diff --git a/src/acbf/AcbfAuthor.cpp b/src/acbf/AcbfAuthor.cpp
--- a/src/acbf/AcbfAuthor.cpp
+++ b/src/acbf/AcbfAuthor.cpp
@@ -77,17 +77,6 @@
     setLanguage(xmlReader->attributes().value("lang").toString());
     while(xmlReader->readNextStartElement())
     {
-        if(xmlReader->tokenType() == QXmlStreamReader::EndElement) {
-            if(xmlReader->name() == "author") {
-                break;
-            }
-            else {
-                continue;
-            }
-        }
-        if(xmlReader->tokenType() == QXmlStreamReader::Characters) {
-            continue;
-        }
         if(xmlReader->name() == "first-name")
         {
             setFirstName(xmlReader->readElementText());
diff --git a/src/acbf/AcbfBody.cpp b/src/acbf/AcbfBody.cpp
--- a/src/acbf/AcbfBody.cpp
+++ b/src/acbf/AcbfBody.cpp
@@ -66,19 +66,8 @@
 bool Body::fromXml(QXmlStreamReader *xmlReader)
 {
     setBgcolor(xmlReader->attributes().value("bgcolor").toString());
-    while(xmlReader->readNext())
+    while(xmlReader->readNextStartElement())
     {
-        if(xmlReader->tokenType() == QXmlStreamReader::EndElement) {
-            if(xmlReader->name() == "body") {
-                break;
-            }
-            else {
-                continue;
-            }
-        }
-        if(xmlReader->tokenType() == QXmlStreamReader::Characters) {
-            continue;
-        }
         if(xmlReader->name() == "page")
         {
             Page* newPage = new Page(document());
diff --git a/src/acbf/AcbfBookinfo.cpp b/src/acbf/AcbfBookinfo.cpp
--- a/src/acbf/AcbfBookinfo.cpp
+++ b/src/acbf/AcbfBookinfo.cpp
@@ -97,7 +97,7 @@
         writer->writeEndElement();
     }
 
-    writer->writeStartElement("character");
+    writer->writeStartElement("characters");
     writer->writeCharacters("");
     Q_FOREACH(const QString& character, d->characters) {
         writer->writeStartElement("name");
@@ -151,27 +151,15 @@
 
