course, being LDS, I have read and heard innumerable quotes of his from articles and talks. We are a C.S. Lewis loving society. I read this because this book was chosen for the bookgroup I belong to this month. Dread is much too strong of a word but I admit that I wasn't really looking forward to reading this book. And it isn't because I choose to read fluff either. I like a deep novel. Perhaps intimidated is the closet description of what I felt. After all, if general authorities quote him, how readable could it be?

Overall, I really liked this book. The text was easy to read and the story flowed. That surprised me. Not that I wasn't expecting Lewis to be a great author but this book is definitely not limited to advanced readers. It begins with an unnamed man in line for a bus ride to somewhere unmentioned. His fellow passengers don't seem to be the kind of people anyone would enjoy being seated next too -- each with an obvious character flaw. The bus takes them to what is described at first as obviously Heaven but we later learn is just the "Valley in the Shadow of Life" or kind of the intro to Heaven. The grass is too hard to walk on for the newbie feet and each who has arrived is greeted by an angel who pretty much tries to convince them to follow them into the mountains where the real Heaven lies. In Lewis's afterworld, there are many who see what Heaven is like and decide not to be there. It is too hard or too different than what they want it to be like. They don't want to be different from who there were on earth and can't understand why they must let go of certain characteristics.

I think my favorite paragraph in this book is when this unnamed man's angel tells him, "...There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, "Thy will be done," and those to whom God says, in the end, "thy will be done." All that are in Hell, choose it. Without that self-choice there could be no Hell. No soul that seriously and constantly desires joy will ever miss it. Those who seek find. To those who knock it is opened."

Isn't that great? There were many moments in this story that I wanted to get out my highlighter pen and get busy. It was a very quick read: it only took a little over 2 hours to read. Of course, if you want to get serious and really ponder it would take much longer. But I read it like a novel...wanting to get a sense of the whole story. In that way, it was a bit disappointing. He doesn't do much creating a whole story as he does put a narrator in to eavesdrop on different peoples' first experiences with Heaven. When that person was clearly past convincing he moved on to the next "ghost" struggling. In the end, the book floundered a bit (I can't believe I am actually using that word in critiquing the great C.S. Lewis but then again....it is my blog!). His angel leads him on and eventually he sees a big chess table and suddenly real experience, time, space and all that is into question. Just for the last chapter, mind you. I found myself being a bit Sethesque and thinking, "what the..." something about lenses and visions and dreams and eventually he woke up. So we never were able to see what Lewis's deeper Heaven was like. And he scolded him to not report this experience as anything more than a dream. His angel says, "....see ye make it very plain. Give no poor fool the pretext to think ye are claiming knowledge of what no mortal knows. I'll have no Swedenborgs and no Vale Owens among my children....He has forbidden it" I guess in Christian theology, there have been experiences where visions were to go untold. It just didn't sit well with me. And that was the end. He woke up. To what end for this man? Did it make him better? More ready for the glory of God? I don't feel that unanswered question was necessary for the story.