Amy’s Picks and Pans, Issue 37

This month, I packed my bags (well, metaphorically) and globe-trotted through time and place—from the sunbaked Outback of Australia to the shadowy alleys of WWII France, with side trips to Iran, Florida, and the Civil War South. Along the way, I found time to read and review everything from page-turning thrillers to heart-tugging historical fiction to a few charming picture books that stole the show (and my heart). Buckle up—there’s a little something for everyone in this literary itinerary! Make sure to follow my reviews by signing up for my newsletter, or by finding me on Goodreads, Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook. All the Little Animals: A Bedtime Book from A-Z […]

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Your Mind is a Palace

The best memoir I have ever read is Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 1997. When I look back on my childhood I wonder how I managed to survive at all. It was, of course, a miserable childhood: the happy childhood is hardly worth your while. Worse than the ordinary miserable childhood is the miserable Irish childhood, and worse yet is the miserable Irish Catholic childhood. So begins the luminous memoir of Frank McCourt, born in Depression-era Brooklyn to recent Irish immigrants and raised in the slums of Limerick, Ireland. Frank’s mother, Angela, has no money to feed the children since Frank’s father, […]

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Healing for the Broken Heart

It’s hard to believe that the God who created the universe and everything in it cares about every hair on our head, and every sorrow in our heart. But He loves us more than we can imagine and through Him all things are possible. “Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.” ~ Ephesians 3:20 (NLT)

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