 bool BookInfo::fromXml(QXmlStreamReader *xmlReader)
 {
-    while(xmlReader->readNext())
+    while(xmlReader->readNextStartElement())
     {
-        if(xmlReader->tokenType() == QXmlStreamReader::EndElement) {
-            if(xmlReader->name() == "book-info") {
-                break;
-            }
-            else {
-                continue;
-            }
-        }
-        if(xmlReader->tokenType() == QXmlStreamReader::Characters) {
-            continue;
-        }
         if(xmlReader->name() == "author")
         {
             Author* newAuthor = new Author(metadata());
             if(!newAuthor->fromXml(xmlReader)) {
                 return false;
             }
             d->author.append(newAuthor);
-            xmlReader->readNext();
         }
         else if(xmlReader->name() == "book-title")
         {
@@ -183,15 +171,14 @@
             int match = xmlReader->attributes().value("match").toInt();
             d->genre[xmlReader->readElementText(QXmlStreamReader::IncludeChildElements)] = match;
         }
-        else if(xmlReader->name() == "characters" || xmlReader->name() == "character")
+        else if(xmlReader->name() == "characters")
         {
             while(xmlReader->readNextStartElement()) {
                 if(xmlReader->name() == "name") {
                     d->characters.append(xmlReader->readElementText(QXmlStreamReader::IncludeChildElements));
-                    continue;
                 }
-                if(xmlReader->readNext() == QXmlStreamReader::EndElement && (xmlReader->name() == "characters" || xmlReader->name() == "character")) {
-                    break;
+                else {
+                    xmlReader->skipCurrentElement();
                 }
             }
             qDebug() << "Created character entries, we now have" << d->characters.count() << "characters";
@@ -203,10 +190,9 @@
             while(xmlReader->readNextStartElement()) {
                 if(xmlReader->name() == "p") {
                     paragraphs.append(xmlReader->readElementText(QXmlStreamReader::IncludeChildElements));
-                    continue;
                 }
-                if(xmlReader->readNext() == QXmlStreamReader::EndElement && xmlReader->name() == "character") {
-                    break;
+                else {
+                    xmlReader->skipCurrentElement();
                 }
             }
             d->annotation[language] = paragraphs;
@@ -230,8 +216,8 @@
                     newLanguage->fromXml(xmlReader);
                     d->languages.append(newLanguage);
                 }
-                if(xmlReader->readNext() == QXmlStreamReader::EndElement && xmlReader->name() == "languages") {
-                    break;
+                else {
+                    xmlReader->skipCurrentElement();
                 }
             }
         }
diff --git a/src/acbf/AcbfDocument.cpp b/src/acbf/AcbfDocument.cpp
--- a/src/acbf/AcbfDocument.cpp
+++ b/src/acbf/AcbfDocument.cpp
@@ -77,15 +77,15 @@
         {
             while(xmlReader.readNextStartElement())
             {
-                if(xmlReader.name() == "body")
+                if(xmlReader.name() == "meta-data")
                 {
-                    if(!d->body->fromXml(&xmlReader)) {
+                    if(!d->metaData->fromXml(&xmlReader)) {
                         break;
                     }
                 }
-                else if(xmlReader.name() == "meta-data")
+                else if(xmlReader.name() == "body")
                 {
-                    if(!d->metaData->fromXml(&xmlReader)) {
+                    if(!d->body->fromXml(&xmlReader)) {
                         break;
                     }
                 }
@@ -96,6 +96,10 @@
                 }
             }
         }
+        else {
+            qWarning() << Q_FUNC_INFO << "not an ACBF XML document";
+            return false;
+        }
     }
     if (xmlReader.hasError()) {
         qWarning() << Q_FUNC_INFO << "Failed to read ACBF XML document at token" << xmlReader.name() << "(" << xmlReader.lineNumber() << ":" << xmlReader.columnNumber() << ") The reported error was:" << xmlReader.errorString();
diff --git a/src/acbf/AcbfDocumentinfo.cpp b/src/acbf/AcbfDocumentinfo.cpp
--- a/src/acbf/AcbfDocumentinfo.cpp
+++ b/src/acbf/AcbfDocumentinfo.cpp
@@ -99,17 +99,6 @@
 {
     while(xmlReader->readNextStartElement())
     {
-        if(xmlReader->tokenType() == QXmlStreamReader::EndElement) {
-            if(xmlReader->name() == "document-info") {
-                break;
-            }
-            else {
-                continue;
-            }
-        }
-        if(xmlReader->tokenType() == QXmlStreamReader::Characters) {
-            continue;
-        }
         if(xmlReader->name() == "author")
         {
             Author* newAuthor = new Author(metadata());
@@ -120,16 +109,22 @@
         }
         else if(xmlReader->name() == "creation-date")
         {
-            setCreationDate(QDate::fromString(xmlReader->readElementText()));
+            QString date = xmlReader->attributes().value("value").toString();
+            if(date.isEmpty()) {
+                date = xmlReader->readElementText();
+            } else {
+                xmlReader->skipCurrentElement();
+            }
+            setCreationDate(QDate::fromString(date));
         }
         else if(xmlReader->name() == "source")
         {
             while(xmlReader->readNextStartElement()) {
                 if(xmlReader->name() == "p") {
                     d->source.append(xmlReader->readElementText(QXmlStreamReader::IncludeChildElements));
                 }
-                if(xmlReader->readNext() == QXmlStreamReader::EndElement && xmlReader->name() == "source") {
-                    break;
+                else {
+                    xmlReader->skipCurrentElement();
                 }
             }
         }
@@ -147,8 +142,8 @@
                 if(xmlReader->name() == "p") {
                     d->history.append(xmlReader->readElementText(QXmlStreamReader::IncludeChildElements));
                 }
-                if(xmlReader->readNext() == QXmlStreamReader::EndElement && xmlReader->name() == "history") {
-                    break;
+                else {
+                    xmlReader->skipCurrentElement();
                 }
             }
         }
diff --git a/src/acbf/AcbfLanguage.cpp b/src/acbf/AcbfLanguage.cpp
--- a/src/acbf/AcbfLanguage.cpp
+++ b/src/acbf/AcbfLanguage.cpp
@@ -59,6 +59,7 @@
 {
     setShow(xmlReader->attributes().value("show").toString().toLower() == "true");
     setLanguage(xmlReader->attributes().value("lang").toString());
+    xmlReader->skipCurrentElement();
     qDebug() << Q_FUNC_INFO << "Created language" << language();
     return true;
 }
diff --git a/src/acbf/AcbfMetadata.cpp b/src/acbf/AcbfMetadata.cpp
--- a/src/acbf/AcbfMetadata.cpp
+++ b/src/acbf/AcbfMetadata.cpp
@@ -73,19 +73,8 @@
 
