Day 29: List 10 people, living or dead, you would invite to dinner. Include the dinner menu.

This is a wonderful and creative question and I like it very much! But it’s also hard because I can’t invite everyone to dinner. 😟I’ll love to have dinner with my characters, but I think I’ll go with some of my all-time favorite people from history. This might get lengthy for most of them are French, all of them are dead, and all of them are men for I am not easily fascinated by women. Jesus Christ is not a fascination; He is my heart. Here we go:

King Louis XIV – This man revolutionized France, fashion, art, and etiquette. I’ve read about people fainting in his court whenever he entertained. Michael Jackson who? This Louis lasted for 72 years, longer than that of any other known European sovereign, and he happens to be my favorite French monarch… for some reason!

King Solomon – The wisest fool who ever lived. Beautifully flawed (who isn’t, though?), but I love the way he wrote and thought him to be a great writer. Shakespeare who? He spoke 3000 proverbs and wrote 1,005 songs (1 King 4:32) and if he wrote like that, just imagine the poems he wrote for the ladies. 😉

Napoléon Bonaparte – He was shrewd and skillful and he conquered much of Europe during his time. He wrote Josephine passionate love letters while away on military duties – although the power couple broke up after 8 years – and his said last words were: “France, the Army, the Head of the Army, Josephine.” Here’s a nice fun fact: Bonaparte is the 2nd most significant figure in history behind Jesus Christ who is #1 of course! There is no one BIGGER than our King!

Marquis de Lafayette – This Frenchman is the hero of the American Revolution. He was without combat experience and only 19-years-old when he arrived in America. He penned one of history’s most important documents about human and civil rights with the help of Jefferson: the Declaration of the Rights of Man and the Citizen.

Alexandre Dumas – Well, I don’t think I have to talk about this man now! I’ve been talking about him since the year kicked off! 😄

Amenhotep IV/Akhenaten – This Pharoah is known as the Heretic King because he tried to shift Egypt’s traditional religion to sun worship elevating god Aten above mere gods. However, I like to joke that he invented Photoshop and I’ll talk about that in another post someday because I’ve talked too much already. 

Tutankhaten/Tutankhamun – Of course I can’t leave out Akhenaten’s son now! As a child, I was fascinated by King Tut and spent time reading/researching about him. He tried to undo his father’s damage, but sadly, he had a short reign. 

Simon Peter – This fisherman was one of the first followers of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. He had several failings, but in the end, he was still chosen to carry out God’s work. He was a natural born leader and outspoken. I love Peter and I’ll devote an entire post to him in the near future.

Alexander the Great – It’s not a dinner without the greatest conqueror who ever lived! He was King of the Four Quarters of the World! He was tutored by the great Aristotle and his influence on Greek and Asian culture inspired the Hellenistic period.

Joseph Nicéphore Niépce – He invented photography so Frenchie can take photos of our exciting dinner!

Now, for the menu:

I had fun creating that menu! 😄

Although this was a lengthy post, I enjoyed writing it because I simply love history and I can talk about fascinating people all day. 

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Book Haul part trois (and predictions)

Here I go again buying books, but I have no shame, so eh! I’ll just add them to my ever-growing pile and whine about not having time to read all of them. 

I’m kidding! I’ll eventually get to all of them and besides, this small book haul might just be my last haul of the year.

Okay! Okay! This is definitely not the last book haul of the year, but it’ll be for the while being. Nevertheless, I got new books (most of them for my birthday) and you know what that means! Happy dance time!

Let’s get to the books!

Love and Louis XIV by Antonia Fraser

I don’t trust British writers when it comes to writing about French history (I’ve had some bias run-ins over the years and had to abandon the book), but I’ll give this woman the benefit of the doubt. I got this book because I’ll read anything on the greatest European monarch who ever lived. I think this might be a 4/5 stars read for it looks really good.

When Dimple Met Rishi by Sandhya Menon

I’ve been wanting to read this book since last year because I simply love Indian stories! This story has many mixed reviews, but I’ll be going into it neutral for the simple fact that it’s YA. Rishi sounds like a dream, though. I’ll say 3/5.

You’re Welcome, Universe by Whitney Gardner

I am in love with the cover! Inside contains some drawings and graffiti although I don’t find all of them pretty. I got this book because I wanted to read up on more deaf characters given that I have one of my own. Given that this is a YA, I’ll say a 2-3/5. I really hope I can be proved wrong, though and it’ll be at least a 4 in the end, but I’m not holding my breath because it can easily be a 1. 

Glitter by Aprilynne Pike

I saw the cover, fell in love, read the synopsis and fell in love even more because it revolves around the Palace of Versailles when King Louis XVI was King. Then I was disappointed when I realized that it’s actually a series and I dislike series unless it’s Alex Cross. In order for me to buy Shatter the sequel, this book must be a 4/5.

The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas

 

Earlier this year, I thought about doing a Classic Challenge and I just had to get my all-time favorite. This is the first time that I’ve received a stained book from Amazon, but I forgive them for the vinegar stain. It’s been a while since I’ve read this book. When I read it a couple of times back in primary school, it was a five every single time. But I’m not the same reader anymore so I’ll settle for 4/5.

Batman: Nightwalker by Marie Lu

Bruce Wayne as a teen? Count me in! However, to set the record straight, I could care less about Batman. I just like the fact that Brucie is a wealthy techie freak and he doesn’t need superpowers to be a superhero. Someone once said that wealthy characters are boring, but I have super awesome wealthy characters who aren’t boring and Brucie also proves that theory wrong. This YA is no Clark Kent, but I’ll say 3/5.

Love, Life, and the List by Kasie West

I’ve always wanted to read material by Kasie West and when I saw this overhyped book at my favorite bookstore, I knew that this was the chance to read her. This is a summer read and the synopsis sounds really good. It also looks like a cute story so I’ll say 3/5.

The Christmas Mystery by James Patterson

The trilogy of Monsieur Luc Moncrief is finally complete! I can now read these book shots in one sitting! Base on the back cover, I’ll say this is a 4/5 read! I hope James Patterson can prove me right because I’m not a big fan of the book shot series, but I couldn’t pass up this French detective. I hope he can have his own full-length novel series at some point… assuming that he’s good!

Hidden Order by Brad Thor

I got this book on sale for only $15. Now compare that price to the original price of $78.70! This is the first time I’ve come across this author, but the story sounds good and I look forward to reading it at some point this year. I’ll say this is a 3/5 rating.

And that’s a wrap for now. Whenever I read these books, I’ll come back to the so-call predictions and see if I was right. By the way, did any of you guys happen to read books from this haul? How was your reading experience like?