Annotated List of Books from Potato Peel Pie Society

Lindsay sent me this list of books mentioned in The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. So if you are in need of something to read...

Jane Austen
- Pride and Prejudice. Isola plans on speaking about it at a meeting but her goat eats her notes (p. 234).

Emily Bronte
- Wuthering Heights. One of Isola’s favorite books. She talks about Anne and Charlotte Bronte as well but doesn’t mention specific titles (p. 53).

Thomas Carlyle
- Past and Present. The first book that Will Thisbee enjoys helps him “get a grip on Faith.” (p. 101).

Geoffrey Chaucer
- The Canterbury Tales. Sidney’s favorite favorite book; the topic of a Society meeting (p. 243).

Charles Dickens
- The Pickwick Papers. Amelia’s favorite – it lifts her spirits during the Occupation (p. 50).

Charles Lamb
- Selected Essays of Elia. Dawsey has Juliet’s old copy; reason for his first letter to her (p. 9).
- More Essays of Elia and Selected Letters. Juliet sends to Dawsey (p. 11).

Wilfred Owen
- The Collected Poems of Wilfred Owen. Owen’s poetry helps Clovis Fossey to describe his experiences in WWI (p. 72).

Rainer Maria Rilke
- Collected poetry (exact title not specified). A gift from Christian to Elizabet6h, with the inscription, “For Elizabeth, who turns darkness into light.” (p. 259).

Seneca
- Letters of Seneca. John Booker writes that Seneca and the Society keep him from being a drunk (p. 88).

William Shakespeare
- Selections from Shakespeare. Eben Ramsey’s favorite book. He quotes Shakespeare when talking about the German troops landing on Guernsey (p. 63).

Oscar Wilde
– An important author in the book—he writes a series of letters to Isola’s grandmother—but none of his works are specifically mentioned.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society Discussion Questions

Listed below are some discussion questions/a reader guide for this book. As always, feel free to leave your comments below or even send me an email if you have lots of comments or a book review that you'd like to post about this book! 

1. What was it like to read a novel composed entirely of letters? What do letters offer that no other form of writing (not even emails) can convey?

2. What makes Sidney and Sophie ideal friends for Juliet? What common ground do they share? Who has been a similar advocate in your life?

3. Dawsey first wrote to Juliet because books, on Charles Lamb or otherwise, were so difficult to obtain on Guernsey in the aftermath of the war. What differences did you note between bookselling in the novel and bookselling in your world? What makes book lovers unique, across all generations?

4. What were your first impressions of Dawsey? How was he different from the other men Juliet had known?

5. Discuss the poets, novelists, biographers, and other writers who capture the hearts of the members of the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. What does a reader’s taste in books say about his or her personality? Whose lives were changed the most by membership in the society?

6. Juliet occasionally receives mean-spirited correspondence from strangers, accusing both Elizabeth and Juliet of being immoral. What accounts for their judgmental ways?

7. In what ways were Juliet and Elizabeth kindred spirits? What did Elizabeth’s spontaneous invention of the society, as well as her brave final act, say about her approach to life?

8. Numerous Guernsey residents give Juliet access to their private memories of the occupation. Which voices were most memorable for you? What was the effect of reading a variety of responses to a shared tragedy?

9. Kit and Juliet complete each other in many ways. What did they need from each other? What qualities make Juliet an unconventional, excellent mother?

10. How did Remy’s presence enhance the lives of those on Guernsey? Through her survival, what recollections, hopes, and lessons also survived?

11. Juliet rejects marriage proposals from a man who is a stereotypical “great catch.” How would you have handled Juliet’s romantic entanglement? What truly makes someone a “great catch”?

12. What was the effect of reading a novel about an author’s experiences with writing, editing, and getting published? Did this enhance the book’s realism, though Juliet’s experience is a bit different from that of debut novelist Mary Ann Shaffer and her niece, children’s book author Annie Barrows?

13. What historical facts about life in England during World War II were you especially surprised to discover? What traits, such as remarkable stamina, are captured in a detail such as potato peel pie? In what ways does fiction provide a means for more fully understanding a non-fiction truth?

14. Which of the members of the Society is your favorite? Whose literary opinions are most like your own?

15. Do you agree with Isola that “reading good books ruins you for enjoying bad ones”?

Questions from here.

April Book Club Moved

Because of a conflict with the stake training meeting, book club will be moved to Thursday, April 29 at 7:30 p.m. It will still be at the home of Lindsay P. So now you have an extra week to read The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society! Happy reading!

April Book Club

We've changed the book we'll be reading in April to  

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society  
by Mary Ann Shaffer & Annie Barrows

It will be held Thursday, April 22 @ 7:30 p.m. at Lindsay P.'s home.

The Pima County Library has four different versions of this book that you could check out:

• the regular print version (there's hardly any holds on this one right now!), 
• a large print version, 
• an audio cd version and 
• an e-book version (I'm not too familiar with how to do this, but I'm sure it can't be too difficult!).

A summary of the book:
As London is emerging from the shadow of World War II, writer Juliet Ashton discovers her next subject in a book club on Guernsey--a club born as a spur-of-the-moment alibi after its members are discovered breaking curfew by the Germans occupying their island.
 

Sorry about the last minute change, but The Help by Kathryn Stockett was still pretty hard to get a hold of at the library! (There were over 600 holds) But it's still one you should read if you get the chance.