If you love the English language, if you do a lot of writing, or if you want to communicate on a deeper level in everything you write, then this book might interest you. Even if you don’t write that much yourself, but enjoy reading thoughtful writing in the form of essays, I recommend this.
Three Simple Lines — a book about haiku and much more
Three Simple Lines: A Writer’s Pilgrimage into the Heart and Homeland of Haiku, by Natalie Goldberg, is a fascinating book for me, for a few different reasons. The subject of haiku is…
Darcy By Any Other Name
How would you explain this if it happened to you? Darcy By Any Other Name, a Pride and Prejudice variation by Laura Hile, begins at the Netherfield ball. Proud Mr. Darcy is…
The Author Blog: Easy Blogging for Busy Authors
This book is intended for writers who want to start author blogs. There’s a lot of good advice here, and some of it is good for general blogging, much more of it specific to author blogs.
Remembering Angela Lansbury 1925-2022
In 2010 The New York Times did a video interview with Angela Lansbury that provides a lot of insight into the actress who recently passed away. She talks about being a character actress.
Agatha Christie An Elusive Woman
I’m more intrigued than ever by Agatha Christie. This is a biography that has been thoroughly researched and is even-handed as far as sensitivity, respect for the subject, and for truth-telling. It doesn’t turn a blind eye to Agatha Christie’s failings, but presents her as a whole human being, a brilliant creative person as well as a product of her time and social class. It maintains a balance that feels solid and well thought out, sympathetic and at the same time objective, scholarly and fair. It’s also a delightful read.
Persuasion — how The Birds helped me get over it
How reading Daphne du Maurier’s “The Birds” helped me make peace with Netflix’s 2022 version of Jane Austen’s Persuasion. Exploring the dichotomy between written stories and the movies made from them.
Solaris by Stanislaw Lem
Review of Solaris, a science fiction novel by Stanislaw Lem, first published in 1961, now available (since 2014) in a direct-to-English translation by Bill Johnston.
Comic-Con San Diego 2022
I confess I’ve never been to a Comic-Con, even though they take place in my home town, but I am a Star Trek fan from childhood, when the original series first aired (yes, I’m that old), and perhaps some of my readers are fans as well. So here are some tidbits about this year’s event.
Shadows Fall
An invitation to read the blogger’s own book, Shadows Fall by Barbara W. Klaser, available as an Amazon Kindle ebook.