Bag of Bones is the story of Mike Noonan, a bestselling novelist with a great life until his wife dies in an accident near their Western Maine summer home. From that accident, Mike's life is turned upside down and inside out. Because of that event, Mike gets writers...
Wisdom From Kammbia Story Review 10: The Cookout by Jacqueline Turner Banks
by MHill | Apr 9, 2022 | 2022 Book Reviews, Marion's Favorites, Marion's Reading Life Blog, Short Story Review, Wisdom From Kammbia Column, Wisdom of Kammbia Story Review
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
by MHill | Apr 7, 2022 | 2022 Book Reviews, Marion's Favorites, Marion's Reading Life Blog, Short Story Review, Wisdom From Kammbia Column, Wisdom of Kammbia Story Review
"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
by MHill | Apr 3, 2022 | 2022 Book Reviews, Book Reviews, Marion's Favorites, Marion's Reading Life Blog, Short Story Review, Wisdom From Kammbia Column, Wisdom of Kammbia Story Review
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 Review 97: The Haunting of Tram Car 015 by P. Djeli Clark
by MHill | Mar 25, 2022 | 2022 Book Reviews, Book Reviews, Marion's Reading Life Blog, Wisdom From Kammbia Column
The Haunting of Tram Car 015 by P. Djeli Clark is a fantasy novella set in an alternate early 20th century Cairo, where the world of djinn and other supernatural beings has made Egypt a world super-power, and two Agents of the Ministry of Alchemy, Enchantments, and...
Wisdom From Kammbia Story Review 6: Ceiling by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
by MHill | Mar 23, 2022 | 2022 Book Reviews, Marion's Reading Life Blog, Wisdom From Kammbia Column, Wisdom of Kammbia Story Review
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie has been a writer that I've wanted to read for quite some time. I've had her novel, Americanah, in my Kindle library since 2020. Moreover, I have seen her other books like Half of a Yellow Sun, Purple Hibiscus, & We Should All Be...
Wisdom From Kammbia Book Review 96: Black Titan by Carol Jenkins & Elizabeth Gardner Hines
by MHill | Feb 19, 2022 | 2022 Book Reviews, Black History Month, Marion's Favorite Books, Marion's Favorites, Marion's Reading Life Blog, Wisdom From Kammbia Column
"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...
Icon #14
by MHill | Feb 6, 2022 | Black History Month, Marion's Favorite Books, Marion's Favorites, Marion's Reading Life Blog
Rocket learns a valuable lesson with the responsibility she has as a superhero and being Icon's partner. She asks Icon to attend a community event, but he cannot attend because his day job as a lawyer demands his attention. Rocket is frustrated with his duties as a...
Best Book Ever Podcast: Episode 83
by MHill | Jan 25, 2022 | Best Book Ever Podcast, Marion's Favorite Books, Marion's Reading Life Blog, Octavia Butler, Wisdom From Kammbia Column
My second appearance on the Best Book Ever Podcast aired today. The host, Julie Strauss, and I discussed one of my all time favorite novels, Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler. I have read this novel 3 times (when it first came in October 1993, then 10 years...
Marion’s 2022 Reading Challenge
by MHill | Dec 30, 2021 | Marion's Reading Life Blog, Wisdom From Kammbia Column
I have seen quite a few reading challenges on social media in the few past days. A new year is coming and readers are posting their challenges on how many books they want to read in 2022. Or what types of books they want to focus on reading in the new year and so...