A fellow book lover, Auntie Gail, recommended this book to me and now that I have just finished reading it, I must recommend to everyone I know.
I take that back. I recommend it only to lovers of books, lovers of history and lovers of eccentric, yet lovable people.
I cannot find an adjective to properly describe the book - delightful would be my first choice, and it was, but delightful doesn't quite fit. Others have called it "Poignant and keenly observed...subtle and elegant...a small masterpiece...an implicit and sometimes explicit paean to all things literary" (I could have told you that), but I think none of those are quite right. You must experience it yourself.
I will not demean my readers nor the book itself by attempting to tell you what it about. I simply leave my recommendation and say that if you love books, I heartily believe you will love this one. (I will, however, say that I could commiserate with Juliet about losing her books...my books, sadly, minus this one and a few select others, will remain in boxes for the duration of the summer.)
And now a few of my favorite lines from The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society.
"Perhaps there is some sort of secret homing instinct in books that brings them to their perfect readers."
"That's what I love about reading. One tiny things will interest you in a book, and that tiny thing will lead you onto another book, and another bit there will lead you onto a third book. It's geometrically progressive - all with no end in sight and for no other reason than sheer enjoyment."
"Reading good books ruins you for enjoying bad ones."
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