My goal is to re-read and review the entire forty-two issue run of Icon that was published by Milestone Media in conjunction with DC Comics from 1993-1997. I have read the first story arc of eight issues that set-up the origin of Icon and his teenage sidekick,...
Marion’s Favorites: Mary J. Blige’s My Life Documentary
by MHill | Jul 27, 2021 | Marion's Favorites, Movie Reviews, Music Reviews, Wisdom From Kammbia Column
Mary J. Blige's My Life is one of my top ten favorite albums and one of the most important R&B albums to be recorded in the last thirty years. Blige's pain and vulnerability soars throughout the entire album and how sings over strong hip-hop beats makes it a...
Marion’s Favorites: Stardust by Willie Nelson
by MHill | Jul 25, 2021 | Marion's Favorites, Music Reviews, Wisdom From Kammbia Column
As a music nerd and lover, I will admit that I never thought I would have a Willie Nelson CD in my collection. Nothing personal against the legendary musician, but country music is not my favorite musical genre. However, I have learned as a reader (and writer) that...
Marion’s Favorites: Off The Wall Documentary
by MHill | Jul 22, 2021 | Marion's Favorites, Movie Reviews, Music Reviews, Wisdom From Kammbia Column
Questlove Supreme is one of my favorite podcasts and I have been listening to his backlist episodes over the past few weeks. I recently heard the podcast with Spike Lee and they were discussing his career. Spike mentions the Off The Wall Documentary as one of his...
Marion’s Favorites: Summer of Soul
by MHill | Jul 6, 2021 | Marion's Favorites, Movie Reviews
What has been, it is what will be, And what has been done, it is what will be done. So there is nothing new under the sun. (Ecclesiastes 1:9 NASB Bible) This scripture verse from my favorite book in the Bible is appropriate for my latest blog post. The book of...
Marion’s Favorites: High on the Hog: How African American Cuisine Transformed America
by MHill | May 30, 2021 | Marion's Favorites, Movie Reviews, Wisdom From Kammbia Column
Food is foundational to culture. Every human culture on the planet has food as an essential part of their culture. African Americans did not differ from anyone else along the human spectrum in that regard. High On The Hog is a four-part miniseries on Netflix that...
Wisdom From Kammbia Story Review 3: Speech Sounds by Octavia E. Butler
by MHill | May 23, 2021 | Marion's All-Time Favorite Short Stories, Marion's Favorites, Marion's Reading Life Blog, Octavia Butler, Short Story Review, Wisdom From Kammbia Column, Wisdom of Kammbia Story Review
What if you lived in a society where speaking is a threat to the social order? Octavia Butler speculated on the aforementioned question in her Hugo Award-winning short story, Speech Sounds. I came across this story when it was discussed on the Novel Pairing Podcast....
Wisdom From Kammbia Book Review 80: Planting Stories (The Life of Librarian & Storyteller Pura Belpre) by Anika Aldamuy Denise & Paola Escobar
by MHill | May 23, 2021 | 2021 Book Reviews, Marion's Favorite Books, Marion's Favorites, Wisdom From Kammbia Column
The joy I get in reading with my daughter Norah is you learn about someone that you have never heard of before. This is the case with the book, Planting Stories: The Life of Librarian and Storyteller Pura Belpre by Anika Aldamuy Denise and Paola Escobar. Pura Belpre...
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....