I am just finishing up this book and will be very sorry to see it end. I have really enjoyed it.
The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows (an aunt and niece team). It takes place in London and the Channel Islands (Guernsey) after WWII and is in the format of a series of letters.
The letters are just wonderful and each one allows more in depth discussions between the participants. It is very educational too, but does not lecture on the history, it is just part of the conversations. The characters are what are to me as real people, real life experiences during a horrific period and some real fortitude of character with just the right amount of humor and romance.
I highly recommend it. (Oh, and if you read it, you will find out what potato peel pie is all about)
It seems to me the only response is: you are right and leave it at that. Nothing else except to walk away.
Hi Jem,
I also hated to see the book end, thoroughly enjoyed it and read it due to a recommendation from a VN member. When I finish a great book I always feel like I’ve lost a good friend for a few days. I recently experienced that with The Help and am reading The Invisible Bridge, a very long book and know I will feel a little sad when it’s over. The good news is that I will then read Michele Norris’ The Grace of Silence- I can’t wait. It’s all good.
agree – loved it. it is sad when a great book comes to an end.
Ladysmith and Winelover, it is sad when a good book comes to an end, but we know there is another one awaiting us. But some are sadder than others and this one really grabbed me. One of my pleasures in life is a trip to the library. And coming home and then deciding which one to start. I love to discover new authors as well as others who have been writing for some years. Thanks for your responses.
Reading …Heart Mender by Andy Andrews…..=] Just finished Crazy Love by Francis Chan….loved it…
Ah, some new authors! Thanks, I will check both of them out.
They are not fiction….but, Heart Mender is a true story written in fiction style…
Thanks, I did do a search for both at our library and have reserved the Heart Mender. A book I might suggest to you is 29 Gifts by Cami Walker. It is excellent and so uplifting, from what I have read from you, I think it is one you would really enjoy.
Thanks for the recommendation….=] I will look it up…
I just finished “The Long Walk” by Slavomir Rawicz and loved it. It is a true story of the escape from a Soviet labor camp in Siberia in the early 1940′s. I think they might be making a movie based on this book.
I think you are correct, I seem to recall reading about it. My husband is Ukrainian and his father was in a concentration camp during the war. Captured by a Panzer division while trying to make it to England. He skiied for 3 days straight, not stopping (Alps) and finally was too exhausted to continue. He sat at the foot of a mountain and watched the Russians coming down on one side and the Germans on the other, both groups were seeking him. He said he knew his only chance of escape would have been if they had seen each other but that did not happen and the Germans got to him first. Had the Russians, he would have been shot on sight. He wrote of his experiences, it was translated into 4 or 5 languages and is archived at the University of Toronto and a few other universities. For some reason, it was not translated into English though.
He was let out of his cell by an African American soldier and it was the first time he had met one. The soldier was so kind to him, had to carry him actually, and came to see him while he was hospitalized and they developed a friendship. It was such a moving experience for him and one he never forgot. Both he and my MIL became involved in civil rights when they emigrated here and long before many did. He and the soldier wrote for awhile after the war too.
My MIL who was much younger than Konstantin was a refugee, fleeing with her extended family. She was a courier for the French Underground and has many stories too. But her delivery makes it sometimes unbearable to hear, my FIL was more objective as he was a journalist as well as a ranking officer in the Ukrainian Army.
Those were very tough times, but there were many moments of courage and friendship too. I do study those times and the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society added to my knowledge base. I will look for your book recommendation, thank you.
Yes they are…and I looking forward to seeing it….I will be taking my Mother to see it….Though not precisely our story, both my great grandparents were in those camps and died there….so it is somewhat part of our personal history…. Plus my own Mother and her family experienced some of what is in the story, the treck over the Himalayas and through the desert and meeting up with Tibetan monks whom actually saved their lives….as they escaped from Russia into China…
I haven’t met anyone who has read that book and not loved it. Me included.
I am CR 3 different books. Dana Stabenow’s latest, Though not Dead(mystery), one on fav and must read nauthors;, N.K Jemison, The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, new (to me) SFF. Just found out that this one is in the top 10 for best SFF books of the past decade. For NF, it is Treat Me, not my Age, Mark Lachs. No comment to give yet.
Have been listening to The Passage on audio, so far, underwhelmed. Too much hype? Going to put it aside to listen to The Language of Secrets, by Dianne Dixon for a f2f group. Haven’t started it, so no comment.
