Noah - Official Trailer (2014) [HD] Russel Crowe, Emma Watson

Catching up

The biggest problem I've discovered about being a senior is that it gets more difficult to multi-task. So, since I've been working very diligently on my sequel to "The Silk Weaver's Daughter," I haven't had much time to keep up with my blogging, although I still have been reading and reviewing books for Amazon.

Here's a great new summer read by the author of the Hangman's Daughter series. As explained below,  I found it extremely interesting although perhaps not his best effort.

“Only last year my husband and I toured Germany and visited both the Linderhof and Neuschwanstein Castles built in the 1800s by Ludwig II of Bavaria so I was excited about reading "The Ludwig Conspiracy"  Potzsch’s latest novel set around the mysterious death of the so-called mad king.

 Having read all four books of his Hangman series, I was slightly disappointed in this venture into a modern day thriller. The author does handle the weaving together of the two plotlines very well, but occasionally the narration doesn’t quite pull it off. The execution wasn’t quite as sophisticated as his earlier works. Perhaps it loses something in translation.

The character of Steven Lukas is well drawn and I found myself pulling for him all the way. The art detective, Sarah Lengfeldt was not so believable. Some of her scenes to me seemed stilted and contrived, particularly those at Linderhof.

Nevertheless, Potzsch is a master of plotline and pacing and the story kept me turning pages until the end. He is still on my personal list of favorite writers of the 21^st century.“

The picture below left is Neuschwanstein. On the right is Linderhof Castle.  

Pinterest is fun

The new fun fad is creating your very own Pinterest; board. Here is the one I created that follows the Garneau family through their adventures in "The Silk Weaver's Daughter."  Enjoy the trip!

http://pinterest.com/pin/42362052717119174/?fb_action_ids=10151482575214534&fb_action_types=pinterestapp%3Apin&fb_source=aggregation&fb_aggregation_id=10151052373147165

Better Late Than Never

Well, it's been a while since you heard anything from this old lady. Over the past nine months I have given birth to a new book--well it's not ready for publication yet, but the first draft is done. It seems at this age, I can really only concentrate on one thing at once and so writing my blog has definitely suffered the consequences.

Oh, and I should tell you that during the summer we did take a month off to travel in Europe. So later I will be talking about our trip through five countries there--Germany, Switzerland, Leichenstein, Austria, Slovakia, and Hungary. Although I was doing research for the new book, there was lots of fun involved as well.

For now, I've been doing a lot of reading and so I will tell you about some of the best books I read this winter. Today is an anthology about China written by John H. Rydzewski. Here are my comments:

As one who loves to travel, I have long desired to visit the mysterious countries of Asia. But even though I did manage to tour Japan, I have never been to its huge neighbour, China. So I was delighted when Author John Rydzewski offered me a copy of his book, “China Diaries & Other Tales from the Road.”

John is an itinerant writer who has travelled through more than forty countries on five continents and decided, not only travel through China; but to live and work there for three years.

His book is an anthology of stories about his adventures there and gives the reader insight into everything from dating the beautiful, northern Chinese policewomen of Dàlián to traveling along the mysterious Silk Road. The book gives an excellent overall perspective of an expatriate’s life in this huge country that is well on its way to being one of the top economic leaders of the world.

There are some funny moments and some poignant moments and Rydzewski’s ability to draw word pictures brings it all to life. He doesn’t spare himself in some of the episodes such as one entitled “Do You Smell Something.” The beauty of the book is that you don’t have to read it all at once. Each chapter is a story in itself and you can enjoy the entire book over a period of time.

Whether you have a trip to China in mind, or fear that you will never make it there, this is a great read and I highly recommend it. Five stars for this fascinating collection from John  Rydzewski.