Happy Odyssey by Adrian Carton de Wiart an autobiography of a Belgian-born, classic early 1900’s British military man: someone who is perfectly happy to spend his life sporting, fighting, and eventually politicking. I was quite surprised at the easy flow of the narrative, rather like reading an amusing letter from an old friend. This “friend” chases battles like a retriever and readily compares the fighting styles and mindset of every countries soldiers but thinks “causes, politics and ideologies are better left to the historians.” I think he was in something like 11 wars and injured multiple times in every one, including a shot in the groin (his first injury!), the back of the head, the stomach, and his legs. He also lost an eye and a hand. But it’s so obvious that he loved it all. As he says in the preface, “that I should have survived [my misadventures] is to me by far the most interesting thing about [my life].” I imagine he was very gregarious. He made friends quickly, led men easily, and was promoted repeatedly in every war. To give you some idea of Carton de Wiart’s social circle, Winston Churchill called him “my old and valued friend” in the foreward. Most of all, he appeared to be very insightful about himself and yet did not take himself too seriously. Very British humor!

I borrowed this from my library (ILL actually) because I read about Carton de Wiart on the blog Badass of the Week. It's a great blog, well researched and amusing, if you're okay with excessive amounts of foul language.

My current bookshelf:

Wallflower (manga) - only read two but it's amusing; I love the main girl (who hates "people of the light")

Afterschool Charisma (manga) - beautiful artwork and thought-provoking story so far. Sadly some horrible uptight person colored over all the boobs. Seriously people, that's defacement! Don't like it? Don't read it.

Dear Teen Me - letters from authors (mostly YA) to their teen selves; really shows how we're all kind of the same in high school: self-absorbed and insecure. The exceptions make me grateful for my boring childhood.

There's a dozen more on my to-read shelf. Where is my time??