The number 16 symbolizes trust, intuition, balance, and leaning into your own wisdom. In addition, it's a number that isn't commonly seen on all-time lists, but I thought it was the right choice for my list of favorite novels. It's getting close to the time of year...
Rereading Home Is The Sailor by Jorge Amado
by MHill | Aug 6, 2023 | 2023 Book Reviews, Rereading Series, Wisdom From Kammbia Column
I’ve decided for the rest of the year (and into 2024) to reread novels that I first wrote reviews for when I started the blog in 2011 and other books I read in my 20s and 30s. I want to rediscover why I read and start a new foundation for my reading life. To connect...
Best Book Ever Podcast 149
by MHill | Jun 26, 2023 | Best Book Ever Podcast, Marion's Favorite Books, Marion's Favorites, Marion's Reading Life Blog, Rereading Series, Wisdom From Kammbia Column
I was invited back to one of my favorite book podcasts, The Best Book Ever Podcast, hosted by Julie Strauss. This was my third appearance on the podcast and we discussed one of my all-time favorite novels, The Book of Strange New Things by Michel Faber. Faber's...
Rereading The Book of Strange New Things by Michel Faber
by MHill | Jun 20, 2023 | 2023 Book Reviews, Marion's Favorite Books, Marion's Favorites, Marion's Reading Life Blog, Rereading Series, Wisdom From Kammbia Column
"The rhetoric of a sermon was one thing; his wife's grim reality was another. Civilizations did not vanish smoothly and easefully; empires did not set like suns: empires collapsed in chaos and violence. Real people got pushed around, beaten up, robbed, made destitute....
Wisdom From Kammbia Book Review 127: Victory City by Salman Rushdie
by MHill | May 16, 2023 | 2023 Book Reviews, Book Reviews, Wisdom From Kammbia Column
“The city had grown. It was by no means certain that the people would choose sophistication over barbarianism. The party line regarding members of other faiths—we are good, they are bad—had a certain infectious clarity. So did the idea that dissent was unpatriotic....
Wisdom From Kammbia Book Review 124: The Way of the Writer by Charles Johnson
by MHill | Apr 22, 2023 | Charles Johnson, 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 Story Review 20: Occupying Arthur Whitfield by Charles Johnson
by MHill | Mar 22, 2023 | Marion's Favorites, Marion's Reading Life Blog, Short Story Review, Wisdom From Kammbia Column, Wisdom of Kammbia Story Review
Charles Johnson came onto my reading radar for many years after I read his National Book Award-winning novel, Middle Passage. The novel told the story of Rutherford Calhoun, a freed slave who sneaks onto a slave ship heading back to the motherland to escape an...
Wisdom From Kammbia Book Review 122: So Much Blue by Percival Everett
by MHill | Feb 21, 2023 | 2023 Book Reviews, Marion's Favorite Books, Marion's Favorites, Marion's Reading Life Blog, Percival Everett, Wisdom From Kammbia Column
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 Story Review 14: The Wallet by John Updike
by MHill | Dec 21, 2022 | Marion's Favorites, Marion's Reading Life Blog, Short Story Review, Wisdom of Kammbia Story Review
"It was my wallet. Everything is in it. Everything. Without that wallet, I'm nothing." Have you ever lost something and felt like your world was ending? John Updike brings this common occurrence to life in his short story, The Wallet from the Trust Me short story...
Wisdom From Kammbia Story Review 12: Sticks by George Saunders
by MHill | Dec 18, 2022 | Marion's Favorites, Marion's Reading Life Blog, Short Story Review, Wisdom of Kammbia Story Review
As I delve more into reading short stories, I keep coming across the name of George Saunders. Whether it's social media, online articles, or face-to-face recommendations, Saunders is one of short story modern masters and a must read of the art form. I picked up the...