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 53: The Housekeeper and The Professor by Yoko Ogawa
by MHill | Aug 9, 2020 | 2020 Book Reviews, Book Reviews, Marion's Favorite Books, Marion's Favorites, Marion's Reading Life Blog, Wisdom From Kammbia Column, Wisdom From Kammbia Novella Review
The Housekeeper and The Professor by Yoko Ogawa is my first read for Women in Translation Month 2020. It is the story of a single parent housekeeper and her relationship with a former mathematics professor that can not take care of himself after a serious accident a...
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, Book Reviews, Marion's Reading Life Blog, Wisdom From Kammbia Column, Wisdom From Kammbia Novella Review
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,...
Book Review 128: Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
by MHill | Feb 28, 2018 | 2018 Book Reviews, Black History Month, Book Reviews, Marion's All-Time Favorite Novels, Marion's Favorite Books, Marion's Favorites, Rereading Series, Wisdom From Kammbia Column
Can a novel you read in your early 20s effect you in the same manner when you re-read it in your mid-40s? Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison gives this reviewer a split verdict to the aforementioned question. It is the story of an unnamed protagonist who leaves the...
Book Review 88: Independence Day by Richard Ford
by MHill | Jul 23, 2016 | 2016 Book Reviews, Book Reviews, Marion's Favorite Books, Marion's Favorites, Marion's Reading Life Blog, Wisdom From Kammbia Column
Does living through your "existence period" mean you are truly an independent human being? Richard Ford attempted to answer that question in Independence Day, the second novel in the critically acclaimed Frank Bascombe series. Last year, I reviewed The Sportswriter,...
Book Review 65: The Sportswriter by Richard Ford
by MHill | Jun 4, 2015 | 2015 Book Reviews, Book Reviews, Marion's Favorite Books, Marion's Favorites, Marion's Reading Life Blog, Wisdom From Kammbia Column
The Sportswriter by Richard Ford chronicles an Easter Weekend in the life of Frank Bascombe, a failed novelist turned sportswriter. Ford's breakout third novel grapples with the themes of grief, a failed career, and unhealthy relationships. Bascombe's story is told...