I have never read H.P. Lovecraft before, and it seems his stories reinterpreted by modern authors has come onto my reading radar. I read The Ballad of Black Tom by Victor LaValle earlier this year and that novella was a reinterpretation of Lovecraft's story, The...
Wisdom From Kammbia Book Review 173: Ormeshadow by Priya Sharma
by MHill | Oct 1, 2025 | 2025 Book Reviews, Marion's Favorite Books, Marion's Favorites, Wisdom From Kammbia Column, Wisdom From Kammbia Novella Review
Having had this blog and reviewed almost 500 books for close to fifteen years, I’ve realized my favorite stories are coming-of-age stories. I cannot pinpoint exactly why coming of age stories pique my interest the most as a reader. But they do. Ormeshadow by Priya...
Wisdom From Kammbia Book Review 172: Aleph by Paulo Coelho
by MHill | Sep 26, 2025 | 2025 Book Reviews, Marion's Reading Life Blog, Wisdom From Kammbia Column
A few years I finally read The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. Coelho’s most well-known inspirational novel has captivated and enchanted readers around the world. I will admit that I did not get the same feeling as many readers have from it. However, it intrigued me, and I...
Wisdom From Kammbia Book Review 171: Seven Frequencies of Communication by Erwin Raphael Mcmanus
by MHill | Sep 13, 2025 | 2025 Book Reviews, Marion's Favorite Books, Marion's Favorites, Marion's Reading Life Blog, Nonfiction, Wisdom From Kammbia Column
I have written before in previous reviews that a book will come to you in unexpected ways and demand to be read on the spot. It has not happened often in my reading life, but it is always memorable when it does. This is the case for Seven Frequencies of Communication...
Wisdom From Kammbia Book Review 170: The Memory of the Ogisi by Moses Ose Utomi
by MHill | Aug 12, 2025 | 2023 Book Reviews, 2025 Book Reviews, Book Reviews, Marion's Favorite Books, Marion's Favorites, Marion's Reading Life Blog, Moses Ose Utomi, Wisdom From Kammbia Column, Wisdom From Kammbia Novella Review
When the stories one is told conflict with the world one knows, what other choice is there but to seek out other stories? Stories that could make sense of a senseless world. These two sentences came midway in Moses Ose Utomi’s last installment of his novella trilogy,...
Wisdom From Kammbia Book Review 169: Mbaqanga Nights by Leonora Meriel
by MHill | Aug 8, 2025 | 2025 Book Reviews, Book Reviews, Fiction about Artists, Wisdom From Kammbia Column, Wisdom From Kammbia Novella Review
Two Jewish brothers emigrated from Ukraine to South Africa in the 1800s to find a better life. The grandson of one brother opened a mixed-race jazz club in South Africa during apartheid. Mbaqanga Nights told the story of how the grandson managed South African politics...
Wisdom From Kammbia Book Review 168: Eat Fast Feast by Jay W. Richards
by MHill | Aug 3, 2025 | 2025 Book Reviews, Book Reviews, Christianity, Marion's Favorite Books, Marion's Reading Life Blog, Nonfiction, Wisdom From Kammbia Column
Fasting is a practice I have become interested in recently. I have done several stints of intermittent fasting over the past couple of years and can see the benefits of giving my body a break from the diet I have eaten for most of my life. Also, my local church in San...
Wisdom From Kammbia Book Review 167: The Ballad of Black Tom by Victor LaValle
by MHill | Jul 26, 2025 | 2025 Book Reviews, Book Reviews, Magical Realism, Wisdom From Kammbia Column, Wisdom From Kammbia Novella Review
One thing I have learned in the last few years of reading, that first impressions of a novel are not always accurate. Sometimes a second impression can give a novel a better chance of being read than the initial impression. This is the case for The Ballad of Black Tom...
Wisdom From Kammbia Book Review 166: The Famished Road by Ben Okri
by MHill | Jul 17, 2025 | 2025 Book Reviews, Book Reviews, Magical Realism, Wisdom From Kammbia Column
"People who use only their eyes do not SEE. People who use only their ears do not HEAR. It is more difficult to love than to die. It is not death that human beings are most afraid of, it is love." These words come from the father of the protagonist, Azaro, in Ben...
Rereading Mr. Breakfast by Jonathan Carroll
by MHill | Jun 15, 2025 | 2025 Book Reviews, Fiction about Artists, Jonathan Carroll, Magical Realism, Marion's All-Time Favorite Novels, Marion's Favorite Books, Marion's Favorites, Marion's Reading Life Blog, Rereading Series, Wisdom From Kammbia Column
In this rereading series, spanning several years, I’ve revisited books I initially read nearly a decade ago, sharing my thoughts on these second readings. My last rereading post was on the novel, A Wooden Sea by Jonathan Carroll, and my feelings upon that reread were...