book review

The Flowers of Hiroshima, A Book Review

Lynette M Burrows

When I first read this book, I had just turned 14. I have never forgotten the heartbreak. This is a review of The Flowers of Hiroshima by Edita Morris, re-read more than 50 years later. WHAT IT’S ABOUT Told in the first person, this is the story of a Japanese family and their American boarder. The tone is loving and tender and heartbreaking. Yuka-san, a young housewife, meets Sam Willoughby outside of her home. Sam, a young American on a business trip to Hiroshima, wants to stay with a native family. Yuka’s family could use the extra money. So Sam becomes her lodger. Yuka-san loves her family, friends, and neighbors. She worries about her husband. Takes delight in her two children, her beautiful sister, and her American lodger. And she hides the ugliness of post-atomic-bomb-life from Sam. She watches Sam fall in love with Ohatsu and hopes that he will marry her sister and take her to America. But Ohatsu loves another. And Yuka cannot deny her sister a chance for happiness. Then the shadow they live under touches each of them and changes all of their lives. THE SETTING Fourteen years after the atomic bomb fell on Hiroshima, Yuka […]

Do You Read Zombie Stories?

Lynette M Burrows

Zombies are everywhere you turn. Television, Movies, memes on Facebook, and in stories. I don’t normally read this genre. Do you read zombie stories? If you do, I have a recommendation. I read the first episode of Rhonda Hopkin’s Survival series. If you like zombie stories, if you like fast action, strong female characters, and a good story, you’ll like this one. The Amazon Description When Sarah escapes from her brutal abductors, she promises to return to rescue her twin sister, but with the dead walking the earth she is forced to rely on a coworker who made her work life hell for years. With her coworker weakened by cancer treatments, her sister still imprisoned, and the dead looking for an easy meal, Sarah’s only plan, if she can pull it off, is Survival. The First Page The first line hooked me but wouldn’t have been strong enough to keep me reading. The main character and her desperate plight kept me going.  The Characters The protagonist is Sarah. She’s real. She faces an impossible situation from which many would run away. You care about Sarah and what happens because she fights for her sister and for people she knows need […]

What Your Book Review Can Do

Lynette M Burrows

You love to read, don’t you? You seek books that will sweep you into another world or time or place. Books with characters you love or love to hate. The rush of reading as fast as you can or the savoring every word can leave you with a thrill. Books that do that for you are precious. And we writers dream of creating that book for you. But do you know what your book review can do for the author, for other readers, and for the book publishing industry? Yes. You, dear reader, have the power to influence a book’s success but only if you review the books you read. What is this power? The Power to Share  You’ve read a great book. Don’t be selfish. Share it.  On sites like Amazon or Goodreads, you can give the book a star-rating.  Your written review spotlights the book for other potential readers. More than 85% of buyers on Amazon check the reviews before they buy.  You’ll not only point readers like you to the book, but you’ll also thrill the author. The Power to Spare You’ve read a not so great book. Don’t be mean about it. Remember how you’d feel […]