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...
Rereading The Wooden Sea by Jonathan Carroll
by MHill | Jun 1, 2025 | 2025 Book Reviews, Book Reviews, Jonathan Carroll, Magical Realism, Marion's Favorite Books, Marion's Favorites, Marion's Reading Life Blog, Wisdom From Kammbia Column
Jonathan Carroll is on the top tier of my favorite author's list. He occupies a space with Charles de Lint as the authors I have read the most throughout my adult reading life. I have reviewed seven Carroll novels since I started this blog in January 2011 and the...
Wisdom From Kammbia Book Review 165: Magical Realism by Maggie Ann Bowers
by MHill | May 21, 2025 | 2025 Book Reviews, Book Reviews, Magical Realism, Marion's Favorite Books, Marion's Favorites, Marion's Reading Life Blog, Nonfiction, Wisdom From Kammbia Column
Over the past couple of years, I have tried to find a home as reader (and a writer for that matter). While I've enjoyed reading across genres and have broadened my reading life in immeasurable ways. Still, I've always wanted a reading home that I connected with the...
Wisdom From Kammbia Book Review 164: Killing Commendatore by Haruki Murakami
by MHill | May 14, 2025 | 2025 Book Reviews, Book Reviews, Fiction about Artists, Haruki Murakami, Magical Realism, Marion's Reading Life Blog, Wisdom From Kammbia Column
My previous review was a reread of A Wild Sheep Chase by Haruki Murakami and admittedly I did not enjoy my reading experience the second time around for one of my favorite novelists and a book that introduced me to the Murakami fictional universe. However, I had been...
Rereading A Wild Sheep Chase by Haruki Murakami
by MHill | Apr 13, 2025 | 2025 Book Reviews, Book Reviews, Haruki Murakami, Rereading Series, Wisdom From Kammbia Column
Rereading has become a major part of my reading life. Giving a novel a second read allows me, as a reader, to see why I enjoyed a work of fiction from my initial reading. There are things about the story I didn’t notice before that I’m now seeing. I consider most of...