Booktube has become of my favorite places to find out about books, and I have watched a lot of content there. One of my favorite Booktube channels is Books with Zara. Zara has eclectic taste in fiction, and I have liked the vibe of her videos. She recently did a video...
Wisdom From Kammbia Book Review 179: The South by Colm Tóibín
by MHill | Dec 4, 2025 | 2025 Book Reviews, Fiction about Artists, Marion's Reading Life Blog, Wisdom From Kammbia Column
Does being an artist make you inherently selfish? That question was the first thought I had after reading Colm Tóibín’s first novel, The South. I was interested in this novel because most of it took place in Barcelona, Spain. I spent a week in Barcelona for my...
Wisdom From Kammbia Book Review 178: Baumgartner by Paul Auster
by MHill | Nov 24, 2025 | 2025 Book Reviews, Marion's Reading Life Blog, Paul Auster, Wisdom From Kammbia Column, Wisdom From Kammbia Novella Review
Paul Auster is one of the few authors who have over 5 books of their work on my main library shelf at home. The others are Charles de Lint with 14 books and Jonathan Carroll with 8 books. These three authors have shaped me as a reader and writer more than I could have...
Rereading Erasure by Percival Everett
by MHill | Nov 1, 2025 | 2025 Book Reviews, Book Reviews, Fiction about Artists, Marion's All-Time Favorite Novels, Marion's Favorite Books, Marion's Favorites, Marion's Reading Life Blog, Rereading Series, Wisdom From Kammbia Column
"A trout is very much like truth; it does what it wants, what it has to." The above quote came near the end of the novel, Erasure, by Percival Everett. I'm rereading this wonderful and thought-provoking novel again to see if it will make my all-time favorite novels...
Wisdom From Kammbia Book Review 176: Four Souls by Louise Erdrich
by MHill | Oct 23, 2025 | 2025 Book Reviews, Book Reviews, Louise Erdrich, Marion's Favorite Books, Marion's Favorites, Marion's Reading Life Blog, Wisdom From Kammbia Column, Wisdom From Kammbia Novella Review
Romans 12, Verses 19-21 reads as such, Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord. To the contrary, "if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to...
Wisdom From Kammbia Book Review 175: Afterlife by Julia Alvarez
by MHill | Oct 12, 2025 | 2025 Book Reviews, Book Reviews, Marion's Favorite Books, Marion's Favorites, Marion's Reading Life Blog, Wisdom From Kammbia Column
The PBS “American Masters” program I watched last week featured author Julia Alvarez and detailed how her important work in fiction helped make American Latina literature a major part of publishing in the 1990s. I have always known about her fiction since my days as a...
Wisdom From Kammbia Book Review 169: Mbaqanga Nights by Leonora Meriel
by MHill | Aug 8, 2025 | 2025 Book Reviews, Book Reviews, Fiction about Artists, Wisdom From Kammbia Column, Wisdom From Kammbia Novella Review
Two Jewish brothers emigrated from Ukraine to South Africa in the 1800s to find a better life. The grandson of one brother opened a mixed-race jazz club in South Africa during apartheid. Mbaqanga Nights told the story of how the grandson managed South African politics...
Wisdom From Kammbia Book Review 165: Magical Realism by Maggie Ann Bowers
by MHill | May 21, 2025 | 2025 Book Reviews, Book Reviews, Magical Realism, Marion's Favorite Books, Marion's Favorites, Marion's Reading Life Blog, Nonfiction, Wisdom From Kammbia Column
Over the past couple of years, I have tried to find a home as reader (and a writer for that matter). While I've enjoyed reading across genres and have broadened my reading life in immeasurable ways. Still, I've always wanted a reading home that I connected with the...
Wisdom From Kammbia Book Review 164: Killing Commendatore by Haruki Murakami
by MHill | May 14, 2025 | 2025 Book Reviews, Book Reviews, Fiction about Artists, Haruki Murakami, Magical Realism, Marion's Reading Life Blog, Wisdom From Kammbia Column
My previous review was a reread of A Wild Sheep Chase by Haruki Murakami and admittedly I did not enjoy my reading experience the second time around for one of my favorite novelists and a book that introduced me to the Murakami fictional universe. However, I had been...
Rereading A Wild Sheep Chase by Haruki Murakami
by MHill | Apr 13, 2025 | 2025 Book Reviews, Book Reviews, Haruki Murakami, Rereading Series, Wisdom From Kammbia Column
Rereading has become a major part of my reading life. Giving a novel a second read allows me, as a reader, to see why I enjoyed a work of fiction from my initial reading. There are things about the story I didn’t notice before that I’m now seeing. I consider most of...