 bool Metadata::fromXml(QXmlStreamReader *xmlReader)
 {
-    while(xmlReader->readNext())
+    while(xmlReader->readNextStartElement())
     {
-        if(xmlReader->tokenType() == QXmlStreamReader::EndElement) {
-            if(xmlReader->name() == "meta-data") {
-                break;
-            }
-            else {
-                continue;
-            }
-        }
-        if(xmlReader->tokenType() == QXmlStreamReader::Characters) {
-            continue;
-        }
         if(xmlReader->name() == "book-info")
         {
             if(!d->bookInfo->fromXml(xmlReader)) {
diff --git a/src/acbf/AcbfPage.cpp b/src/acbf/AcbfPage.cpp
--- a/src/acbf/AcbfPage.cpp
+++ b/src/acbf/AcbfPage.cpp
@@ -103,26 +103,16 @@
 {
     setBgcolor(xmlReader->attributes().value("bgcolor").toString());
     setTransition(xmlReader->attributes().value("transition").toString());
-    while(xmlReader->readNext())
+    while(xmlReader->readNextStartElement())
     {
-        if(xmlReader->tokenType() == QXmlStreamReader::EndElement) {
-            if(xmlReader->name() == "page" || xmlReader->name() == "coverpage") {
-                break;
-            }
-            else {
-                continue;
-            }
-        }
-        if(xmlReader->tokenType() == QXmlStreamReader::Characters) {
-            continue;
-        }
         if(xmlReader->name() == "title")
         {
             d->title[xmlReader->attributes().value("lang").toString()] = xmlReader->readElementText();
         }
         else if(xmlReader->name() == "image")
         {
             setImageHref(xmlReader->attributes().value("href").toString());
+            xmlReader->skipCurrentElement();
         }
         else if(xmlReader->name() == "text-layer")
         {
diff --git a/src/acbf/AcbfPublishinfo.cpp b/src/acbf/AcbfPublishinfo.cpp
--- a/src/acbf/AcbfPublishinfo.cpp
+++ b/src/acbf/AcbfPublishinfo.cpp
@@ -80,19 +80,8 @@
 
 bool PublishInfo::fromXml(QXmlStreamReader *xmlReader)
 {
-    while(xmlReader->readNext())
+    while(xmlReader->readNextStartElement())
     {
-        if(xmlReader->tokenType() == QXmlStreamReader::EndElement) {
-            if(xmlReader->name() == "publish-info") {
-                break;
-            }
-            else {
-                continue;
-            }
-        }
-        if(xmlReader->tokenType() == QXmlStreamReader::Characters) {
-            continue;
-        }
         if(xmlReader->name() == "publisher")
         {
             setPublisher(xmlReader->readElementText());
@@ -102,6 +91,8 @@
             QString date = xmlReader->attributes().value("value").toString();
             if(date.isEmpty()) {
                 date = xmlReader->readElementText();
+            } else {
+                xmlReader->skipCurrentElement();
             }
             setPublishDate(QDate::fromString(date));
         }
diff --git a/src/acbf/AcbfTextarea.cpp b/src/acbf/AcbfTextarea.cpp
--- a/src/acbf/AcbfTextarea.cpp
+++ b/src/acbf/AcbfTextarea.cpp
@@ -111,19 +111,8 @@
         }
     }
 
-    while(xmlReader->readNext())
+    while(xmlReader->readNextStartElement())
     {
-        if(xmlReader->tokenType() == QXmlStreamReader::EndElement) {
-            if(xmlReader->name() == "text-area") {
-                break;
-            }
-            else {
-                continue;
-            }
-        }
-        if(xmlReader->tokenType() == QXmlStreamReader::Characters) {
-            continue;
-        }
         if(xmlReader->name() == "p")
         {
             d->paragraphs.append(xmlReader->readElementText(QXmlStreamReader::IncludeChildElements));
diff --git a/src/acbf/AcbfTextlayer.cpp b/src/acbf/AcbfTextlayer.cpp
--- a/src/acbf/AcbfTextlayer.cpp
+++ b/src/acbf/AcbfTextlayer.cpp
@@ -69,19 +69,8 @@
 {
     setBgcolor(xmlReader->attributes().value("bgcolor").toString());
     setLanguage(xmlReader->attributes().value("lang").toString());
-    while(xmlReader->readNext())
+    while(xmlReader->readNextStartElement())
     {
-        if(xmlReader->tokenType() == QXmlStreamReader::EndElement) {
-            if(xmlReader->name() == "text-layer") {
-                break;
-            }
-            else {
-                continue;
-            }
-        }
-        if(xmlReader->tokenType() == QXmlStreamReader::Characters) {
-            continue;
-        }
         if(xmlReader->name() == "text-area")
         {
             Textarea* newArea = new Textarea(this);