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By Diane , Armchair Tour Guide · 29 posts · 910 views
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What Members Thought

AUTHOR: Shaffer, Mary Ann & Barrows, Annie
TITLE: The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Society
DATE READ: 01/07/13
RATING: 5/A
GENRE/PUB DATE/PUBLISHER/# OF PGS: Fiction/2008/Random House/274 pgs
SERIES/STAND ALONE: Stand-Alone
TIME/PLACE: 1946 Post WW II, Guernsey & London
CHARACTERS: Juliet Ashton writer; Members of the Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Society
FIRST LINES: Dear Sidney, Susan Scott is a wonder. We sold over 40 copies of the book, which was very pleasant, but much more thrilling from my ...more
TITLE: The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Society
DATE READ: 01/07/13
RATING: 5/A
GENRE/PUB DATE/PUBLISHER/# OF PGS: Fiction/2008/Random House/274 pgs
SERIES/STAND ALONE: Stand-Alone
TIME/PLACE: 1946 Post WW II, Guernsey & London
CHARACTERS: Juliet Ashton writer; Members of the Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Society
FIRST LINES: Dear Sidney, Susan Scott is a wonder. We sold over 40 copies of the book, which was very pleasant, but much more thrilling from my ...more

I've learned a new word! Epistolary! wheeeeee I think I'm not gonna like this one ... I think the EPISTOLARY form is gonna piss me off ....
As it turns out, the epistolary format prevented me from ever really feeling like I was a part of the story. I could not immerse myself in the story when the story was always just being told to me by various letter writers. Additionally, it was very difficult to tell the letter writers apart - sure, at the beginning of each letter it said to: & from: but it ...more
As it turns out, the epistolary format prevented me from ever really feeling like I was a part of the story. I could not immerse myself in the story when the story was always just being told to me by various letter writers. Additionally, it was very difficult to tell the letter writers apart - sure, at the beginning of each letter it said to: & from: but it ...more

uhmmm...mixed feeling about this one. I love the letter format, but sometimes it's hard to follow who is who and which character is this one, etc. I also can't get Juliet the heroine that well. I love Sydney's character and some of the Guernsey's people, but the ending of the story is just meh for me.
...more

I have done this book great injustice by reading it over a very long period. In fact, I was halfway through it when I left it for over three months. In the interim I left Cape Town and moved to New York, started a new job and was trying to come to terms with homesickness and living in the big city. If it wasn't for these circumstances it could easily be one of those treats to be gobbled up in one sitting.
The story about books, friends and triumph of the human soul against adversity. It is at tim ...more
The story about books, friends and triumph of the human soul against adversity. It is at tim ...more

Predictable anglophile fluff. My main motivation for listening was that I'm a sucker for WWII (and post WWII) stories set in Britain, plus the cast for this audiobook was terrific. (Better than the material, truth be told.) Full of "characters" (in the worst "salt of the earth" sense) prone to quoting pithy bits of profound text from books they've discovered.
I found the "joy of reading" theme to be unrealistic, but I did enjoy the glimpses of wartime Guernsey. Figured out the love interest/dram ...more
I found the "joy of reading" theme to be unrealistic, but I did enjoy the glimpses of wartime Guernsey. Figured out the love interest/dram ...more

Jan 08, 2011
Cortney
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Jul 11, 2011
Yiga
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Mar 04, 2013
Diana
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Nov 13, 2014
Tiffany
marked it as to-read