"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 50: Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler
by MHill | Jul 19, 2020 | 2020 Book Reviews, Black History Month, Marion's All-Time Favorite Novels, Marion's Favorite Books, Octavia Butler, Rereading Series, Wisdom From Kammbia Column
I want to update a review from 2012 for one of my all-time favorite novels, Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler. Parable of the Sower is the story of Lauren Olamina, a teenager growing up in a grim LA suburb where their gated community provided a semblance of 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...
Book Review 143: The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah
by MHill | Sep 27, 2018 | 2018 Book Reviews, Marion's All-Time Favorite Novels, Marion's Favorite Books
Wow! Sometimes as a reader you get to read a book that make you say the aforementioned expression after you close the book. The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah is such a novel for me. The story of two French sisters, Vianne and Isabelle Mauriac, and their harrowing...
Book Review 140: The Little Country by Charles de Lint
by MHill | Aug 26, 2018 | 2018 Book Reviews, Charles De Lint, Marion's All-Time Favorite Novels, Marion's Favorite Books, Rereading Series
Back in the early to mid-1990's, Charles de Lint was one of two novelists I read regularly. The other novelist was Dean Koontz. I had not been a big reader at that point in my life and I can attribute the love of reading in my adult life to both of these authors. ...
Book Review 129: Children of Earth and Sky by Guy Gavriel Kay
by MHill | Mar 18, 2018 | 2018 Book Reviews, Guy Gavriel Kay, Magical Realism, Marion's All-Time Favorite Novels, Marion's Favorite Books, Marion's Favorites, Marion's Reading Life Blog, Wisdom From Kammbia Column
Have you ever as a reader given a novel you did not finish another chance? Well, there is a first time for everything. I gave Children of Earth and Sky a second chance. I read it a couple years ago when it was first released. Kay writes beautifully, and the...
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 96: A Wild Sheep Chase by Haruki Murakami
by MHill | Oct 30, 2016 | 2016 Book Reviews, Haruki Murakami, Marion's All-Time Favorite Novels, Marion's Favorite Books, Marion's Favorites, Marion's Reading Life Blog, Wisdom From Kammbia Column
I read my first Murakami novel, Dance Dance Dance, earlier this year. I learned from that book why Murakami has become an international favorite for many literary fiction readers. I decided I wanted to read another Murakami novel before the year ended. I chose A...
Book Review 1: Winter’s Tale By Mark Helprin
by MHill | Jan 20, 2011 | 2011 Book Reviews, Book Reviews, Magical Realism, Marion's All-Time Favorite Novels, Marion's Favorite Books
I have added Winter's Tale by Mark Helprin to my favorite novels list along with David Copperfield by Charles Dickens, The Testament by John Grisham, and Home is the Sailor by Jorge Amado. As you can read after that paragraph, I will be writing a favorable review of...