Crackliture- I was feining.

"That's what I love about reading: one tiny thing will interest you in a book, and then that tiny thing will lead you onto another book, and that tiny thing will lead you onto a third book. It's geometrically progressive- and all with no end in sight, and for no other reason than sheer enjoyment."

- Juliet Ashton "The Gurnsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society"

Did you know that I majored in History?

I love just about all history, but have a few areas that really interest me. Colonial America and World War II {specifically the Holocaust} being two that have captured my interest completely.

At USC, I took a class on the Holocaust taught by a Rabbi. It changed the core of who I was.

Not only did we have survivors come in and speak, we actually studied how such horrific events could come to pass. The seeds go back farther than you could imagine. How an average man, rejected from art school, could start a political movement in the back of a bar that would grow into the loss of more than 12 million lives.

The ramifications of WWII are mind-boggling. I am fascinated and inspired by the stories of survival, of friendship, of doing what was right even in the face of dire consequences.

In my studies, I have read books on Nazi propaganda to a story of French Huguenots who started their own "underground railroad" of sorts, saving one Jewish life at a time. I have read books that have given me nightmares for weeks. Books that have made me seriously consider my personal character, inner strength and resiliency. Books that have me questioning humanity and books that have me celebrating it.

Today, I finished a book that had me laughing out loud, and weeping in silence.

"The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society" is now one of my favorite treasures.

Comprised of letters.. yes, just letters, this work of fiction paints an amazing picture of life during the German Occupation in Europe. You do not have to know a single stitch of history to love this book and it's fascinating characters. The humor is snarky, the relationships are tangible, the writing is perfect.

Based on a small Channel Island, Guernsey, that spent FIVE years occupied by German troops with NO contact to the outside world, this book tells the story of a group of neighbors who looked to literature for distraction, for conversation, for camaraderie. The events of WWII and the time directly after unfold naturally as they tell of their lives- this book is not about the war or the Holocaust. It's about these "ordinary" people who lived through an extraordinary time.

It tells of hardships not always mentioned. Of details not often discussed.

As I read, I turn down pages when I find a sentence I love or a passage that moves me.

In this book, every 3rd page has a crease.

When I finish a book I am grateful to have read, I close it and caress the back cover.

This is my way of saying goodbye friends.

And, thank you for your story.