The Last House in Lambton, by Grace Gibson, is a variation on Pride and Prejudice. When Elizabeth volunteers to help out her great aunt by marriage, who is in need of companionship, in Lambton, Derbyshire, she has no idea that Pemberley is only five miles away.
Author: Barbara W. Klaser
I'm a blogger, novelist, editor, lifelong journal keeper, and a knitter. I'm the owner of Mystery of a Shrinking Violet as well as a few other blogs. For more about me, see the About page.
The Flame Ignites
I just finished reading The Flame Ignites, by Donna Fletcher Crow. I enjoyed this novel a lot, and it’s a departure from the typical novel, in that it combines some fact with fiction in an unusual way.
The Classic Tradition of Haiku
The Classic Tradition of Haiku: An Anthology, by Faubion Bower. The collection in this anthology of classic haiku is gathered from the works of traditionally recognized haiku masters from Japanese history.
Grammar for a Full Life
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 a poignant one for me, because of something my sister and I did when our mother was in hospice care in 2002. We…
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 determined not to fall in love with Elizabeth Bennet, who in the one dance they shared seemed to deliberately misunderstand everything he said….
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.