Book Recommendation

Okay, after I drugged up on Excedrin last night, I was wide awake, feeling pretty good and got sucked into this book:

I stayed up till after 1 a.m. reading and then picked it up and read in bed this morning until it was finished. I couldn't put it down for more than a minute...

I've been on the waiting list at the library for quite a while for this one. I knew nothing about it, only that at least 3 of my friends who are avid readers highly recommended... three friends who do not even know each other! Back in January, I sent an email out to my book lovin' friends asking for book suggestions for our Book Club and I got many duplicate suggestions, this being one of them. I got onto my library webpage and starting putting various books on hold. I was 12th in line for this book, so I knew it must be good! When we met for our Book Club planning session, I didn't recommend this one, because I still hadn't even gotten a copy of it, or had a chance to look it over, but I will definately recommend it now!

Here's a brief synopsis of the book:

January 1946: London is emerging from the shadow of the Second World War, and writer Juliet Ashton is looking for her next book subject. Who could imagine that she would find it in a letter from a man she's never met, a native of the island of Guernsey, who has come across her name written inside a book by Charles Lamb.
As Juliet and her new correspondent exchange letters, Juliet is drawn into the world of this man and his friends—and what a wonderfully eccentric world it is. Born as a spur-of-the-moment alibi when its members were discovered breaking curfew by the Germans occupying their island, the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society boasts a charming, funny, deeply human cast of characters, from pig farmers to phrenologists, literature lovers all.
Juliet begins a remarkable correspondence with the society's members, learning about their island, their taste in books, and the impact the recent German occupation has had on their lives. Captivated by their stories, she sets sail for Guernsey, and what she finds will change her forever.
Written with warmth and humor as a series of letters, this novel is a celebration of the written word in all its guises, and of finding connection in the most surprising ways.

I just found out there's an audio version of the book, and being the audio book junkie that I am, I will have to track down a copy so I can listen to it. Nothing brings a book to life like this one better than a reading by a cast of readers, so that each letter has it's own voice. I'm not a big fan of books that retell stories about Nazi Germany (I find them so depressing and difficult to deal with), but I loved this book. I laughed, I cried... tears of sadness, and tears of joy. And more than once, I laughed and cried all at the same time! I love the format of the book... written expressly through the form of letters from one character to the next. It's sad to think we've lost the art of a well thought out, hand written letter.

Run, don't walk... to your local library to get this book... and if you have to get on the waiting list, just bag it and run to your local bookstore to buy this book. You won't regret it! I only wish the book had included the recipe for a "potato peel pie"!