@Wildflowersp - @chndlrs - Thanks for the recommends.  I do appreciate it.  I’m sure I will add more, especially those in the “light” category. 

Suzanne, Doug Jacobson is in this reading challenge and offered two copies of his books for prizes at the end of the challenge.  I wasn’t familiar with Night of Flames but how interesting that you suggested it.

@godsfarmgirl - Janie, if you recommend them, they are irresistible!  I very much enjoyed Albert Marrin’s book on WWI, The Yanks Are Coming.  Our library has three of the books you listed, so I can start there.  I find that Marrin gets the essential facts, in a readable format. 

I do wish Barbara Tuchman had written about this war. 

I’ve just spent two hours looking up more information on John Betjeman.  Fascinating! The book Sweet Songs of Zion (in my Amazon checkout) is a collection of radio talks about hymns and hymnwriters.   

@Dominionfamily - Collin didn’t read Soldier of the Great War, but I did.  I read many sections aloud to Curt and Collin.  It is really worth a read.

Cindy, your comment shows how much we are alike: I just received Tuchman’s The Proud Tower in the mail, and am trying to figure out how to get that read too. I’m still in mourning the fact that I never got Cotton Mather’s The Great Works of Christ in America read.

Thanks for mentioning the books.  I will add them to my list.  

@Sherry - Thanks, Sherry.  You have steered me to some amazing books in the past.  Barbara Tuchman is an author I wouldn’t know if it weren’t for you.  Thanks for the tip on the Churchill miniseries.  I just added The Gathering Storm to my Netflix. I don’t know if this is part of what you are talking about, or something different.  I’ll do more research.

@Carrie - Thanks for the enthusiasm and kinds words, Carrie–whom I always think of as CarrieRTK from your posts on Saturday Review of Books. 

@hopeinbrazil - Oh my!  I haven’t read Brave Men, but I have read Miracle on the River Kwai.  I’m eager to see your list of WWII movies!  Thanks again for steering me to the challenge!

@Amy - Hi Amy. Thanks for the recommendation.  Our library has The Book Thief both in print and audio.  Because my other reading is so heavy, I may try to listen to this one. 

BTW, I have to admit that I have not read any Victor Hugo in its entirety.  Would you recommend where to begin?  I have collected so many astounding quotes (including your blog title) that I know I would not want to die before reading some serious amounts of Hugo.

@R1R2ish - Ruthie, you are so right.  I do like AVM, though it does get preachy in places. Funny how evangelical (as in proselytizing) the liberals can get.  Her daughter reminded me of a fundamental Sunday School child spewing out the “correct” answers! (giggle)  I much preferred the sections Barbara wrote to those of her husband and daughter.  I thought her defense of eating meat was the best argument against vegetarianism that I’ve read.  I also–finally–made the connection about heirloom seeds and heritage animal breeding. 

I had been changing my mind about our eating habits over the years (we almost never eat fast food anymore) and this book was the one that made me willing to spend more for better quality food.  We now buy chickens from a local farmer and spend (gasp!) $2.30/lb for them.  We also buy raw milk locally for $5/gallon. 

I thought their experiment was fascinating and it reminded Curt and me of the way our grandparents ate on their farms.