Historical Fiction by Oliver Potzsch

I finished reading The Hangman's Daughter by Oliver Potzsch, set in 17th century Bavaria, a few weeks ago and recommended it as our book club pick for October.  In this story hangman Jakob Kuisl; his daughter Magdalena; and Simon,a Physician's Assistant; try to solve the mystery of a murdered child and to vindicate the midwife accused of murdering the child and practicing witchcraft.  It turns out that this historical fiction is the first of 4 books by Potzsch, a descendant of the Kuisl family.

I have moved on to the second book, The Dark Monk.  I am on page 71.  In this story the hangman, Simon and Magdalena are taking an interest in a priest who was poisoned in the city of Altenstadt.   Simon and Magdalena had a romantic relationship in Book 1 and in Book 2 jealousy is raising its ugly head as Simon seems to have an interest in the dead priest's wealthy sister, Benedikta.  However on page 71, the hangman's attention has to be directed from the mystery of the priest to other matters. He has been assigned the job of leader of a 17th century Bavarian version of  a posse.  He and the townsmen are supposed to hunt down some bandits who have been attacking their city of Schongau.

The Knight Templars is mentioned in this novel.  The church where the dead priest was found was once the headquarters of the Knight Templars; a band of religious zealots with headquarters across Europe originally assigned to guide travelers safely to Israel. The Knights have been mentioned in several novels lately.  I know I read a Steve Berry book about them, Templar Legacy.

Watch a Novel

I heard you dear reader saying, "Yeah right, how do you watch a novel?  Well, read this very interesting article titled, "Watch a novel being written live."  It is about a new trend in writing novels.  Specifically, it is about a project called The Naked Writer  which was launched on September 12th by British fantasy writer Silvia Hartman.  Hartman invited fans to watch her write her novel, "The Dragon Lords" using Google Docs via her social networks.

Also interesting was this storyteller, Willy Shyr, who had a "crowdsourced" novel published by an Australian newspaper titled, The Necklace.  He invited readers to participate in the actual writing of the novel by submitting their own sentences.  We live in a connected world dear reader.

Blog Action Day - October 15th

Blog Action Day (BAD) is almost here.  It's October 15th and the theme is really different this year it is, The Power of  We.  This means BAD12 is celebrating people working together to make a positive difference in the world.  BAD12 is asking bloggers to focus on celebrating people from their community or people half way around the world that they may never meet. 

Who will I celebrate in my blog on October 15th?  Librarians who make a difference in their patrons' lives researching jobs, helping with resumes and cover letters? The Toastmasters club in this community which makes a difference by building self confidence and personal development?  Kiwanis Clubs who are striving to make a difference with Eliminate project?

Jay-Z's Top 6 Picks

Want to read what Jay-Z has been reading?  Here are the rapper's top 6 personal development books.  Notice he included one of our past book club picks, The Celestine Prophecy by James Redfield, a fiction book with profound ancient wisdom.

Learning From Louis L'Amour

Our book club choice this month is Education of a Wandering Man by Louis l'Amour, writer of 84 novels  Many of his  novels have been transformed to the big screen.  Lots of lessons to be learned from this writer.

He believes in historical accuracy. He says we should not have to second guess history because the facts are fantastic enough.  Because he believes in historical accuracy,  he read books about other cultures and traveled to the places he wrote about.  He wrote without using any obscenities and without spicing it up with sex scenes.

He describes himself, in this book, as a writer of the frontier, not a western writer, and  says his stories are about passing through or settling wild country.  He obviously admired the western pioneers because they chose to leave everything behind, break  the mold and start afresh in a new country with new problems. They did what L'Amour did,  moved from home and faced one challenge after another.  Man, he says. seeks a means to exist and is always striving to improve his situation. At the time of writing this memoir, he had an interest in the frontiers of outer space. His novel Walking Drum, he says, was about the frontiers of knowledge. 

