START OF Q3- Middle of Sarah's Key

I'm totally enjoying this book, although there are many solemn parts of the novel. It's pretty heartbreaking to hear about the details of the concentration camps. Yet there is a twist in this book that none of the other books I have read about the holocaust have had. The novel continues to switch off between the story of a girl living during WWII and the life of a reporter living in France in 2002. The story line is finally beginning to unfold. Juliet (The reporter who is living in present day France) is searching deeper to learn more about the Vel d'Hiv, the roundup of Jews living in Paris in 1949. When talking to her husband's grandmother, she learns that her husband's grandparents had moved into the apartment of a Jewish family that was arrested during the roundup. Very perturbed by the fact, she is determined to find who had occupied the apartment before her husband's family had moved in. I am very interested to see if she finds the record of the family who was previously living in the apartment. I have a prediction that the other part of the novel concerning the Jewish girl will intertwine with the present day story. I have a feeling that the girl used to live in the same apartment before they had to evacuate, and the grandparents of Juliet's husband moved in afterward. I'm very interested to see if this inference is right!

Done with Potatoe Peel Society; onto Sarah's Key

I have just finished The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. Although it did take me a while to read the book, I enjoyed how lighthearted the book was yet at the same time there was a lot a lot of depth in the novel, such as the heavy subjects of the war and the German occupation. I had a lot of happiness for the main character, Juliet, especially towards the end of the novel because I felt that she was lost in the beginning of the book, trying to find herself as a writer. She got too absorbed in trying to get another writing deal and trying to keep her audience of readers interested that she was not completely happy. By the end of the novel, her character was completed by the feeling of love and community. By traveling to the island of Guernsey, she found the fulfillment that she was not able to find in London. This book appealed to me so much because the ending was not what I expected. It was a shocker to see how her relationship bloomed with those living in Guernsey and especially with Dawsey, who she falls in love with. I entertained by the book and enjoyed watching Juliet transform from a writer only interested in finding success to someone who was completed by finding true love...even if it was at the most unexpected place and time.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society

Okay, so I bet that you're wondering: What is with the long title of this book?! I know that I thought the title sounded silly when my mom suggested the book to me, but I really love the book and I'm so happy that I picked it up. The novel is a collection of letters written after the end of World War Two between author Juliet Ashton and her publisher and her best friend. She describes her life post-war, and her search for an idea for a new project. She receives a letter from a man named Dawsey Adams, who is lives in Guernsey an island in the English Channel. Dawsey writes to her because he has a book written by Charles Lamb, that was once Juliet's, and he asks if she has any more information about this author. After a few exchanges, Juliet learns that Dawsey is in the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society.

This is such a charming book because even though it is during a time when people are recovering from loss and war, the main character has a really upbeat, lighthearted and witty sense of humor that comes across in her writing. I like that the book is written in letters because the writing is informal and I get a good feel of who the characters really are. At the same time, I am actually learning a lot of history from reading this book! I never heard of Guernsey or knew that it existed, let alone that it was occupied by Germany during the war. I've learned how the war impacted everybody,yet by reading the exchange of letters between Juliet and Dawsey, I'm touched by how much kindness there really is during the time of war, too. I am approaching the end of the novel and excited to see how it ends! My goal is to finish it by the next time I blog!

Reading a book outside of IR this break

I have started to read "Lost Names" by Richard Kim this break. It is for a Global assignment, so it doesn't count for English IR but I am really interested in the novel. It gives an account in such a different perspective than the way I learn events in history. In class I learned general facts about World War I, however this book is in such detail and I am actually grasping and remembering the material that is mentioned in the book. Reading this book has helped me understand the WWI unit more and I have also realized that I learn as a reader much better than I do by being lectured. From now on, I think I will enjoy reading historical books like the one I am reading now because I gain more appreciation for history and what I am learning in class. When events are written in a story style, I am more interested and attentive to the subject.

I have also read some more of "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society" (I need to create an abbreviation for that long title!) and am enjoying the humor of the novel, which is basically a collection of letters written during the end of WWII. I am looking forward to reading some more tonight. And I didn't think of this when I picked up the book, but I bet this will also help me in my next global unit: WWII!