Audiobooks. Give em a try.

I've mentioned before that I read as I ride the bus to work...well, once upon a time I walked to/from work and my music selection really started to grate on my nerves, so I had to find something else to distract me as I walked. Enter the world of audiobooks.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society audio book was recommended to me by a good friend and is now one of my top recommends. I think if I would have simply read the book, then I would have liked it - but being able to hear the voices of the book come alive really made me love this book. It's also worth noting that the audio book version won an Audie Award. Apparently this is a big deal and is equivalent to winning an Emmy for an audiobook.



There are so many vivid personalities in the book and the actors were able to portray each one perfectly (I think it helped that this is a British book and it never hurts to hear a lovely accent tell you a story). Hearing a book read aloud also helped the wit of the book to blossom. There were so many humorous moments that I probably would have glossed over reading, but hearing it emphasized made the characters so much more endearing.

FYI: The book is written in epistolary format (i.e. it's written in a series of letters.) I turned my nose up at this at first, but as I got used to the format I actually enjoyed it.

The story is based in WWII England and is about about a newspaper columnist, Juliet, who wants to write a book. She begins exchanging letters with a man, Dawsey, in Guernsey. Guernsey is an island across the channel from England and is inhabited by German soldiers...which means the islanders have a very restricted lifestyle. One of those restrictions is the banning of books. In order for Dawsey and his friends to get a break from the gloom of wartime, they form a covert literary society.

Through a series of letters back and forth with the literary society members, Juliet finds out about what it's like living under the Germans' thumb during wartime, relationships between the different members and the books they love. Eventually Juliet visits the island and the people that she's come to kno.

It was overall a very delightful book. So much so that I wanted to jump in the book and meet these characters myself.

Sidenote: I just found an article that this book is being made into a movie. Read it (or listen to it) now!

Rank: A+++