Book Business' The Best We Read 2012

Peggy Hatch, Group President

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows (Dial Press, 2009)

Written in a series of letters, the story starts in London in 1946. Reeling from the war, with rationing in full tilt, Juliet Ashton receives a letter from a farmer on the channel island of Guernsey. He’d gotten a used book by Charles Lamb that had Juliet’s name written on the inside cover and was hoping she could help him find another book about the author. Guernsey had been occupied by the Nazis and completely cut off during the war, but a wonderfully charming and eccentric group of characters had started a book club that kept them going through those dark years.

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society is about the love of books and reading and friendship. Great characters with a compelling story! One of my favorite lines when Juliet writes back to the farmer about the Lamb book:

“I wonder how the book got to Guernsey? Perhaps there is some sort of secret homing instinct in books that brings them to their perfect reader.”

This is a first and last novel. The author Mary Ann Shaffer died before all the editing was done and her niece Annie Barrows completed the book.

Wanfei Wu, Intern

Why We Buy: The Science of Shopping, By Paco Underhill (Simon and Schuster, 2008)

Although this was one of my textbooks in the past semester, I really enjoyed reading it. Different from the typical consumer behavior book, retail expert and environmental psychologist Paco Underhill helps us understand some profound consumer behavior theories. For example, freeing a customer's hands with a basket, cart or bag doesn't just make shopping easier, it tends to make customers buy more. Underhill also gives readers a “tour” of some innovative stores and malls all over the world, including the Old Navy in New York City and a mall in Dubai, to reveal what makes them successful. It's full of great tips for marketers looking to attract and keep customers by improving their shopping experience.