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 Book Review 26: The Pearl by John Steinbeck
by MHill | Oct 6, 2019 | 2019 Book Reviews, Marion's Favorite Books, Marion's Favorites, Marion's Reading Life Blog, Rereading Series, Wisdom From Kammbia Column
One of the most often quoted verses of biblical scripture is from the New Testament book of 1 Timothy 6:10: "The love of money is a root of all kinds of evil." Even if you are a non-religious person, I'm pretty sure you have heard that verse of scripture in a secular...
Wisdom From Kammbia Book Review 25: Chronicle Of A Death Foretold
by MHill | Sep 22, 2019 | 2019 Book Reviews, Wisdom From Kammbia Column
For the world-renowned novelist Gabriel Garcia Marquez, most readers have read or attempted to read One Hundred Years of Solitude or the more accessible Love In The Time of Cholera. Some (like me) have read both novels. However, Garcia Marquez has a body of work that...
Wisdom From Kammbia Book Review 2: Let Me Be Frank With You by Richard Ford
by MHill | Jan 25, 2019 | 2019 Book Reviews, Frank Bascombe Series, Marion's Favorite Books, Richard Ford, 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...
Book Review 141: The 6:41 to Paris by Jean-Phillippe Blondel
by MHill | Aug 31, 2018 | 2018 Book Reviews, Marion's Favorite Books
One of my reading goals for 2018 and beyond is to read more translated fiction. Reading is one of those activities that can take you to another place, another culture, or another perspective with little risk to the reader. The only risk is a few dollars (if you buy it...
Book Review 128: Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
by MHill | Feb 28, 2018 | 2018 Book Reviews, Black History Month, Book Reviews, Marion's Favorite Books, Marion's Favorites, Rereading Series, Wisdom From Kammbia Column
Can a novel you read in your early 20s effect you in the same manner when you re-read it in your mid-40s? Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison gives this reviewer a split verdict to the aforementioned question. It is the story of an unnamed protagonist who leaves the...
Book Review 123: South of the Border, West of the Sun by Haruki Murakami
by MHill | Jan 12, 2018 | 2018 Book Reviews, Haruki Murakami, Marion's Favorite Books
Is it possible to recapture a childhood love as an adult? Haruki Murakami attempted to answer the question in South of the Border, West of the Sun. I made this novel my first review of 2018. I wanted to read something more introspective and intimate to start off my...
Wisdom From Kammbia 4.9: My Favorite Reads of 2017
by MHill | Jan 1, 2018 | Marion's Favorite Books, Wisdom From Kammbia Column
Another year has come and gone and I’ve read and reviewed 22 books for 2017. I had a good year reading and looking forward to a better reading year in 2018. Here’s my favorites in 2017: (click on the title to read that book’s review) A Man Called Ove by...
Book Review 113: The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami
by MHill | Jul 15, 2017 | 2017 Book Reviews, Haruki Murakami
I have slowly been indoctrinated into becoming a Haruki Murakami fan. The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle will make the third novel I have read and reviewed for the blog and the excellent memoir, What I Talk About When I Talk About Running. I will write that so far in my...