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 142: The Girl on Paper by Guillaume Musso
by MHill | Sep 12, 2018 | 2018 Book Reviews, Marion's Favorite Books
I will admit that I'm a reader for story more than anything else. Beautiful wordplay and language is nice and interesting. I can appreciate technical craftsmanship. It doesn't mean I won't read challenging or difficult novels. But it must have a story at its core...
Book Review 141: The 6:41 to Paris by Jean-Phillippe Blondel
by MHill | Aug 31, 2018 | 2018 Book Reviews, Marion's Favorite Books
One of my reading goals for 2018 and beyond is to read more translated fiction. Reading is one of those activities that can take you to another place, another culture, or another perspective with little risk to the reader. The only risk is a few dollars (if you buy it...
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 139: The Artist’s Journey by Steven Pressfield
by MHill | Aug 23, 2018 | 2018 Book Reviews, Marion's Favorite Books
"Your artist's journey is unique to you. You alone are on your path. Your job is only to follow it and be true to it. Who knows what heights it may eventually bear you to? You are an artist. Your journey--however humble, however fraught, however beset with thorns and...
Book Review 136: The White Raven by Carrie D. Miller
by MHill | Jun 22, 2018 | 2018 Book Reviews, Marion's Favorite Books
I never thought I would like reading a book about witches. Well, that's the power of reading. You can end up liking something unexpected. The White Raven by Carrie D. Miller is the story of Aven Dovenelle....
Book Review 135: The Man in The Maze by Robert Silverberg
by MHill | Jun 14, 2018 | 2018 Book Reviews, Marion's Favorite Books, Robert Silverberg 1967-1976
"Science Fiction, more than any other form of literature, is a progress, and it comes with a sell-by date. Some old SF can become unreadable. Some reputations erode with time. What we respond to, once the sell-by date is past, is art and, perhaps, is also truth."...
Book Review 133: Permission Marketing by Seth Godin
by MHill | May 27, 2018 | 2018 Book Reviews, Marion's Favorite Books, Nonfiction
"The marketer is not in control, the consumer is. And the consumer is selfish. Consumers care very little about you, your company, your products, your career, or your family. They're not likely to spend time trying to discover how you can help them solve their...
Book Review 129: Children of Earth and Sky by Guy Gavriel Kay
by MHill | Mar 18, 2018 | 2018 Book Reviews, Guy Gavriel Kay, 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...