"And so, by circuitous and unpredictable routes, we converge toward midcontinent and meet in Madison, and are at once drawn together, braided and plaited into a friendship. It is a relationship that has no formal shape, there are no rules or obligations or bonds as in...
Wisdom From Kammbia Book Review 84: The Autobiography of Malcolm X by Alex Haley
by MHill | Aug 11, 2021 | 2021 Book Reviews, Black History Month, Book Reviews, Marion's Favorite Books, Marion's Favorites, Wisdom From Kammbia Column
"Grace meets you exactly where you are and it doesn't leave you." I heard the author Anne Lamott say this quote on the Tim Ferriss podcast a couple of days ago and knew this would be the opening sentence to my latest book review. Grace would be the proper view about...
Wisdom From Kammbia Book Review 79: Respect-The Life of Aretha Franklin by David Ritz
by MHill | May 2, 2021 | 2021 Book Reviews, Book Reviews, Marion's Favorite Books, Marion's Favorites, Wisdom From Kammbia Column
Sometimes after reading one book will make you want another book with a similar topic. My previous review was a fictional music documentary in a novel titled The Final Revival of Opal & Nev by Dawnie Walton. Opal Jewel was one half of a groundbreaking punk rock...
Wisdom From Kammbia Book Review 78: The Final Revival of Opal & Nev by Dawnie Walton
by MHill | Apr 24, 2021 | 2021 Book Reviews, Book Reviews, Marion's All-Time Favorite Novels, Marion's Favorite Books, Marion's Favorites, Wisdom From Kammbia Column
"The easiest thing in the world is to be yourself. The hardest thing in the world is to be yourself." Those two sentences were appropriate for one of the two major characters, Opal Jewel, in Dawnie Walton's excellent debut novel, The Final Revival of Opal & Nev....
Wisdom From Kammbia Book Review 76: Mama Day by Gloria Naylor
by MHill | Mar 16, 2021 | 2021 Book Reviews, Book Reviews, Wisdom From Kammbia Column
I have always been more of a backlist reader than a new release reader. There are so many books published, and it is impossible to keep up as a reader. However, on social media and throughout the publishing world, the new release books especially in fiction are...
Wisdom From Kammbia Book Review 72: An American Marriage by Tayari Jones
by MHill | Feb 6, 2021 | 2021 Book Reviews, Black History Month, Book Reviews, Marion's Favorite Books, Marion's Favorites, Wisdom From Kammbia Column
If your spouse was wrongly accused of rape and went to prison for five years but gets released, would you remain married? That was the question An American Marriage by Tayari Jones attempted to answer in her popular novel. An American Marriage was selected for...
Wisdom From Kammbia Book Review 57: Signs Preceding the End of the World by Yuri Herrera
by MHill | Sep 15, 2020 | 2020 Book Reviews, Book Reviews, Hispanic Heritage Month, Wisdom From Kammbia Column
Signs Preceding The End of The World by Yuri Herrera is the first novel about the US-Mexico Border I can remember reading. I read Cormac McCarthy's Border Trilogy years ago but it did not deal directly with the current issues about the border. This book came to my...
Wisdom From Kammbia Book Review 42: Face of an Angel by Denise Chavez
by MHill | Apr 18, 2020 | 2020 Book Reviews, Book Reviews, Marion's All-Time Favorite Novels, Marion's Favorite Books, Marion's Favorites, Marion's Reading Life Blog, Rereading Series, Wisdom From Kammbia Column
Rereading a novel can bring different expectations from when you first read it over twenty-five years ago. This is the case with Face of An Angel by Denise Chavez. Face of an Angel tells the story of Soveida Dosamantes, a waitress at El Farol Restaurant in the...
Wisdom From Kammbia Book Review 36: Binti Home by Nnedi Okorafor
by MHill | Jan 22, 2020 | 2020 Book Reviews, Binti Series, Book Reviews, Wisdom From Kammbia Column
Can you ever go home again? Binti Home by Nnedi Okorafor attempts to answer that question. Binti returns home after a year away on a spaceship at Oozma University. She brings her friend, Okwu, for support. However, the homecoming does not go as expected and the family...
Wisdom From Kammbia Book Review 23: Go, Went, Gone by Jenny Erpenbeck
by MHill | Aug 24, 2019 | 2019 Book Reviews, Book Reviews, Marion's Favorite Books, Wisdom From Kammbia Column
"Sometimes a journey can take you far away from home. It can take you far away from what you believe. From the only world you have ever known. And make you realize how much we are connected to each other. Also,...