The Woman with the Cure

At its peak in the 1940s and 1950s, polio paralyzed or killed over half a million people worldwide every year. The Woman with the Cure delves into the intense race to find a cure for the disease. Jonas Salk gets the credit for the polio vaccine, but there was a team of medical researchers around the globe racing to find a cure. Dorothy Horstmann was one of them. An American epidemiologist, virologist, and pediatrician and the first woman appointed as a professor at the Yale School of Medicine, her research showed how the poliovirus circulated in the body, setting the stage for the development of the vaccine. Jonas Salk and […]

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Damascus Station

Author David McCloskey draws upon his own experiences as a CIA analyst in Syria, bringing authenticity to this spy thriller. He paints a vivid picture of the chaos and danger of international espionage and the chaos of the Syrian uprising—his understanding of tradecraft shines through every page. The plot centers on CIA operative Sam Joseph, who’s left reeling after a botched exfiltration in Syria. He’s shipped off to Paris to recruit Mariam Haddad, a Syrian Palace official, as a double agent. Cue the forbidden romance. The two go to Damascus to hunt down a brutal pair of brothers who kidnapped and killed an American spy. The chase brings the pair […]

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Maria’s Scarf

“The world said I would never amount to anything. My mother said all things are possible to those who believe. I believed my mother.” ~ Zoro Maria’s Scarf is a beautiful memoir about the unbreakable bond between a mother and son, a family’s struggle to survive in the face of desperate circumstances, and a starry-eyed boy’s quest to live out his dream. From the very first page, Zoro’s journey pulls you in, tugging at your heartstrings with every twist and turn of his life story. Raised in abject poverty, Zoro defied the odds stacked against him. Before the age of nine, his single mother, a Mexican immigrant, had moved her […]

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Amy’s Picks and Pans, Issue 26

  So many great books this month! You’ll notice they are heavy in the historical fiction and thriller genres; sometimes it just shakes out that way! Still, I also have contemporary fiction, so if that’s your jam, look no further!  The Widows of Champagne By Renee Ryan Wow, what a book! I dove into The Widows of Champagne thinking it might be just another sad World War II tale, but boy, was I in for a treat. This novel took me on a journey with three generations of resilient women fighting to safeguard their family’s vineyard during a tumultuous time in France. Gabrielle Leblanc Dupree, a woman with a secret […]

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Saturday Night at the Lakeside Supper Club

I grew up in a suburb of Minneapolis during the heyday of supper clubs. My mom did less cooking as my siblings left the house, so we’d often go out to eat. Two of my favorite spots in the 70s were Jax Café and The White House. Even on vacations up north, we’d seek these classic supper clubs. What exactly is a supper club, you ask? Well, they were a big deal in the upper Midwest. You’d know one the moment you walked in. Picture wood paneling, a relish tray, and a candle flickering in a red jar on every white tablecloth. Your meal would typically include soup or salad, […]

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Sparring Partners

If you’re into John Grisham’s legal thrillers like I am, you might be curious about his first collection of novellas, “Sparring Partners.” I’ve been a fan of Grisham’s work for a while now, having read over a dozen of his books, but this collection didn’t quite hit the mark for me. The novellas in Sparring Partners all revolve around the theme of law, which is a common thread in Grisham’s writing and something I usually enjoy. In “Homecoming,” we follow Jake Brigance, a familiar character from Grisham’s previous novels, as he’s called upon to help his old friend Mack Stafford, a disgraced former attorney who disappeared with his clients’ money, […]

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The Bucharest Dossier

As a book reviewer, one of the best parts of my job is discovering new authors. William Maz was an unknown name to me until The Bucharest Dossier landed in my hands, and I can now say I am a fan. This international espionage thriller follows Bill Hefflin, a Romanian expat who’s parents brought him to America as a child during the Cold War. After graduating from Harvard, he’s recruited by the CIA as an analyst. His skills are put to the test when he’s asked to return to Bucharest. It’s the start of the bloody 1989 uprising against Nicolae Ceaușescu, the Communist leader of the country. What unfolds is […]

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The Lake Pagoda

The Lake Pagoda takes readers on a journey to French Indochina in the mid-1940s, a period rarely explored in WWII historical fiction. The protagonist, Arielle, is of mixed French and Vietnamese heritage working as a secretary for the French colonial government. When the Japanese invade Hanoi, her native blood spares her from imprisonment, but she is forced to work for the enemy. Ariel’s life takes a dramatic turn when she is approached by the Viet Minh, a Communist organization led by Ho Chi Minh. The agent threatens to expose dark secrets from her past if she doesn’t pass them information from the Japanese. She must navigate the dangerous path of […]

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Simply Lies

Hooray for a new standalone by one of my all-time favorite authors! David Baldacci, a master storyteller with 150 million copies sold worldwide, is back with Simply Lies, a psychological thriller that pits two formidable women against each other. In this gripping tale, we meet Mickey Gibson, a single mother and former police detective who now works for ProEye, a global investigation company specializing in tracking down the financial assets of tax-evading elites. When Mickey receives a phone call from a colleague asking her to inventory the home of an arms dealer who has disappeared, she thinks it’s just another routine assignment. However, things take a dark turn when she […]

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Symphony of Secrets

With his background as a music educator and performer, Brendan Slocumb brings a unique authenticity to his storytelling that shines through in this novel. Bern Hendricks, a musicology professor, is asked to authenticate a newly discovered piece by Frederick Delaney, a renowned 20th-century composer. Little does he know; this assignment will lead him down a rabbit hole of secrets and lies. With the help of a computer whiz, he uncovers evidence suggesting Delaney may have stolen his most famous work from a young Black composer named Josephine Reed. Determined to right this wrong, Bern finds himself in the crosshairs of a powerful organization that will stop at nothing to protect […]

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