Sometime last year The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society made its way onto my reading queue. In early January, I decided to make it the first book to read this year in my "fiction" reading category. What a treat! This book is the first, and only, novel from author Mary Ann Shaffer. She became ill and the final editing was accomplished by her niece, Annie Barrows. Mary Ann Shaffer passed away before she knew the success that her book would achieve. In the first place, I love historical fiction. The setting is London and Guernsey in the time... Continue reading

I've been pleased, so far, with my decision to read from a wider variety of categories this year. Planning my reading this way assures that I don't get too bogged down with "heavy" reading. At the same time, it encourages me to not spend too much time in light reading. A double blessing! I've chosen to work my way through John Lord's multi-volume Beacon Lights of History over the next year or two. I'm about a third of the way through Volume One . It's slow going, but I'm enjoying it immensely. I knew Beacon Lights would be a hard... Continue reading