I actually found it by fluke, had not heard of it before. I must admit that often when perusing books, catchy titles grab me and this is certainly a “catchy” title. I am so glad I caught it. I have recommended it to several of my book reading friends. My SIL keeps after me about the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, have you read? I reserved it once but was reading another book and it was not able to be renewed so it went back to the library. I believe it is over 600 pages so will be a commitment.My SIL read it while vacationing but for me, I read in spurts considering my everyday life!
Thanks for your recommendations, I will definitely check them out. I haven’t yet ventured to audio books but have many friends who do listen, particularly during commute and gym times.
I have ‘read’ the first two. LIke mysteries and really enjoyed them. The second one takes a bit to get into. Lots of background of a main character, and many have complained about the slowness of it. I didn’t mind it. Maybe it is because I listened to all of them on audio. I wanted to hear the Swedish words pronounced correctly. #3 is downloaded, but have so many others in the queue, it keeps being pushed back.
My SIL cautioned me that it began slowly too. She had attempted it a couple of times but it was not until she was on vacation and it was the only book she took that she tackled it and finished. She is really glad she did. It is either out or coming out as a movie but I think I would rather read the book first. I would imagine that the movie fast forwards through the background of the main character but I also think that it is probably worth reading, hopefully provides a better understanding overall.
I loved all three of Larsson’s books and it’s unfortunate that the author died just months before the first book in the series was released and became an immediate success. I don’t know that the books are good enough to be a second-read for me but I sure devoured them the first time around.
My favourite authors are John le Carre, Scott Turow, and Martin Cruz Smith. They never fail to deliver. I love their books and reread them occasionally. I got hooked on le Carre in the 70’s after watching a BBC made for television production of Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy starring Alec Guinness as George Smiley, and subsequently read the book. My favourite le Carre book is The Tailor of Panama – just a super read – but, really, I like them all. Le Carre is almost 80 years old and is still publishing. His most recent book, Our Kind of Traitor, came out last year.
Scott Turow, a practising lawyer, has published 11 books including One L which was the first and, for me, the most disturbing of his best-sellers. My favourite Turow book is Personal Injuries featuring lawyer-on-the-make Robbie Feaver, a rich and compelling character. I think the ability to create compelling characters is what separates Turow, le Carre and Cruz Smith from the rest.
I think the first book I read by Martin Cruz Smith was Gorky Park, a crime novel published in 1981 and set in the Soviet Union. I’ve read most of his books , the most recent of which is Three Stations – another one of his Arkady Renko novels. I just learned today, thanks to this post, that Cruz Smith also publishes under the pen name Simon Quinn so I’ll have to look up those titles. I’m always looking for a good read.
I have a collection of biographies – mostly political – and books about the Second World War because that era greatly influenced my life. Both my parents were World War II veterans. One of my favourite non-fiction writers is Linda McQuaig, a Canadian journalist who as written such books as The Wealthy Banker’s Wife: The Assault on Equality in Canada; Shooting the Hippo: Death by Deficit and Other Canadian Myths; The Cult of Impotence: Selling the Myth of Powerlessness in the Global economy, and much more. I’ve just started her more recent book, The Trouble with Billionaires, and so far there’s every indication it will be another door-opener for me.
Sorry for the information-overload. I’m a bit of a book-nut. Anyway, interesting post. I’m always on the lookout for different authors so I’ll try some of the ones mentioned on this page. Thanks.
I like those three authors too and have also read them. A little tidbit of trivia on Le Carre. He is friends with Dave Barry, Stephen King and Carl Hiaasen and they all meet and drink beer and plot their stories. If you have not read Carl Hiaasen, I highly recommend him. You will laugh out loud or shake your head but you will agree that he is spot on. He is a contributor to the Miami Herald and his books are centered in Florida and the over-development and environmental havoc (and greed) at play. But all done tongue in cheek and really give another perspective.
There was a critter created by Dave Barry, and he can be quite creative, called Bufus Marinara who was a “deadly” toad and just bullied and played havoc with a dog in the story. Lo and behold, I was reading a Carl Hiaasen book and who appeared? Yep, Bufus himself. So there is collaboration (and humor which we all need) in their friendship. Dave Barry said that when he wrote his first book, he did not know that he had to have a plot and an ending, he pretty much wrote it on the fly and just made it up as he went, so while not award winning, it was a nice break and a LOL book.
Thanks for your post, I am a book junkie myself! I will look at the other ones you recommended. The Cult of Impotence sounds like one I will read.
