Jan Notzon's Blog, page 2
November 21, 2025
And Ye Shall Be As Gods
Paul Linda: I’ve held the hands of the dying and watched guilt eat people alive more than disease ever could. That’s what this book reminded me of how pain doesn’t vanish just because time marches on.
Jake’s story broke me open. The scene where he kills the sparrow as a child I had to close the book. It’s the smallest sin that sometimes stains the deepest. Watching him carry that weight, especially as he tried to protect his sister Grace, I saw every patient I couldn’t save.
Grace’s pain that kind of trauma doesn’t just scar the body, it scars the soul. Jan Notzon wrote her like someone who understands mental illness, not as a plot device but as a haunting.
This isn’t a “feel-good” story. It’s a spiritual autopsy. And maybe that’s why I loved it. Because life doesn’t heal neatly, and neither does this book. But it tells the truth that redemption is possible, even if it limps.
Jake’s story broke me open. The scene where he kills the sparrow as a child I had to close the book. It’s the smallest sin that sometimes stains the deepest. Watching him carry that weight, especially as he tried to protect his sister Grace, I saw every patient I couldn’t save.
Grace’s pain that kind of trauma doesn’t just scar the body, it scars the soul. Jan Notzon wrote her like someone who understands mental illness, not as a plot device but as a haunting.
This isn’t a “feel-good” story. It’s a spiritual autopsy. And maybe that’s why I loved it. Because life doesn’t heal neatly, and neither does this book. But it tells the truth that redemption is possible, even if it limps.
November 18, 2025
To Sing Like a Mockingbird
Greer Bellamys: To Sing Like a Mockingbird is one of those books that sneaks up on you. At first glance, it’s a story about juvenile reform and small town politics, but by the end, it becomes a meditation on integrity and the price of sticking to your beliefs. Justin Kopechne is written with refreshing honesty. He’s not a saint his rigidity often makes him difficult to support, but that’s exactly what makes him compelling. I admired his persistence with the boys at the reformatory, even as I cringed at the way his stubbornness pushed his wife away. The sheriff’s arc was equally strong, showing how ambition and compromise chip away at good intentions until there’s nothing left but survival. The writing itself is spare and direct, which worked beautifully with the subject matter. This isn’t a book that hands you hope on a silver platter, but it leaves you with respect for the messy fight between conviction and reality.
And Ye Shall Be as Gods
Arthur Baldwins: Chapter 18 destroyed me in the most healing way possible. Grace standing at the threshold with her violin, unable to play that silence was deafening. It wasn’t absence; it was the sound of a heart waiting to forgive itself.
Jan Notzon writes the unsaid better than anyone I’ve ever read. You can feel every ounce of her fear, every tremor of courage trying to be born.
There’s a line that I can’t stop thinking about: “Her silence was not defeat. It was the breath before resurrection.” I don’t even know how to describe what that did to me. I just sat there, tears streaming, whispering, “Yes.”
Jan, you have written the space between breaking and healing and it’s holy ground. Our entire club agreed that this chapter felt like standing in the middle of grace itself. You are a writer of quiet miracles.
Jan Notzon writes the unsaid better than anyone I’ve ever read. You can feel every ounce of her fear, every tremor of courage trying to be born.
There’s a line that I can’t stop thinking about: “Her silence was not defeat. It was the breath before resurrection.” I don’t even know how to describe what that did to me. I just sat there, tears streaming, whispering, “Yes.”
Jan, you have written the space between breaking and healing and it’s holy ground. Our entire club agreed that this chapter felt like standing in the middle of grace itself. You are a writer of quiet miracles.
November 17, 2025
To Sing Like a Mockingbird
Judson Tolliver: What impressed me most about To Sing Like a Mockingbird is its depth of character. Justin is someone you root for even when he frustrates you, and that complexity kept me hooked. I thought the scenes at the reformatory were some of the most powerful, giving a glimpse of hope in the lives of kids society has already written off. At the same time, the sheriff’s arc shows the other side of the coin, how ambition can hollow out even those who once meant well.
