"It was my wallet. Everything is in it. Everything. Without that wallet, I'm nothing." Have you ever lost something and felt like your world was ending? John Updike brings this common occurrence to life in his short story, The Wallet from the Trust Me short story...
Wisdom From Kammbia Story Review 13: Can You Wear My Eyes by Kalamu ya Salaam
by MHill | Dec 19, 2022 | Marion's Favorite Books, Marion's Favorites, Marion's Reading Life Blog, Short Story Review, Wisdom of Kammbia Story Review
"A man should never know a woman's secret life; men cannot stand so much reality. Their fragile egos can't cope. It's like they say in Zimbabwe: men are children and women are mothers. Being a child is about innocence, about not knowing the realities that adults deal...
Wisdom From Kammbia Story Review 12: Sticks by George Saunders
by MHill | Dec 18, 2022 | Marion's Favorites, Marion's Reading Life Blog, Short Story Review, Wisdom of Kammbia Story Review
As I delve more into reading short stories, I keep coming across the name of George Saunders. Whether it's social media, online articles, or face-to-face recommendations, Saunders is one of short story modern masters and a must read of the art form. I picked up the...
Wisdom From Kammbia Book Review 119: Serafina’s Stories by Rudolfo Anaya
by MHill | Dec 8, 2022 | 2022 Book Reviews, Book Reviews, Marion's Favorite Books, Marion's Favorites, Marion's Reading Life Blog, Short Story Review, Wisdom From Kammbia Column, Wisdom of Kammbia Story Review
"The spirit of story and the spirit of peace are naturally bound together. Storytellers are one of the standard bearers for the creation of peace. I am convinced that story, as an expression of life, constitutes one of the highest forms of value creation." I took...
Wisdom From Kammbia Book Review 116: Someplace To Be Flying by Charles De Lint
by MHill | Nov 11, 2022 | 2022 Book Reviews, Book Reviews, Charles De Lint, Wisdom of Kammbia Story Review
That's an interesting cover. What is this book about? I have gotten that comment several times while reading Charles de Lint's Someplace to Be Flying recently. It is a reminder of the importance of book covers. The artist, John Jude Palencar, has produced some of...
Rereading Bel Canto by Ann Patchett
by MHill | Jun 29, 2022 | 2022 Book Reviews, Marion's Favorite Books, Marion's Favorites, Marion's Reading Life Blog, Rereading Series, Wisdom of Kammbia Story Review
I just finished reading Bel Canto by Ann Patchett for a second time today. Bel Canto is Patchett's most well-known and beloved novel. This blog post is not another review of what I have already written. But, it is another look at her story and hopefully a different...
Wisdom From Kammbia Story Review 11: Come Home to Atropos by Steven Barnes
by MHill | May 5, 2022 | 2022 Book Reviews, Marion's Favorites, Marion's Reading Life Blog, Short Story Review, Wisdom From Kammbia Column, Wisdom of Kammbia Story Review
Steven Barnes writes a sarcastic, charming story that comes as an infomercial, designed to attract rich white folks who want to end their lives in paradise on a Caribbean island. However, the story reveals the illusion underneath. Travel to exotic lands always appears...
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, Toni Morrison, 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....