Neat bit of trivia on le Carre! How did you come across that? Interesting choice of friends. I’m familiar with Dave Barry’s style of writing (years ago, when I was a working journalist, I wrote a couple of weekly humour columns for my employer – one was a lighter look at criminal court and the other was a lighter look at life – and my writing style was influenced by Barry’s work as well as that of Russell Baker) and I enjoy most (not all) of Stephen King’s work, but Carl Hiaasen is a new name for me so I will check him out.
I hope you enjoy McQuaig’s book. The National Post once referred to her as Canada’s Michael Moore. All of her books have been national best-sellers and I expect her most recent work, The Trouble With Billionaires, will follow suit. I think you’ll find The Cult of Impotence an interesting read.
I forget, am thinking either from an interview with Dave Barry or with Carl. He was on 60 min a few years back, really interesting guy in our age group. I actually read quite a few Floridian authors, must be fertile ground. I thought when I heard of their friendship, the same as you, what an eclectic mix! I am a fan of diversity and always remembered it. Glad you appreciated it! My daughter is a big fan of DB’s and is always sending me something from his column, the acorn did not fall far from this tree!
I did not know you were a journalist, that is interesting to know. Your posts are always interesting, objective and fair, now I know why.
You have me even more intriqued to read McQuaig! When we celebrated Ukrainian Christmas this year (Jan 6th), a friend of the family was here from Ottawa, aren’t you Canadian? He is the son of my father in law’s best friend. His father died during interrogation by the Nazi’s but he never met him, his mother was pregnant with him at the time. Well, he singled me out at the large dinner my sister in law hosted with many questions about American politics and certain individuals in particular. We had a most lively and interesting talk. Fascinating man, he is writing a book and came to the states to tap into my mother in law’s memories. I was honored that he chose to speak to me and hope he keeps in touch.
Your last paragraph was a good reminder that it really is a small world. To answer your question, yes, I am a Canadian. And I’m also very familiar with the city of Ottawa. My parents lived there for 30 years and I spent a lot of time in that city as a result. My mom and dad have since passed away but Ottawa remains my home away from home. I have friends there and I’m involved in that city’s writing community so Ottawa is still a big part of my life. It’s a lovely city.
Lucky you to have such an interesting visitor for your Ukrainian Christmas celebration, JEM. Is this fellow’s intended book a biography or a work of fiction based on fact? I wonder how long this book idea has been festering inside him. It must be quite the undertaking to do the required research. Is he a writer by profession or is this a new venture for him? There are many writing-related professional associations in Ottawa in addition to the numerous small writers groups in the city and surrounding area so it’s easy enough to hook up with other writers. There is lots of support out there for anyone who wants/needs it.
My mother was a storyteller. She wasn’t a writer although she could have been; she had the skills but I think her passion was verbal storytelling. She was also a feminist at a time when women were only expected to be housewives and mothers. And she was a pack rat which was lucky for me because I learned a little more about her after she died and after my dad came to live with me. At that time, I had to sell their home and it took a long time for me and my sibs to empty the house. My parents, who grew up during the Great Depression, were married for 62 years at the time they were separated by death. They had an incredible amount of stuff in their little home and emptying it reminded me of the Volkswagen circus act except this house was endlessly expelling possessions instead of clowns. Tucked away in a corner of my mother’s closet was a box of letters exchanged during the war between my mom and her brothers, all of whom had served either in the navy, the army or the Black Watch. The last wartime letter was returned to sender. It was a letter written by my mom to her favourite brother and it contained some information about the new fella (my dad) she had recently met; it was written in a style reminiscent of the Andrews Sisters. My uncle never received the letter. He was killed in action and buried in France. The letters revealed my mom as a young single woman and opened a window to the circumstances of her life (through the personal and family news she forwarded to her brothers overseas). To make a long story short, I’d like to do something with those letters so that my mother’s grandchildren and great-grandchildren will have a better understanding of who she was.
I think it’s wonderful that your family friend is working on his book (Am I correct in assuming it’s about his dad?). I suspect his father was born around the same time as my parents were and I think there are so many interesting stories from that generation that have not been documented. If our generation doesn’t do that, these stories will be lost forever. So kudos to your Christmastime visitor. I hope he keeps in touch with you, too. Sounds like you have a lot in common.
I have not been to Ottawa but we have a standing invitation to visit and stay with Oleh. Perhaps one day. His book is non fiction and he has reached out to the many writers there, he mentioned the same to me, how many there are. My MIL has been writing her memoirs for years and I get the draft written in English to edit and her presentation along with the experiences just breaks my heart and is often too much to bear. I cautioned Oleh about this and since he knows her, he understood. I didn’t mean to sugarcoat anything but present it in a way that we don’t put the book aside. My Mil’s will be easy to do just that. She lives in her history and forgets that we have ours too and that current events can be just so overwhelming, we may be disinclined to take on more. I can not begin to tell you of the number of family dinners where we were laughing and enjoying each other to have her monopolize conversation with stories of Nazi and other atrocities. Everyone finishes up his/her plate quickly and moves to another room. But Oleh has a keen sense of humor and fairness/objectivity so I do not anticipate the same tone with his.
