100 Books Like Saint Cloud of Gaul, The Prince Who Traded Kingdoms

I’ve enjoyed the entire Faith & Kung Fu series. It’s contemporary Christian fiction with teen characters that face teen challenges. Even though I’m not a teen, I can relate to each of the characters in one way or another, through their challenges, weaknesses, attitudes, or hopes. But I especially love how faith comes into each story. This final book in the series includes several fun-to-read moments with Gabriel and Tanner, but they soon face challenges to their relationship, which at times seem insurmountable. In addition to the theme that we are all a work in progress—which I can relate to—I love how this story tackles the preparation and considerations one should make when considering the sacrament of marriage.   

This is an incredibly fun mystery with a great combination of action, adventure, and growing tension. The main characters are well-developed, likable, and positive role models. Eve is romantic, talkative, and doesn’t try to be like everyone else. Nick is level-headed, resourceful, and charming. Plus, he comes from a big and very interesting family.

As a history lover, I enjoyed the tidbits about the Civil War and the “virtual tour” of Washington D.C., visiting museums, monuments, cemeteries, and other historical places with the characters as they tried to solve this unique mystery. Several wonderful messages are weaved through this story, too, like trusting in God even when we can’t understand His plan and realizing that the smaller missions from God are just as important as the bigger missions.

I’m a fan of many of this author’s books, though I haven’t read them all yet. But I love this story because it is so unique and entertaining. Mandy is the world’s only half-sheep girl, and while she has a few sheepish qualities, this character is not weak at all, and she doesn’t let differences stand in the way of making friends. This story is packed with excitement but also with solid messages and Christian themes. It speaks to an issue relevant to everyone: regardless of the strength of the temptations we face, we need to work hard to rise above our impulses and do the right thing. And the least likely characters in this story are the greatest examples of resisting nearly overpowering urges.

Well-written and enjoyable, this story takes an honest look at the physical, spiritual, and emotional aspects of teens in relationships. As the characters’ feelings for each other grow, they confront new emotions and urges that they don’t always know how to deal with. Like every child raised Christian, they know what they are “supposed” to do but they don’t always understand “why”. Sometimes they make poor choices, but through all the temptations, challenges, and even failures, they both develop an understanding of the value of chastity. By the story’s end, they have a clear, solid, and mature grasp of its worth. I appreciate the message of developing a strong conviction about waiting for marriage, rather than allowing oneself the temporary thrill of partaking in something that isn’t “rightfully ours”.

While this is a rather scholarly book with a bit of an intimidating title, I was surprised by how enjoyable of a read it was. 

Through this work, Woolf explores what it meant to be a native to Gaul, the traumatic experience of the Roman conquest (estimates of Gaulish deaths are in the millions), and how the Gauls and Romans shaped the culture of the region moving forward.

With expert skill, Woolf shows that the process of romanization in Gaul was not just a case of Roman forcing the Gauls to act Roman or the Gauls imitating Roman ways to placate their new overlords. Instead, it was a process of cultural give-and-take, in which both sides took on aspects of the other. 

It’s truly fascinating stuff. 

This was the first book that made me realize druids had been real, and that entire belief system was nearly—in historical chronology—stamped out by the Roman Empire. The story focuses on a young druid, Ainvar, who befriends Vercingetorix, the Celtic warrior who was brought to Rome in chains by Julius Caesar. While the setting is in Gaul, I began to understand the beliefs of the druid life that was very nearly lost. Where Rome’s war with the druids of Gaul was bloody and decisive, the Irish conversion took a different path. I wanted to find out why the two histories, the change from druid to Christian, was so dramatically different.

This is a highly readable and fascinating work that collects all known classical references to this mysterious priesthood that flourished in ancient Gaul and Britain, and nearly caused the province of Britannia to be abandoned under the emperor Nero. I go back to it time and time again for reference and simply for interest. The book is compact and easy to negotiate, and readers will find it hard to put down because of its content and the author’s readable style.

Another golden oldie (from 1911) but seriously, most of the older books were written with a level of seriousness, diligence, and rigorousness that is sadly lacking in many of the modern books on Druidism – which I find frequently regurgitate or recapitulate fairly recent earlier books from the mid-late 20th century, often without delving into the original source material.

This book, again, is not exclusively about Druids but more generally about the religious culture of the Celts across Gaul, Britain, and Ireland. Even so, it is an immensely informative book, albeit somewhat difficult to read because of the fairly archaic style of the writing. As with other somewhat challenging books – the pay-off is certainly more than worth the effort.

The adventures of Asterix and Obelix focus on their wild skirmishes with the Romans. It’s a wonderful series of graphic books that help strengthen the imagination while sharing a comical twist on ancient history. I grew up with these books and they inspired me to draw—and ultimately become an author.

My writing career began as an illustrator, and I now use illustrations in all of my children and middle-grade books.

I can’t help but recommend the Asterix series because without it, I may not have taken the creative path I am on today. The illustrations (originally designed by Albert Uderzo) are probably the most detailed and original you’ll ever see. It was his wildly funny and eye-popping drawings that helped the books jump off the shelf every time I visited a book store.

The author (Rene Goscinny) pieced together the wonderfully funny historical adventures, making this series my all time… show more.

I think this is the single best edition of Julius Caesar’s original compositions: the footnotes, maps, battle diagrams, and appendices offer a treasure trove of information for the Roman history buff without overwhelming the casual reader.

(I had a particular interest in Appendix C, on “Roman Calendars, Dates, and Time,” where I learned that the main reason winter operations rarely occurred in ancient warfare was the inability to feed their animals.)

The translations struck me as contemporary sounding yet never sacrifice accuracy for clarity. I recommend this book as a perfect gateway for the fan of ancient Rome to enter the realm of authentic ancient Roman literature.