Notes on books from Lynne

I'm half way through a book that I am thoroughly enjoying, The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows. It has received lots of attention lately. Has anyone else read it? This fictional story takes place in 1946 and is composed of letters, including those between an English writer and a number of inhabitants of the island of Guernsey in the Channel Islands. This island was occupied by the Germans in WWII and through the letters we learn about their lives during the occupation. (The Literary Society was formed on the spot when friends were caught outside after curfew.) From what I've read and what I've been told, I think this would be a great September book. It's also a little more uplifting than the other two I suggested (SEE BELOW!).

The Last Town on Earth, by Thomas Mullen (fiction) is about a small northwest Washington lumber town during the 1918 Spanish Flu epidemic. It was a very interesting read, given the recent Swine Flu scare. It was also interesting to read about early attempts to unionize during WWI.

Little Bee, by Chris Cleave is also a fiction book about a 16 year old Nigerian orphan, Little Bee, who meets a British couple in a brutal experience on the beach in Nigeria and later reconnects with them in London. I found the descriptions of the treatment of illegal aliens very interesting and the contrasts Little Bee sees between the two worlds are fascinating.