Books I Read This Week (1/11/15 - 1/17/15)

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

My rating: ★★★★★

This book was told entirely through collected letters between the characters, and it was the style that made it so incredibly charming. Set just after WWII in London and the small English island of Guernesy, it details the beginning and ending of a strange book club that forms between the neighbors on the island during their German occupation. I especially loved how the club started out with so many people who didn't care for reading, and the types of readers they all became. This is one of those books that manages to be completely hilarious and make you cry your eyes out all in one go.

Matilda by Roald Dahl

My rating: ★★★★★

Now that I've finally read this book I can't believe that it took me this long to finally get to it. I loved the movie as a kid, but for some reason I never picked up the book. I identify so much with Matilda: her love of books, her sense of justice, the way she befriends her teachers - although she went way further by getting adopted by Miss Honey. My mom used to joke that I was just like Matilda when I'd go to the library: a wagon full of books from every trip. But even if I waited until I was in my 20s, I loved it just as much as if I'd read it when I was a kid. Of course Roald Dahl is a famous children's author because of how amazing his books are, but I was in awe of how wonderfully written this story was. 

The Invisible Mountain by Carolina de Robertis

My rating: ★★★★★

I don't know what the name for this style of book is, but it's one of my favorite kinds. It tells the story of three generations of a family, focusing on the grandmother, mother, and daughter. Are they just called generational novels? If anyone knows whether this style has a name, please let me know! This novel is set in Uruguay, from 1900 to the 1960s. Reading about the progression of a country through this single family made it feel so personal, but it also taught me so much about the history of Uruguay. The final section becomes surprisingly political, but it helped convey the message of the full story very concisely.