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...
Wisdom From Kammbia Story Review 11: Come Home to Atropos by Steven Barnes
by MHill | May 5, 2022 | 2022 Book Reviews, Marion's Favorites, Marion's Reading Life Blog, Short Story Review, Wisdom From Kammbia Column, Wisdom of Kammbia Story Review
Steven Barnes writes a sarcastic, charming story that comes as an infomercial, designed to attract rich white folks who want to end their lives in paradise on a Caribbean island. However, the story reveals the illusion underneath. Travel to exotic lands always appears...
Wisdom From Kammbia Story Review 10: The Cookout by Jacqueline Turner Banks
by MHill | Apr 9, 2022 | 2022 Book Reviews, Marion's Favorites, Marion's Reading Life Blog, Short Story Review, Wisdom From Kammbia Column, Wisdom of Kammbia Story Review
A stepfather-stepdaughter relationship can be challenging, especially when the stepdaughter is coming into her own. The Cookout by Jacqueline Turner Banks, a short story published in Shades of Black: Crime & Mystery Stories by African-American Writers, makes a...
Wisdom From Kammbia Story Review 9: The Storyteller by Rafik Schami
by MHill | Apr 7, 2022 | 2022 Book Reviews, Marion's Favorites, Marion's Reading Life Blog, Short Story Review, Wisdom From Kammbia Column, Wisdom of Kammbia Story Review
"Good storytellers are like good wine---the older the better!" The aforementioned sentence came from the last paragraph of The Storyteller by Rafik Schami. This short story was taken from his novel, Damascus Nights and reprinted in The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror:...
Wisdom From Kammbia Story Review 8: Recitatif by Toni Morrison
by MHill | Apr 3, 2022 | 2022 Book Reviews, Book Reviews, Marion's Favorites, Marion's Reading Life Blog, Short Story Review, Toni Morrison, Wisdom From Kammbia Column, Wisdom of Kammbia Story Review
Toni Morrison is one of those authors I have admired and respected but not loved her fiction. I have read Song of Solomon, Jazz, & Paradise of her work. Song of Solomon is my favorite but my feelings as a reader on a storytelling level have been lukewarm at best....
Wisdom From Kammbia Story Review 7: What People Leave Behind by Kristine Kathryn Rusch
by MHill | Mar 31, 2022 | 2022 Book Reviews, Marion's Favorite Books, Marion's Favorites, Short Story Review, Wisdom From Kammbia Column, Wisdom of Kammbia Story Review
My reading excursion into short stories continues with an excellent whodunit story set in a suburban Oregon town where a single mother who owns a housecleaning business of foreclosure homes ends up on the wrong end of a home explosion. What People Leave Behind by...
Wisdom From Kammbia Story Review 6: Ceiling by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
by MHill | Mar 23, 2022 | 2022 Book Reviews, Marion's Reading Life Blog, Wisdom From Kammbia Column, Wisdom of Kammbia Story Review
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie has been a writer that I've wanted to read for quite some time. I've had her novel, Americanah, in my Kindle library since 2020. Moreover, I have seen her other books like Half of a Yellow Sun, Purple Hibiscus, & We Should All Be...
Wisdom From Kammbia Story Review 5: Galapago by Kali Fajardo-Anstine
by MHill | Mar 9, 2022 | 2022 Book Reviews, 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
I have stated recently that I'm reading more short stories as a part of my reading life. As much as I love reading novels, I'm appreciating the short story on its own terms. Last year, I read an excellent short story collection, Sabrina & Corina by Kali...
Wisdom From Kammbia Story Review 4: L’Alchimista by N.K. Jemisin
by MHill | Mar 5, 2022 | Black History Month, 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
I have read a lot more short stories in the past year. I have always considered short stories the stepchildren of contemporary fiction. Novels are the alpha and omega for most contemporary fiction (literary & genre) readers. Novellas (short novels between...
Wisdom From Kammbia Story Review 3: Speech Sounds by Octavia E. Butler
by MHill | May 23, 2021 | Marion's All-Time Favorite Short Stories, Marion's Favorites, Marion's Reading Life Blog, Octavia Butler, Short Story Review, Wisdom From Kammbia Column, Wisdom of Kammbia Story Review
What if you lived in a society where speaking is a threat to the social order? Octavia Butler speculated on the aforementioned question in her Hugo Award-winning short story, Speech Sounds. I came across this story when it was discussed on the Novel Pairing Podcast....