I like this quote on page 156, "Education is everywhere, prompting one to think, to consider, to remember."  Interestingly, L'Amour felt he had acquired a lot of knowledge about Indonesia, Malaysia and China  and wanted a job in Naval Intelligence, unfortunately, he was turned down because he had no college degree.

Japanese writer: Keigo Higashino

I stayed up all night to read the Japanese novel, Naoko by  Keigo Higashino.  It was quite fascinating; held my interest from beginning to end. I came across this writer because his other book, Devotion of Suspect X  was our book club pick last month.   This novel touched on the supernatural.  The protagonist's wife, Naoko, and daughter, Monami, were involved in a bus crash.  Heisuke thought he had lost his wife but found out that her spirit was occupying his daughter's body.  He then realized that in fact he had lost his only daughter.  Yes, a little confusing and a very creepy situation.  Interestingly, there is a name for  a situation like this  metempsychosis.  The whole story was about Naoko and Heisuke maneuvering through life; elementary school, puberty, junior high and high school; while keeping this huge secret.  There was a very unusual twist to the plot towards the end.  I have watched movies about people switching bodies but this concept of  occupying a dead person's body was different.  I understand there is actually a movie based on this book.

I did not like the reaction of Heisuke in the end. It was too similar to the reaction of one of the protagonist's at the end of Devotion to Suspect X.   I also didn't like that there was no resolution for Heisuke after so many years of living life with this secret.

Happening at the Jacksonville Public Library

Here is what's happening at the Jacksonville Public Library:  Budget cuts.  I am sure you are not surprised by this move by Mayor Alvin Brown to save money.  True, budget cuts are happening all over but here is what you can do to show support for the library.  Also, check out the library advocacy blog.  Every little bit helps.

August Book Club Selection - Education of a Wandering Man

I have only read one Louis l'Amour novel, The Last of the Breed, and it is one of my favorite reads.  It was not the usual western and I read it years ago because it was our book club selection.   For August, our book club pick is Education of a Wandering Man, a memoir by Louis L'Amour, and I am loving it.  At least one other person in the book club got bored with it; not enough action. 

Pages 84 to 87 express the essence of this memoir.  On these pages Louis L'Amour, a high school drop-out, explains how he educated himself through travel, adventure, and reading and became a well known writer.  This book was published in 1989 and on page 84 L'Amour says the present approach to education is all wrong; it is pedestrian. He says we educate children to have opinions but we should be educating them to think.  He explains his love for reading throughout the book, and on page 86 he tells us why he loves to read diaries and memoirs. It is because he wants to know how people were living, what they were thinking and how they expressed themselves.  Throughout the memoir he recommends several books; fiction, non-fiction and poetry.  

His path to becoming a writer started with reading, listening to people's stories then writing.  He wrote and sold two line jokes, jingles, poetry, nature pieces.  I am loving his story.

Want to be a Storyteller?

I like this link to a cheat sheet for storytelling.  Also, if you want to write a book, check this link out 7 Steps to writing a book.

Page Turners

I found a link to 6 page turners for summer reading on Oprah's website.       The blurb on the 6th book, Drowned by Therese Bohman, reminded me of the book that kept me up until 2:00 this morning. The Boy in the Suitcase by Danish writers,  Lene Kaaberbol and Agnete Friis, was a really exciting thriller set in Denmark and Lithuania.  The kidnapping of a three year old boy turns his mom into a mama grizzly and she sets off from Lithuania to Denmark to track down her boy.   Her path crosses with Nina, a Danish nurse, who lives to rescue young women and children.  So dear readers that's the seventh book I would add to this summer reading list.

Mish Mash from Brain Pickings

My post today is not just about books.  Today I share a mish mash of links.  I think you will enjoy these three interesting ones I found on Brain Pickings :

1. A graphic novel about the life of physicist Richard Feynman 

2. A crowdsourced  Complaints Choir putting into song all the daily grievances of the world in Finnish with English subtitles.

3. A documentary on the life of one of the greatest jazz musicians of all times ... Louis Armstrong.