The cartel influence looms in the background, but what really stuck with me were the personal conflicts. Justin’s strained marriage and clashes with his brother added layers of authenticity. These weren’t side plots; they felt essential to understanding the cost of his choices. The setting amplified everything the sense of isolation, the pressure of small-town politics, the weight of expectations. This isn’t a book for readers looking for easy resolutions, but for those who want to wrestle with moral gray areas, it’s a powerful read.
The cartel influence looms in the background, but what really stuck with me were the personal conflicts. Justin’s strained marriage and clashes with his brother added layers of authenticity. These weren’t side plots; they felt essential to understanding the cost of his choices. The setting amplified everything the sense of isolation, the pressure of small-town politics, the weight of expectations. This isn’t a book for readers looking for easy resolutions, but for those who want to wrestle with moral gray areas, it’s a powerful read.
November 16, 2025
And Ye Shall Be as Gods
Reginald Morton: Chapter 7 took me by surprise. It’s one of the quieter chapters, the one where Jacob’s humor begins to surface again. After so much intensity, that moment of levity his awkward joke, his hesitant smile felt like sunlight breaking through clouds.
Jan Notzon knows something about healing that most writers miss: it’s not constant triumph. Sometimes it’s laughter sneaking back into the room.
I found myself laughing through tears, which is exactly what life feels like when grief begins to loosen its hold. The line “Even mercy can be clumsy” made me close the book for a moment. That’s truth awkward, beautiful, human.
Jan, you gave us space to breathe between the pain, and that made the pain matter even more. Thank you for writing life the way it actually unfolds imperfectly, but with grace.
Jan Notzon knows something about healing that most writers miss: it’s not constant triumph. Sometimes it’s laughter sneaking back into the room.
I found myself laughing through tears, which is exactly what life feels like when grief begins to loosen its hold. The line “Even mercy can be clumsy” made me close the book for a moment. That’s truth awkward, beautiful, human.
Jan, you gave us space to breathe between the pain, and that made the pain matter even more. Thank you for writing life the way it actually unfolds imperfectly, but with grace.
To Sing Like a Mockingbird
Mireille Ravencroft: I think what sets To Sing Like a Mockingbird apart is the way it balances big themes with intimate storytelling. Yes, there’s crime, politics, and cartel influence, but at the heart of it is a man trying to stay true to himself in a world that keeps asking him to compromise. Justin Kopechne isn’t always likable, but he is believable. His passion for rehabilitating young offenders is admirable, but the way it blinds him to his family’s needs made me feel both empathy and frustration.
The sheriff’s descent into corruption worked well as a foil, showing what happens when someone makes the opposite choice. I loved how the Texas setting mirrored the themes barren, isolated, unforgiving. It gave the book a heavy, almost oppressive mood, which heightened the tension. This isn’t a quick read or an escapist one, but it’s an important one if you like stories that challenge your thinking about justice, loyalty, and personal cost.
The sheriff’s descent into corruption worked well as a foil, showing what happens when someone makes the opposite choice. I loved how the Texas setting mirrored the themes barren, isolated, unforgiving. It gave the book a heavy, almost oppressive mood, which heightened the tension. This isn’t a quick read or an escapist one, but it’s an important one if you like stories that challenge your thinking about justice, loyalty, and personal cost.
November 15, 2025
And Ye Shall Be as Gods
Philip Cross: Chapter 18 left me trembling. Grace standing at the doorway, her violin in hand, not yet ready to play that image has haunted me for days. Jan Notzon writes silence better than most writers write sound. Every moment in that chapter pulses with held breath.
When he writes, “The bow trembled like a hand on the edge of prayer,” I had to stop and reread it. That’s not just beautiful prose it’s empathy turned into music.
As someone who’s lived through grief, I understood what it means to hold beauty and pain in the same breath. Grace’s hesitation to play again felt like my own hesitation to trust life again after loss.
Jan, this chapter alone made me a lifelong reader of your work. You reminded me that healing doesn’t come with noise it comes quietly, like a string trembling back to life
When he writes, “The bow trembled like a hand on the edge of prayer,” I had to stop and reread it. That’s not just beautiful prose it’s empathy turned into music.
