Reading

If You Were a Superhero

Lynette M Burrows

As the pandemic wears on and on, I’ve been doing something I’ve never done before. What is that? I’m binge watching Netflix series. Superhero stories are the latest to have caught my attention. As a result, I’ve been thinking about being a superhero. (Note I use superhero as a non-gendered term) If you were a superhero how would you handle the many situations and questions related to being super? Who Do You Save No matter what super power you have, you’ll can save people in dire circumstances (at least according to the stories). But with billions of people in the world, there will be multiple people in similar situations who need a rescue. Who do you choose? Do you choose the ones who look like you (skin color)? Or do you choose locals (your neighborhood or city)? Do you save family over strangers or vice versa? Perhaps you choose people who speak the same language. Life isn’t like stories, there are no clear or easy choices. So how do you choose? What About Collateral Damage In Black Lightning, the subject of collateral damage comes up multiple times. Okay, you saved ten people, but injured five people? Maybe someone died. Superheroes […]

First Line Friday: Ghosts and Witches and Monsters

Lynette M Burrows

It’s October, and that means Halloween is coming. So for this  month’s First Line Friday, we’re looking at ghosts and witches and monsters—in science fiction and fantasy books. As always, there are no affiliate links in this collection of first lines. These titles are available on Amazon. They may be available in other places as well.  Ghosts Alexis Kine always knew her luck would eventually run out.  We Dare (Ghost Squadron Book 1) Eric Thomson No one noticed the rock. The Ghost Brigades (Old Man’s War Book 2) John Scalzi Monday is nature’s way of telling you that the only easy day was yesterday. Ghost Dog: Military Science Fiction Across a Holographic Multiverse (Gate Walkers Book 3)  Ashley R Pollard I placed a paper shirt into the furnace. The Girl with Ghost Eyes: The Daoshi Chronicles, Book One M. H. Boroson And Witches Bess ran. The clear night sky and fat moon gave ample illumination for her flight. The Witch’s Daughter: A Novel Paula Brackston There had been no sign of the hunters for three days. The Witches of the Wytewoods M J Thompson I decided that Orion needed to die after the second time he saved my life. A Deadly Education: A Novel (The Scholomance Book 1) Naomi Novik […]

The Mystical Adventure of Reading for Pleasure

Lynette M Burrows

Science has shown that reading helps memory, empathy, and language skills. But reading does more than that. It opens new worlds in your mind. It allows you to experience things you might never encounter in real life. There is a mystical adventure of reading. And here are the quotes to prove it.  On Learning to Read Oh, magic hour, when a child first knows she can read printed words! — A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, 1943 When I say to a parent, “read to a child”, I don’t want it to sound like medicine. I want it to sound like chocolate. — Mem Fox To learn to read is to light a fire; every syllable that is spelled out is a spark. — Victor Hugo, Les Miserables If you don’t like to read, you haven’t found the right book. —J.K. Rowling The Magic of Reading Books are a uniquely portable magic. —Stephen King There is no frigate like a book, to take us lands away — Emily Dickinson What an astonishing thing a book is. It’s a flat object made from a tree with flexible parts on which are imprinted lots of funny dark squiggles. But one glance at it and you’re […]