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

Posting two in one day?! I know, that is the real shocker. Basically the last book was just lurking around, waiting to be reviewed and this one, just finished this afternoon, was demanding to be reviewed. Isn’t it weird how some books can be more patient than others?


Did you know that the islands in the English Channel were occupied by Germany during WWII? I had no idea, but then, my knowledge of the war is pretty limited to what I’ve been able to gleam from Hollywood movies. As far as I know, the US had nothing to do with those islands so no HBO special by Tom Hanks will ever give us that story. Not that I’m bitter.

The story starts in London, 1946, and the city is starting to rebuild after the war. Juliet Ashton is the centre of the story, a writer in search of her next novel. She receives a letter from a stranger asking if she might know of any other books by the author Charles Lamb. This kicks off a correspondence between herself and the people of Guernsey whom she finds herself falling in love with. The story is told in the form of letters, telegrams, and in one section, a journal.

The shining thread through out all is the love of books and how reading can help you get through some really terrible times. Or how books can bring people together and help you form unexpected relationships. Even though the subject matter is a little dark and heavy at times, the sharp wit of Juliet’s letters keeps you turning the page for more. It makes you wish you had someone as entertaining to correspond with in the old fashioned world of pen and paper, stamps and envelopes. Yet another book I liked and recommend to pretty much everyone.

Just think, this book didn’t have vampires or magic or any of the many other paranormal things I usually read. And the next one I finish might not either. Sign I’m getting old? A truly scary thought.

Heat Stroke by Rachel Caine

Woohoo! Finished another book in the year 2010. Shocking! I'm hoping to turn this summer into a reading summer but that is yet to be seen. It is so hard to find time to read and be social at the same time.


Heat Stroke is a return to a favourite series of mine. Not sure if I wrote a review of the first one in the series, Ill Wind, but I really should have. Weather Wardens go out and help control the weather. They can ask the sky to rain or lessen the intensity of tornados. In this world, a select group of people have special powers to talk to the elements and help protect people from extreme dangers. Those extremes can be anything from hurricanes to wild fires.

At the start of this book, Joanne Baldwin, has been declared dead and she sort of is... or more like transformed into a whole new being, a Djinn. In this book, we get to see into the world of the Djinn. How they became to be, their role in the weather warden world, and how their darkest fear is to be enslaved by being stuck in a bottle. If you are tied to a bottle, you are under the power of whoever holds that bottle and you have to do everything that person commands no matter how much you don't want to. If your master is not a good guy, things could get really awful.

The best thing about this series is that you never know where the author is going to take you. Just when you think you know what is going on and all is happening as expected, she throws a curve and you are somewhere you never thought possible. Another great feature is her ability to end the book on such a cliff-hanger, you want to jump online and priority order the next book in the series.

Really don't want to give too much away just in the off chance you want to read it. If you are into fantasy popcorn that delivers a plot pace of a hundred miles per hour, this is the book for you.