One of the greatest living American authors just had their eighty-seven birthday earlier this month. Is it Philip Roth? Cormac McCarthy? Richard Ford? John Irving? Toni Morrison? None of them. It is Gene Wolfe. Wolfe has never gotten the mainstream literary success...
Book Review 130: Warrior by K.M. Tremills
by MHill | Apr 23, 2018 | 2018 Book Reviews
Last year, I read the first book in a series of an introspective and thoughtful fantasy novel by an author I had made an online acquaintance through a Facebook writers group. That first novel, Messenger, got my attention through its absorbing prose and a protagonist,...
Book Review 129: Children of Earth and Sky by Guy Gavriel Kay
by MHill | Mar 18, 2018 | 2018 Book Reviews, Guy Gavriel Kay, Marion's Favorite Books, Marion's Favorites, Marion's Reading Life Blog, Wisdom From Kammbia Column
Have you ever as a reader given a novel you did not finish another chance? Well, there is a first time for everything. I gave Children of Earth and Sky a second chance. I read it a couple years ago when it was first released. Kay writes beautifully, and the...
Book Review 122: Elantris by Brandon Sanderson
by MHill | Dec 31, 2017 | 2017 Book Reviews, Marion's Favorite Books
A standalone epic fantasy novel is a rare thing in publishing these days. (I do know that Sanderson wrote a novella in the same world but it is not connected to Elantris). Reading Elantris by Brandon Sanderson and not having to wonder what will happen in Book 2 is a...
Book Review 120: The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker
by MHill | Nov 3, 2017 | 2017 Book Reviews, Marion's Favorite Books
Some novels read fast. Non-stop page turning action that grabs your imagination and doesn't let go until you finish. Other novels read slowly like eating a well-cooked meal at your favorite restaurant. You take the time to eat your meal with a glass of...
Book Review 117: The Gunslinger by Stephen King (Dark Tower 1)
by MHill | Aug 15, 2017 | 2017 Book Reviews, Marion's Favorite Books
I rarely jump on the pop culture event of the moment. I have always waited for the event to die down or choose something out of the mainstream. However, when I found out about the Dark Tower Movie starring Idris Elba and Matthew McConaughey as foes. I was intrigued...
Book Review 116: Redemption in Indigo by Karen Lord
by MHill | Aug 6, 2017 | 2017 Book Reviews, Marion's Favorite Books
Redemption in Indigo by Karen Lord is a fable about a woman named Paama from the African village of Makendha. Paama endures a bad marriage to a gluttonous husband and when she finally leaves him brings the attention of the djombi, the undying ones, who present her...
Book Review 115: The Lion of Boaz-Jachin & Jachin-Boaz by Russell Hoban
by MHill | Jul 31, 2017 | 2017 Book Reviews
Sometimes a book will come out of nowhere for you to read it? The Lion of Boaz-Jachin and Jachin-Boaz by Russell Hoban is a such book. I've had this book on my Kindle Paperwhite for awhile and I finally decided to read it while on vacation in Europe last week. I did...
Book Review 108: The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss
by MHill | Jun 4, 2017 | 2017 Book Reviews, Marion's Favorite Books
Reading and reviewing a very popular novel like The Name of the Wind has made me examine why do I read fiction? Is it to escape the humdrum and monotony of my everyday life? Is it to learn about someone who is different from my background and can cause me to become...
Book Review 98: The Ocean At The End Of The Lane by Neil Gaiman
by MHill | Dec 13, 2016 | 2016 Book Reviews
I finally read a Neil Gaiman novel! It has taken me awhile to read Gaiman as a novelist, even though I read the groundbreaking and wonderful Sandman comic book series back in the 1990s. Gaiman is an author I have been meaning to read over the years and the time came...