The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

Who wouldn't love The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society?  Have you even happened upon an old box full of photos, post cards and letters from a bygone era?  I have, although my family treasures are oft written in Swedish, a language I have yet to learn.  The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society reads like a collection of letters, placed in chonological order, spanning a period of time immediately after World War II.

The protagonist, Juliet Ashton, is light-hearted and humorous, and it's a pleasure to experience the literary society as she happens upon them, and comes to befriend the membership.

Again, I'm finding that historical fiction is beginning to grow on me.  I have been biased in my book choices over the past years, opting for true stories and memoirs, but historical fiction might be the best of both worlds.  In listening to Tom Robbins book Wild Ducks Flying Backward while traveling across the country, I was struck by one of his essays which attacked those who believe ficton is a lesser art form.  Robbins believes that the art of fiction allows the author to dig deeper and reveal truths that non-fiction cannot attempt.  I'm still mulling that one over.

Before I go to Sleep

I found this book engaging and light-hearted.  It's written simply and is easy to read.  However, once you get about half-way through, the plot takes a major departure, and makes its way into the mystery genre.  I've never been a mystery book reader, however this book kept me awake until 2 a.m., so I guess you could say I've converted.  Much like the movie, Memento, the protagonist cannot remember anything from her immediate past.  I for one, hated the movie Memento.  My husband tells me I must be the ONLY one who didn't like the movie.  The repetition caused moans and eye-rolls from my direction.  Before I go to Sleep, however, does not hold the monotonous repetition Memento sufferred from.  Yes, we see the protagonist through the revelation of the same details on various days, but we also see her recovering in small ways along the way.  It's engaging, and begs the question, what is life without memory?  It really got me thinking about the quality (or lack thereof) of a life with minimal memory.  Any opportunity I have to look upon my life with gratitude when reading a good book is greatly appreciated by this humble book worm.

The Help

We decided to read The Help prior to the movie release date, so that we could read the book and see the movie immediately upon its opening.  Unfortunately, I have not seen the movie to date, but at least one of our book club members has.  We'll begin the conversation here, with hopes that in time, once we've all seen the movie, our discussion may be complete.

I enjoyed the book, and am very excited to see how the casting in the movie compares to the character development seen in the book.

At the end of the book, the author admits to using a Bob Dylan song "Times are Changing" even though the song was released years after the time period encompassed in the book.  What do you think about authors taking liberties in historical fiction?  How does a reader know what to, and not to accept as fact?  Thoughts?