Book Recommendation: Anna of Arimathea

Joseph of Arimathea’s daughter Anna was cruelly wounded by a Roman soldier’s whip, scarring her face and hand, and a horse’s hoof that crushed her hip. Hidden away at their Arimathean estate, she practices the healing arts, isolated and lonely. Then Andrew, a disciple of Jesus, comes with a message for her father. Seriously wounded by bandits, she tends to his injuries and they fall in love. But how can someone crippled like she endure the nomadic life of a follower of Jesus?

Susanne Blumer has written a Biblical novel on the daughter of Joseph of Arimathea. It’s a fascinating look at what might have been. (A sequel, Anna of Bethsaida, is now available.) I asked author Susanne Blumer a few questions.

 

 

I love your portrayal of Andrew. How did you decide to pick him to be the main character disciple? Oh, my sweet Andrew! When I first started working on the book, I knew I needed a disciple. But which one? Peter was already married. John is said to never marry. James is killed in Acts. I ideally wanted one of the inner circle and one that could fall in love with Anna. Andrew made the most sense. He was the first to be called, is involved in many of the important stories, but he also felt like a disciple I could make my own. So Andrew it was, and I'm so happy with my choice. He was perfect for the series! Have you visited Israel? No, I have not been, but it is at the top of my bucket list! My husband and I had an amazing trip planned in 2024: Israel, Egypt, Turkey and Greece. We had everything booked and ready to go. Then the war broke out in Israel. We were scheduled to leave a month later. Without knowing what would happen during those weeks, we cancelled the trip. We still hope to do it! The world just needs to calm down a bit first. I cannot wait to go and see all the places I've been writing about! You own four bookstores in North and South Carolina. How do you decide what books to stock? Do you have a “My Favorites” display? Each of my bookstores is different. They have different customers who read different things. Of course, we have a lot of books the same between them, but we also have a wide variety that are not. My Beaufort store carries a ton of coastal books, Pat Conroy and authors local to the area. And beach reads. Lots of beach reads!       My mountain stores each have their own flavor. Even though Black Mountain and Waynesville are just 40 minutes apart, the books we stock vary widely. Our customers simply like different things.       And yes, we have Staff Picks. It's always fun to see what my staff loves, and our customers like it too! _______________________________________________________________________________ The Bookworm is an online reader's guide featuring wholesome Christian and Clean books from indie, small press, and traditional publishers. Over 100 books are featured in a variety of genres. Grab your free copy here.

Book Recommendation: ICE

 Book Recommendation

       This book was published in 2002. Yes, twenty-four years ago. I loved it then and I still do. My second-grade teacher introduced me to the solar system, and I was hooked on space. I’ve read scores of astronaut stories and several space novels. Ice is my favorite novel.
       Ice is the story of Apollo 19, which landed at the lunar south pole. (In the real space program, Apollos 18 and 19 were canceled.) When it’s time to leave, Astronauts Gary Lucas and Charlie Shepherd discover their engine won’t ignite, and everyone on Earth thinks they die when their oxygen runs out. Instead, they begin an incredible adventure.
       Is it possible that in prediluvian days, men used their intelligence to travel in space? They lived about sixteen hundred years after creation. They lived for centuries. They were brilliant. Maybe they traveled to other planets and created a base on the moon. All evidence on Earth was wiped out in the flood. Do you think it’s possible?

 

      The story is sprinkled with famous names from NASA: Jim Irwin, Deke Slayton, Marlyn & Jim Lovell, Susan Borman, Gene Kranz. Their presence adds reality to the novel.
       Preowned copies of Ice can still be found. Sadly, the author, Shane Johnson, died two years ago.

 Book Recommendation: Their Burden to Bear

     Gloria is the star of Listen For the Chickadees, my new book releasing next month. She’s not exactly a new character for me. In the epilogue of my World War One book The Storm Breaks Forth, she’s named as the baby daughter of main characters Peter and Maren Bloch.
     Peter received the Medal of Honor during the fighting in France and joined other Medal of Honor recipients in marching in the procession taking the Unknown Soldier to Arlington. I did a lot of research for that short epilogue. The process of selecting the Unknown is fascinating.
     The U.S. Army Quartermaster Corps teams in France exhumed four bodies from four major American battle cemeteries (Aisne-Marne, Meuse-Argonne, St. Mihiel, Somme). The bodies were placed in identical caskets to ensure anonymity. A decorated WWI veteran, Sergeant Edward F. Younger, walked around the caskets and placed a spray of white roses on one, selecting it as the Unknown Soldier.

     Heather Tabers has written a novel, Their Burden to Bear, about the eight body bearers. Philip is one of them. He’s had a difficult life which haunts him. Since he is single, Elsie is appointed to be his escort during the festivities surrounding the laying to rest of the Unknown. She’s also had trauma in her life. She’s raising her deceased sister’s son with no help from her father.
     Through blackmail, murder, and devious deceit, Philip is Elsie champion and she refuses to let him push her away. A remarkable story.

I asked Heather a few questions:
 

Did you always have an interest in World War I? What is the attraction over WWII?

No, to be honest, I never thought much about WWI at all. I noticed many readers mentioning an oversaturation of books about WWII and I thought, "Why not write a book about WWI?" I love the Roaring 20's and had thought about writing during that time period, but when I began researching WWI, I found so many interesting story ideas.
 

Did you wonder about the Unknown, whether he was an upstanding young father or a scoundrel who joined the army to escape arrest? 

In my heart and mind, the Unknown will always be some woman's little boy, called off to fight in a war. To imagine him as anything else feels unsympathetic to the thousands of women who never got to hug their sons again.
 

Did your husband read your book?

He did! And he loved it. I printed off every chapter the moment I finished it and he read them right away. He was instrumental in helping me get inside Phillip's head.

 Book Recommendation

    I read the Advance Reader Copy of my friend Barb Britton's new release, Across the Lake.
    Inspired by a visit to Galilee, Barb Britton has written six vignettes from passages in the Book of Mark. Many are seen through the eyes of Peter, the fisherman/disciple. My favorite features the disciples being sent out by twos to evangelize. They are animated in a way not gleaned from the Bible. Thomas gestures wildly while relating his experiences. Peter’s muscles ache from rowing in a stormy sea. Judas annoys everyone with his sourpuss attitude.
    Jesus’ only words are those recorded in the Bible. Each story is followed by the author’s reflections and questions for personal study or group discussions. I would have liked more stories!

I asked Barb a few questions:

Why did you use only Jesus’ recorded words?
At the end of the book of Revelation, there is a warning about adding and subtracting from the Bible. I take that very seriously. I wouldn’t want to add words to Jesus’s mouth only to have readers think Jesus said those words. As we know, words have different meanings to different people. I had Jesus say only the red letters. My job was tougher as a writer, but I like the way the book turned out.

Why only Mark’s gospel?
When we were in Israel, our instructor taught from the Book of Mark. I enjoy Mark’s attention to detail and his to-the-point narrative. The four Gospels share some stories, but not others. I focused on healings that took place around the Sea of Galilee.

What’s next?
I’m working on a devotional about Bible heroes who have meltdowns.

Order it here. Across the Lake releases this Tuesday, January 6.