As someone who’s lived through grief, I understood what it means to hold beauty and pain in the same breath. Grace’s hesitation to play again felt like my own hesitation to trust life again after loss.
Jan, this chapter alone made me a lifelong reader of your work. You reminded me that healing doesn’t come with noise it comes quietly, like a string trembling back to life
To Sing Like a Mockingbird
Orin Winslow: Reading To Sing Like a Mockingbird felt like stepping into a moral crucible where every choice had weight. Justin Kopechne’s fight to reform young offenders struck me as noble but exhausting, and the author captures that grind in a way that felt heartbreakingly real. I admired Justin’s determination, but at the same time, I couldn’t ignore how much his stubbornness cost him.
His strained relationship with his wife and brother was some of the most powerful writing in the book, those family arguments carried as much intensity as any clash with the cartel.
The sheriff’s slow compromise added a chilling counterpoint. What made that plot line hit hard is that it wasn’t sensationalized; it showed how ambition and fear slowly pull someone into darker territory.
The Texas setting gave the whole novel a dusty, heavy atmosphere that suited the themes of corruption and resilience. By the end, I felt both worn down and inspired, which I think was exactly the author’s goal.
His strained relationship with his wife and brother was some of the most powerful writing in the book, those family arguments carried as much intensity as any clash with the cartel.
The sheriff’s slow compromise added a chilling counterpoint. What made that plot line hit hard is that it wasn’t sensationalized; it showed how ambition and fear slowly pull someone into darker territory.
The Texas setting gave the whole novel a dusty, heavy atmosphere that suited the themes of corruption and resilience. By the end, I felt both worn down and inspired, which I think was exactly the author’s goal.
November 13, 2025
To Sing Like a Mockingbird
Theron Ravencroft: What makes To Sing Like a Mockingbird compelling is its exploration of flawed humanity. Justin’s fight for juvenile reform feels noble, but the book doesn’t romanticize it. The reformatory work is depicted with grit and frustration, and Justin’s stubbornness sometimes makes him his own worst enemy. At home, his alienation of his wife and constant arguments with his brother added another layer of conflict, and I actually found those domestic scenes some of the strongest. They gave the novel its emotional core. The sheriff’s compromises with the cartel were unsettling, not because they were shocking, but because they felt so believable. The slow unraveling of values for the sake of ambition was more frightening than any gunfight could have been. The Texas landscape is described in a way that mirrors the story harsh, isolating, unforgiving. This book doesn’t give easy answers, but it forces you to wrestle with hard questions about conviction, compromise, and what it costs to hold onto your principles.
And Ye Shall Be as Gods
Daisy Wallace: I didn’t expect to be undone by Chapter 14, but I was. The image of the sparrow so small, so brutal, so symbolic has not left me since. It’s the first time I’ve ever read childhood guilt written as revelation.
Jan Notzon uses this single moment, this single cruel act, to illuminate the entire moral backbone of his novel. That’s genius storytelling building eternity from a single heartbeat. When Jacob realizes he’s capable of harm, we see the beginning of his lifelong search for grace. It’s chilling, painful, necessary.
In our discussion, we all agreed that Jan doesn’t moralize; he humanizes. He trusts readers enough to feel the discomfort of guilt, and then he offers them a mirror instead of a sermon. That’s the mark of a writer with spiritual courage. Mr. Notzon, you’ve written something I’ll never forget a lesson about mercy disguised as a story about a bird.
Jan Notzon uses this single moment, this single cruel act, to illuminate the entire moral backbone of his novel. That’s genius storytelling building eternity from a single heartbeat. When Jacob realizes he’s capable of harm, we see the beginning of his lifelong search for grace. It’s chilling, painful, necessary.
In our discussion, we all agreed that Jan doesn’t moralize; he humanizes. He trusts readers enough to feel the discomfort of guilt, and then he offers them a mirror instead of a sermon. That’s the mark of a writer with spiritual courage. Mr. Notzon, you’ve written something I’ll never forget a lesson about mercy disguised as a story about a bird.
