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...
Wisdom From Kammbia Book Review 88: Crossing to Safety by Wallace Stegner
by MHill | Sep 11, 2021 | 2021 Book Reviews, Book Reviews, Marion's Favorite Books, Marion's Favorites, Wisdom From Kammbia Column
"And so, by circuitous and unpredictable routes, we converge toward midcontinent and meet in Madison, and are at once drawn together, braided and plaited into a friendship. It is a relationship that has no formal shape, there are no rules or obligations or bonds as in...
Wisdom From Kammbia Book Review 82: Emotional Intelligence by Daniel Goleman
by MHill | Jul 21, 2021 | 2021 Book Reviews, Marion's Favorite Books, Wisdom From Kammbia Column
What does it mean to being smart? It seems we have judged intelligence by IQ and rational knowledge throughout human history. However, there was a book published over twenty-five years ago that challenged the notion and looked at emotions as an important factor...
Wisdom From Kammbia Book Review 70: Snow Country by Yasunari Kawabata
by MHill | Dec 28, 2020 | 2020 Book Reviews, Rereading Series, Wisdom From Kammbia Column
Sometimes in reading a novel for the second time, you will not get the same feeling when you read it previously. This is the case for Snow Country by Yasunari Kawabata. Snow Country is considered to being Kawabata's masterpiece. And for many reasons, I agree with...
Wisdom From Kammbia Book Review 67: Crystal Singer by Anne McCaffrey
by MHill | Dec 17, 2020 | 2020 Book Reviews, Wisdom From Kammbia Column
Sometimes going down an internet rabbit's hole can lead you to an author you had never thought to read before. This is the scenario with Crystal Singer by Anne McCaffrey. Every time I go to my local used bookstore here in San Antonio, I see many of the McCaffrey...
Wisdom From Kammbia Review 51: Pacific Edge by Kim Stanley Robinson
by MHill | Jul 21, 2020 | 2020 Book Reviews, Marion's Favorite Books, Wisdom From Kammbia Column
Kim Stanley Robinson is one of the science fiction writers I have read throughout my reading life. He joins Octavia Butler, Greg Bear, and Robert Silverberg as the science fiction writers I have found interesting and thought provoking to read. Pacific Edge is the...
Wisdom From Kammbia Book Review 49: Woven In Moonlight by Isabel Ibanez
by MHill | Jul 16, 2020 | 2020 Book Reviews, Marion's Favorite Books, Marion's Favorite Duologies, Wisdom From Kammbia Column
There are books that make you want to turn the page to find out what happens next. However, there are a few books that turn the page for you and invite the reader into the story. Very few novels make you feel the latter. Little Country by Charles de Lint is one of...
Wisdom From Kammbia Book Review 48: Late Bloomers by Rich Karlgaard
by MHill | Jul 6, 2020 | 2020 Book Reviews, Marion's Favorite Books, Wisdom From Kammbia Column
Sometimes there is a book on your shelf that is waiting to be read. The book waits patiently until you have gotten other books out of the way before you are ready to read it. Late Bloomers by Rich Karlgaard is one of those books. I bought this book shortly after it...
Wisdom From Kammbia Book Review 28: The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon by Stephen King
by MHill | Oct 21, 2019 | 2019 Book Reviews, Wisdom From Kammbia Column, Wisdom of Kammbia Story Review
King writes an interesting, psychological story about a nine year old girl that gets separated from her family and lost in the woods. King probes the internal psyche of a young girl in such a situation and uses the power of imagination in the form of her favorite...
Wisdom From Kammbia Book Review 27: Map of Shadows by J.F. Penn
by MHill | Oct 21, 2019 | 2019 Book Reviews, Wisdom From Kammbia Column
J.F. Penn wrote a fast-paced, dark fantasy thriller about a young woman named Sienna that belongs to a family of mapmakers and their connection to another world called the Borderlands. Map of Shadows is the first book of the trilogy and does a solid job of setting...