Your story of finding the letters is so interesting. And coupled with your memories of her as being so far ahead of her time is fodder for something great. What are you thinking of doing? It almost sounds like the OP, being in letter format and all. Threads always meander along or go off track completely, but it sounds like this has come full circle! But if you do not do anything, it will be as you said, lost forever. You most definitely have the writing ability and objectivity to do it justice, I hope an idea gells and gets you started.
My maternal grandmother was a very interesting woman. Grew up in Pittsburgh and knew wealth. My great grandfather and family emigrated from Ireland where he had been a professor. He bought some land with coal that grew to steel mills. She was quite the Irish beauty and was just a real pisser, from teenage to the day she died. She shared so many stories of booze running with her sister during the Prohibition from Chicago to Pittsburgh, my great grandfather had no idea the family car was used for such purposes! Her sister was an attorney and one of the first female attorneys at the Pentagon, can you imagine what her superiors would have thought?
I have some of her Roaring 20′s things here but when I look at the items, I know that my daughter would just sell them, she doesn’t have the connection. So I have kind of decided to look for collectors for much of what I have here, I am an only child so there are a couple of generations worth. Kids don’t want our “stuff” a lot of the time but I appreciate that you found the value in your parents’ “stuff”.
I know you won’t need my input but anytime you would like to bounce an idea off of me, I would be honored. I have so enjoyed this exchange with you!
Thank you, JEM, for your offer to be a sounding board of sorts. I would be happy to receive your input once I get moving on this. Our little exchange here has made me think a bit more about how I would like to handle the material and memories of my mom. This would be a significant undertaking and I’m not sure yet what the focus of this story would be but I’m thinking of using a combination of the letters, my memories, and other papers belonging to my mom (I kept everything) to tell the story of my mother and the events that shaped her life. I’m thinking of maybe starting this story with the discovery of the letters and using that as the vehicle to introduce vignettes that would speak to who my mother was.
It sounds like your grandmother and your great-aunt were extraordinary women – very daring ladies for the times! My maternal grandmother, who hailed from Glasgow, Scotland, would have gone down with the Titanic had scarlet fever not intervened. She and her parents were intending to set sail for a new life in Canada when my grandmother – who was a teenager at the time – became ill and their trip was postponed. She and her family were among many passengers booked – I use the term loosely; not sure how that worked for passengers in steerage – to travel on the Titanic’s maiden voyage and who missed the boat, so to speak, as a result of illness or for other reasons. I don’t know that I would have stepped on a boat ever after that. My great-great-grandmother on my dad’s side was among the first settlers of Manitoba’s pioneer Red River colony established, I think, in 1812. These settlers had been tenant farmers in Scotland who had been thrown off their land to make room for sheep. Were it not for the vision of Lord Selkirk, a humanitarian who saw the establishment of Scottish colonies in Canada as a possible solution for these displaced people, my great-great-grandmother and others like her would likely have starved to death in their homeland. But they didn’t. If this was on my mother’s side of the family, there might have been a buffalo skin next to the box of letters in her closet. Pack-rattery did not begin and end with my mom!
Thank you for sharing your experiences editing your mother-in-law’s writing, JEM. I can appreciate how heart-breaking it must be for you to read the drafts but, you know, she must trust you very much to allow you to help her with this. Your friend is coming from a different space, I think, and you’re probably right that his sense of humour and objectivity will set a different tone for his book. I’m sure it’s going to be an interesting read once it’s finished.
I’ve enjoyed this exchange as well, JEM. I’ll let you know if I ever get my “mom project” off the ground. I’m sure our paths will cross on this site in any event. Nice chatting with you.
S.
Some new titles I have loved are “State of Wonder” by Anna Patchett,(so much better than her BelCanto”, “Blood, Bones and Butter” by Gabriella Hamilton, and “The Hypnotist” which is in the same vein as the Steig Larson books, but I actually enjoyed more! I started a book club in my community nearly 3 years ago and I pick most of the titles, so am a voracious reader!
If you would like to read a very romantic book about Guernsey Isle during WWII check out “The Soldier’s Wife”. You’ll think about the ending for days afterward.