It's that time of the year. 2022 is on the way out and 2023 is coming in a few days. The Best Of and Favorite Lists will be posted online at this time. I want to share my favorite reads of 2022. I have 5 novels and 1 non-fiction book as my favorite reads of the...
Wisdom From Kammbia Book Review 119: Serafina’s Stories by Rudolfo Anaya
by MHill | Dec 8, 2022 | 2022 Book Reviews, Book Reviews, Marion's Favorite Books, Marion's Favorites, Marion's Reading Life Blog, Short Story Review, Wisdom From Kammbia Column, Wisdom of Kammbia Story Review
"The spirit of story and the spirit of peace are naturally bound together. Storytellers are one of the standard bearers for the creation of peace. I am convinced that story, as an expression of life, constitutes one of the highest forms of value creation." I took...
Wisdom From Kammbia Book Review 118: Writing Into The Dark by Dean Wesley Smith
by MHill | Nov 30, 2022 | 2022 Book Reviews, Book Reviews, Marion's Favorite Books, Marion's Favorites, Marion's Reading Life Blog, Wisdom From Kammbia Column, Writing, Writing and Publishing Resources
There are very few articles and books on on how to just type in the first word and head off into the dark writing a novel with no plan, no character sketch, nothing but pure exploration. Smith provides an excellent argument for writing into the dark for fiction...
Wisdom From Kammbia Book Review 117: The Write Attitude by Kristine Kathryn Rusch
by MHill | Nov 21, 2022 | 2022 Book Reviews, Marion's Favorite Books, Marion's Favorites, Marion's Reading Life Blog, Nonfiction, Wisdom From Kammbia Column, Writing, Writing and Publishing Resources
“If you as a writer are not willing to take risks, if you’re not willing to fly in the face of conventional wisdom, if you’re not willing to write what you want—screamers be damned—then why are you writing? To please others? There are better ways to do that. Yes,...
Wisdom From Kammbia Book Review 116: Someplace To Be Flying by Charles De Lint
by MHill | Nov 11, 2022 | 2022 Book Reviews, Book Reviews, Charles De Lint, Wisdom of Kammbia Story Review
That's an interesting cover. What is this book about? I have gotten that comment several times while reading Charles de Lint's Someplace to Be Flying recently. It is a reminder of the importance of book covers. The artist, John Jude Palencar, has produced some of...
Wisdom From Kammbia Book Review 115: Sula by Toni Morrison
by MHill | Nov 1, 2022 | 2022 Book Reviews, Marion's Favorite Books, Marion's Favorites, Marion's Reading Life Blog, Toni Morrison, Wisdom From Kammbia Column
“Outlaw women are fascinating---not always for their behavior, but because historically woman are seen as naturally disruptive and their status is an illegal one from birth if it is not under the rule of men. In much literature a woman’s escape from male rule led to...
Wisdom From Kammbia Book Review 114: Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
by MHill | Oct 24, 2022 | 2022 Book Reviews, Marion's Favorite Books, Marion's Favorites, Wisdom From Kammbia Column
"Let 'em consolate theyselves wid talk. 'Course, talkin' don't amount tuh uh hill uh beans when yuh can't do nothin' else. And listenin' tuh dat kind uh talk is jus' lak openin' yo' mouth and lettin' de moon shine down yo' throat. It's uh known fact, Phoeby, you got...
Wisdom From Kammbia Book Review 113: Erasure by Percival Everett
by MHill | Aug 19, 2022 | 2022 Book Reviews, Book Reviews, Marion's Favorite Books, Marion's Favorites, Marion's Reading Life Blog, Percival Everett, Wisdom From Kammbia Column
Percival Everett is a writer I have wanted to read for some time. I have come across online articles and social media posts over the past year about his work. Well, I finally did a Goodreads search on his books and chose Erasure for my first Percival Everett...
Wisdom From Kammbia Book Review 112: Shine Bright by Danyel Smith
by MHill | Aug 15, 2022 | 2022 Book Reviews, Marion's Favorite Books, Marion's Favorites, Wisdom From Kammbia Column
Whitney, Janet, Mariah, Gladys, Aretha, and Diana. These are the biggest names in American popular music since the 1960s. These singers have been covered in books from an individual perspective, but veteran music journalist and former editor of Billboard & Vibe...
Wisdom From Kammbia Book Review 111: Woman of Light by Kali Fajardo-Anstine
by MHill | Aug 5, 2022 | 2022 Book Reviews, Book Reviews, Wisdom From Kammbia Column
Last year, I read an outstanding short story collection titled Sabrina & Corina by Kali Fajardo-Anstine. I had never heard of the author before, but I was looking for some short stories to read and her collection kept coming up. I took a chance, and it was the...