MARION HILL

Wisdom From Kammbia Story Review 10: The Cookout by Jacqueline Turner Banks

A stepfather-stepdaughter relationship can be challenging, especially when the stepdaughter is coming into her own. The Cookout by Jacqueline Turner Banks, a short story published in Shades of Black: Crime & Mystery Stories by African-American Writers, makes a...

Wisdom From Kammbia Story Review 9: The Storyteller by Rafik Schami

"Good storytellers are like good wine---the older the better!" The aforementioned sentence came from the last paragraph of The Storyteller by Rafik Schami.  This short story was taken from his novel, Damascus Nights and reprinted in The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror:...

Wisdom From Kammbia Story Review 8: Recitatif by Toni Morrison

Toni Morrison is one of those authors I have admired and respected but not loved her fiction. I have read Song of Solomon, Jazz, & Paradise of her work. Song of Solomon is my favorite but my feelings as a reader on a storytelling level have been lukewarm at best....

Wisdom From Kammbia Story Review 7: What People Leave Behind by Kristine Kathryn Rusch

My reading excursion into short stories continues with an excellent whodunit story set in a suburban Oregon town where a single mother who owns a housecleaning business of foreclosure homes ends up on the wrong end of a home explosion. What People Leave Behind by...

Wisdom From Kammbia Story Review 5: Galapago by Kali Fajardo-Anstine

  I have stated recently that I'm reading more short stories as a part of my reading life. As much as I love reading novels, I'm appreciating the short story on its own terms. Last year, I read an excellent short story collection, Sabrina & Corina by Kali...

Wisdom From Kammbia Story Review 4: L’Alchimista by N.K. Jemisin

I have read a lot more short stories in the past year.  I have always considered short stories the stepchildren of contemporary fiction.  Novels are the alpha and omega for most contemporary fiction (literary & genre) readers.  Novellas (short novels between...

Wisdom From Kammbia Book Review 96: Black Titan by Carol Jenkins & Elizabeth Gardner Hines

  "Athletes and musicians who have made millions in their industries deserve our respect, but it is critical that blacks understand that our history, and our (often neglected) successes, run deeper than that. All children need to be made familiar with images and...

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