"Who I am now and who I’ve wanted to become are meeting each other for the first time." Towards the end of the novel, “Returning the Bones” by Gin Hammond, this sentence encapsulates the journey of the protagonist, Carolyn “Bebe” Hammond, as a young light-skinned...
Wisdom From Kammbia Book Review 136: A Red Death by Walter Mosley
by MHill | Feb 28, 2024 | 2024 Book Reviews, Black History Month, Book Reviews, Marion's Favorite Books, Marion's Favorites, Marion's Reading Life Blog, Wisdom From Kammbia Column
When the IRS comes knocking at your door looking for back taxes, it will put you in an untenable position that provides no easy way out. Easy Rawlins finds himself in such a situation in the novel, A Red Death. A Red Death is the second novel in the Easy Rawlins...
Wisdom From Kammbia Story Review 23: Since You Went Away by Frankie Y. Bailey
by MHill | Feb 20, 2024 | Black History Month, Short Story Review, Wisdom of Kammbia Story Review
Anthologies provide a great opportunity to explore new genres of fiction that you wouldn't typically read. Also, I have integrated more short stories into my reading life in the last couple of years. Incorporating short stories into your reading life can provide a...
Wisdom From Kammbia Book Review 135: Suder by Percival Everett
by MHill | Feb 16, 2024 | 2024 Book Reviews, Black History Month, Book Reviews, Marion's Reading Life Blog, Wisdom From Kammbia Column
Percival Everett has quickly joined my favorite author’s list, which includes Paul Auster, Octavia Butler, Jonathan Carroll, Charles de Lint, Guy Gavriel Kay, & Haruki Murakami. Having read multiple novels by these authors, I must say that Everett has ventured...
Wisdom From Kammbia Book Review 124: The Way of the Writer by Charles Johnson
by MHill | Apr 22, 2023 | Marion's Favorite Books, Marion's Favorites, Marion's Reading Life Blog, Nonfiction, Writing
As a writer, I have always been curious how other writers practice their craft, what they read, and how they conduct business. I believe you can learn a lot from other writers that are further down the writer's journey than you are. Charles Johnson's The Way of the...
Wisdom From Kammbia Book Review 114: Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
by MHill | Oct 24, 2022 | 2022 Book Reviews, Marion's Favorite Books, Marion's Favorites, Wisdom From Kammbia Column, Wisdom From Kammbia Novella Review
"Let 'em consolate theyselves wid talk. 'Course, talkin' don't amount tuh uh hill uh beans when yuh can't do nothin' else. And listenin' tuh dat kind uh talk is jus' lak openin' yo' mouth and lettin' de moon shine down yo' throat. It's uh known fact, Phoeby, you got...
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...
Wisdom From Kammbia Book Review 94: The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin
by MHill | Dec 28, 2021 | 2021 Book Reviews, Wisdom From Kammbia Column
After reading this first book of The Broken Earth Trilogy by N.K. Jemisin, I have crossed two reading rules that I thought I would never break: 1) You must like the characters to enjoy a work of fiction 2) You must be able to relate to the characters in order to have...
Ciscoe’s Dance
by MHill | Nov 22, 2021 | Kammbian Characters, Kammbian Culture, Kammbian History, Wisdom From Kammbia Column, Writing
Happy Pub Day to Ciscoe's Dance! Ciscoe's Dance is my fourth novel set in the fictional world of Kammbia and the first novel in the Dance & Listen Series. However, this novel can be read as a standalone story. There is a quote attributed to the great author Toni...
Wisdom From Kammbia Book Review 92: Blacktop Wasteland by S.A. Cosby
by MHill | Nov 15, 2021 | 2021 Book Reviews, Black History Month, Book Reviews, Marion's Favorite Books, Marion's Reading Life Blog, Wisdom From Kammbia Column
Does a son have to repeat his father's transgressions and life choices? It seemed like S.A. Cosby was trying to answer that question in his thrilling third novel, Blacktop Wasteland. I have seen this novel posted on my Instagram feed recently and several Goodreads...