Does secrets force us to make choices that we would not have made otherwise? This is the question I keep asking myself as I read Percival Everett's very good novel, So Much Blue. It tells the story of Kevin Pace, an artist, who has kept his past at bay to be...
Wisdom From Kammbia Book Review 91: Sabrina and Corina by Kali Fajardo-Anstine
by MHill | Oct 22, 2021 | 2021 Book Reviews, Hispanic Heritage Month, Marion's Favorite Books, Marion's Favorites, Marion's Reading Life Blog, Wisdom From Kammbia Column
I love book cover art. I was scrolling through my Goodreads page recently and noticed one of my friends add Sabrina & Corina by Kali Fajardo-Anstine to their TBR list. The beautiful cover got my attention, and I bought book the next day. Sabrina & Corina is...
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...
Gabo: The Creation of Gabriel Garcia Marquez
by MHill | Nov 28, 2020 | Wisdom From Kammbia Column, Writing
Gabo: The Creation of Gabriel Garcia Marquez is the second documentary about a writer I have watched in the past few days. This 2015 documentary chronicles the author's rise from a small Colombian town to becoming one of the world's greatest and beloved writers. We...
Wisdom From Kammbia Book Review 58: Alburquerque by Rudolfo Anaya
by MHill | Sep 22, 2020 | 2020 Book Reviews, Marion's Favorite Books, Marion's Favorites, Wisdom From Kammbia Column
One of the great joys of reading fiction is when you get a novel that makes want to read on after you finished it. There are a lot of novels I have enjoyed reading, but once I close the book or eBook (these days) then I'm done with it. Well, Alburquerque by Rudolfo...
Wisdom From Kammbia Book Review 44: The Ancestor by Danielle Trussoni
by MHill | May 7, 2020 | 2020 Book Reviews, Wisdom From Kammbia Column
There is a popular meme where a guy is walking with his girlfriend and another woman walks past them. He turns to check out the woman's backside to the dismay of his girlfriend. We have used the meme for all kinds of things, including how readers have always...
Wisdom From Kammbia Book Review 42: Face of an Angel by Denise Chavez
by MHill | Apr 18, 2020 | 2020 Book Reviews, Book Reviews, Marion's All-Time Favorite Novels, Marion's Favorite Books, Marion's Favorites, Marion's Reading Life Blog, Rereading Series, Wisdom From Kammbia Column
Rereading a novel can bring different expectations from when you first read it over twenty-five years ago. This is the case with Face of An Angel by Denise Chavez. Face of an Angel tells the story of Soveida Dosamantes, a waitress at El Farol Restaurant in the...
Wisdom from Kammbia Book Review 41: The Spectator Bird by Wallace Stegner
by MHill | Apr 4, 2020 | 2020 Book Reviews, Marion's Favorite Books, Marion's Favorite Duologies
As a reader, there are some books (and authors) you have been meaning to read. But other books (and authors) would come before it. Unfortunately, Wallace Stegner fell into this category for me. I've been meaning to read his...
Wisdom From Kammbia Story Review 2: Timeskip by Charles de Lint
by MHill | Sep 1, 2019 | Charles De Lint, Marion's All-Time Favorite Short Stories, Marion's Favorites, Marion's Reading Life Blog, Short Story Review, Wisdom From Kammbia Column, Wisdom of Kammbia Story Review
Charles de Lint is one of the few authors I have read for over twenty-five years. His novels and stories set in the fictional city of Newford have been delightful to read for a long time. Timeskip is one of de Lint's best and well-known stories about a ghost...
Wisdom From Kammbia Book Review 2: Let Me Be Frank With You by Richard Ford
by MHill | Jan 25, 2019 | 2019 Book Reviews, Marion's Favorite Books, Wisdom From Kammbia Column
I'm a reading completist. I did not realize completist was a word until I typed this review. I felt it's appropriate for my latest Wisdom From Kammbia review. In 2015, I read and wrote a review for The Sportswriter by Richard Ford, the first Frank Bascombe novel. I...