As we come to end of 2019, there will be a lot of lists for the best reads of the year. Well, I have compiled my favorite reads of the year. Here are ten books across all genres and a non-fiction selection. I believe in reading widely and have the readers credo,...
Wisdom From Kammbia Book Review 33: Jay-Z (Made In America) by Michael Eric Dyson
by MHill | Dec 27, 2019 | 2019 Book Reviews, Marion's Favorite Books, Wisdom From Kammbia Column
I love getting books as Christmas gifts especially from my 10-year-old daughter. This year's Christmas gift is Jay-Z (Made In America) by Michael Eric Dyson. I will confess upfront that Jay-Z is not my favorite rapper and I have not listened to a lot of his music. My...
Wisdom From Kammbia Book Review 32: A Time To Dance by Padma Venkatraman
by MHill | Dec 25, 2019 | 2019 Book Reviews, Marion's Favorite Books, Wisdom From Kammbia Column
One of the joys of reading is discovering a book (or author) you would have never come across in your normal reading experience. I will confess upfront that I'm not that much of a fan of YA novels. Reading about teenagers (or young adults) and their problems or issues...
Wisdom From Kammbia Book Review 31: Ascending by Meg Pechenick
by MHill | Dec 1, 2019 | 2019 Book Reviews, Marion's Favorite Books, Marion's Favorite Duologies, Wisdom From Kammbia Column
What if you were the only person on a spaceship with an alien race? You were the person groomed to speak an alien language and take part in an intercultural exchange between planets? You would want to do it in the first place? If you did, how you feel about it?...
Wisdom From Kammbia Book Review 30: The Chef’s Secret by Crystal King
by MHill | Nov 13, 2019 | 2019 Book Reviews, Marion's Favorite Books, Wisdom From Kammbia Column
It is interesting how a certain sub-genre presents itself to you as a reader. I have not been a historical fiction reader throughout my reading life. However, I read several historical fiction novels over the past couple of years. Beginning with the novels of Guy...
Wisdom From Kammbia Book Review 29: The Gondola Maker by Laura Morelli
by MHill | Oct 27, 2019 | 2019 Book Reviews, Marion's Favorite Books, Wisdom From Kammbia Column
The Gondola Maker by Laura Morelli tells the story of Luca Vianello, heir to a gondola-making business. However, he is a participant to a tragedy that strikes the business and alters the course of his life. Luca begins to pick up the pieces of his life and becomes a...
Wisdom From Kammbia Book Review 28: The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon by Stephen King
by MHill | Oct 21, 2019 | 2019 Book Reviews, Wisdom From Kammbia Column, Wisdom of Kammbia Story Review
King writes an interesting, psychological story about a nine year old girl that gets separated from her family and lost in the woods. King probes the internal psyche of a young girl in such a situation and uses the power of imagination in the form of her favorite...
Wisdom From Kammbia Book Review 27: Map of Shadows by J.F. Penn
by MHill | Oct 21, 2019 | 2019 Book Reviews, Wisdom From Kammbia Column
J.F. Penn wrote a fast-paced, dark fantasy thriller about a young woman named Sienna that belongs to a family of mapmakers and their connection to another world called the Borderlands. Map of Shadows is the first book of the trilogy and does a solid job of setting...
Wisdom From Kammbia Book Review 26: The Pearl by John Steinbeck
by MHill | Oct 6, 2019 | 2019 Book Reviews, Marion's Favorite Books, Marion's Favorites, Marion's Reading Life Blog, Rereading Series, Wisdom From Kammbia Column
One of the most often quoted verses of biblical scripture is from the New Testament book of 1 Timothy 6:10: "The love of money is a root of all kinds of evil." Even if you are a non-religious person, I'm pretty sure you have heard that verse of scripture in a secular...
Wisdom From Kammbia Book Review 25: Chronicle Of A Death Foretold
by MHill | Sep 22, 2019 | 2019 Book Reviews, Wisdom From Kammbia Column
For the world-renowned novelist Gabriel Garcia Marquez, most readers have read or attempted to read One Hundred Years of Solitude or the more accessible Love In The Time of Cholera. Some (like me) have read both novels. However, Garcia Marquez has a body of work that...