day 5 of the 30 day book challenge

Day 05. A book that makes you happy

I have some amazing friends, & I'm not sure how I got so lucky. While we're scattering across the country & globe, we're finding ourselves drawn closer to each other–finding the same life questions, misadventures, hidden ambitions. What's been most exciting, has been developing several wonderful pen pals.

One of my writing friends sent me a book that had special importance to her. I was honored when she thought of me to send a copy to, & instantly excited when she suggested that after reading the book, I should visit the setting.

The Guernsey Literary & Potato Peel Pie Society is an epistolary novel (all letters), with letters being sent around the United Kingdom by the most endearing set of characters I have ever read. The unfolding of events is indirect, subtle & adorable. I would love to receive a letter from anyone like Mary Ann Shaffer & Annie Barrows created.

Let's look at what Powell's Books has to say...

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...

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.

The book has caused a new surge in tourism to Guernsey, a small English island closer to France than its mother country. I would love to take a trip & walk along the market, stare off of a cliff into the roaring Channel, hide away in a warm inn to write like Juliet did for those months.

If you're looking for a dash of history, sprinklings of random literary trivia, & a heaping spoonful of affectionate writing–from the characters, & from the author, who truly loved the characters she created–Guernsey is a great read. It's also one that you can't be too busy for. Even in the holidays, you'll find yourself making a few minutes to turn through these pages quickly.

So what book makes you most happy? Is it a recent read or one you've been re-reading for years?