Blitzed through the little kiddie book "Hiro and Tadashi" last night and read some of the Big Hero 6 manga I picked up earlier (getting the hang of it, but alas, I should get some work done...).

Read Screwtape proposes a toast, yet?

Finished the new Ranger's Apprentice prequel. Enjoyed it, but he needs to send these to me for error catching before publication. A few errors, including switching character's names, referring to a character by a rank she hasn't attained yet, and cartoon physics during one of the action sequences.

@ Hans: Oh, my, yes. I assume you have as well?

I have recently read a lot of Terry Brooks, and I do not suggest you read it. Ever. I love historical fiction, and have previously gone through a LOT of G. A. Henty books. Over 100. I am currently in nothing, as I have read about all the Jules Verne and other such authors out there, and I cannot find anything interesting. If you have suggestions, I could use them.

@kristi: Dear, dear, that sounds awful.

@UnknownPevensie: If you're looking for World War I books, Elanorelle (another TLCer) and I have recently read "Private Peat" (autobiography), "Private Peaceful" (fiction), and "All Quiet on the Western Front" (fiction). Though I'll put a disclaimer on all of those for war violence and the latter two for some inappropriate content (moreso in "All Quiet"). What other sorts of things do you like to read? Maybe I'll think of more....

@UnknownPevensie: There's also War Horse, a book geared more toward a younger audience but brilliant enough to be picked up by anyone in want of a well-told story. And I highly recommend The Hiding Place - it isn't fiction but it is a very touching and beautiful story of a family's faith during World War II.

I assume you have as well?

Actually, yes.

If you have suggestions, I could use them.

Have you tried non-fiction?

Essays by C S Lewis and Chesterton, plus some very few by J R R Tolkien are great (it was good for him, but less good for the rest of us he didn't write more of them - except I suppose we wouldn't like to be without his stories and translations from Middle English).

So are biographies (often historic), monographies and essays by Hilaire Belloc.

So is reading Summa Theologiae (English translation available online) and Church Fathers.

I just finished Emma and it's still my favorite Jane Austen novel. I really see Emma in myself, in both her flaws and her strengths 😛 I can be proud, not so much class wise as Emma, but I can sometimes feel a little too good about my accomplishments and like Emma I know that I could be better at art, music and reading if I didn't spend so much time doing silly stuff like hanging out online. 😛

It also sparked some conversations in real life about if it's creepy that Mr. Knightly watched her grow up or if it's OK because they're both adults and he didn't fall in love with her until she was in her 20s.

Right now I'm listening(I don't read for pleasure anymore, I listen to audiobooks in the car to and from school) to A Tale of Two Castles by Gail Carson Levine. It's a fun silly romp. Recommended. I just realized there's a sequel, I should get my hands on it.

I have heard of The Hiding Place, and I think I decided not to read it, but not anything else mentioned. No, I have not read a ton of Non-fiction, but I have not found much interest in it either. Thanks for the suggestions

Pevensie, have you ever read Ivanhoe? It's not WWI era, but it's the best work of historical fiction I've ever read. It's fairly violent, though, and also with one or two particular....um, unsavory scenes. Someone is accused of witchcraft and almost burned at the stake, so if that or anti-semitism makes you uncomfortable (and believe you me, I have friends who are made quite uncomfortable by that, so I wouldn't hold it against you) it's probably not the book for you. 🙂 But it's all viewed in a Christian light. : P

I liked Ivanhoe on Classics Illustrated, found the original by Walter Scott a bit wordy, but the problem is, it gives a slanted impression of the Middle Ages.

Much detail is correct, but much is also simply false, misunderstandings no doubt on the author's side, but nevertheless false. And originally meant to make the Middle Ages look bad, even if Walter Scott was perhaps not aware of that.

Elena Maria Vidal has done a pretty good job, as far as accuracy is concerned, in writing The Night's Dark Shade. It is a novel set during the Albigensian Crusade, and before.

Yes, I've noticed it was a rather...romanticized version of the Middle Ages. And Sir Scott actually accidentally made up the name Cedric; it was a misspelling of the Middle Ages name Cerdic.

Oh, I'll have to look that one up. 🙂

Sir Walter Scott invented the genera of historical fiction, so I give him so leeway even if I know all of his facts weren't technically correct and if there is some antisemitism (Which lets face it, was a part of the middle ages to one extent or another). And yes, the man is incredibly wordy. Like it took me a month to finish the novel and I made the book my profile picture when I finished it because it is so wordy and dry at times. It's a classic because of what it did to the literary world and the plot is quite good but there are stretches where it's quite boring.

I just read the first Big Hero 6 manga. I can't believe I'm saying this (though it's BH6, so I shouldn't be surprised), but feels!! Definitely reading it again before I take it back to the library. And adding it to my amazon wishlist. 😀