Your Next 5-Star Read Is in Here ⭐ (Plus a Few to Skip)

Welcome to Amy’s Picks and Pans – Issue 40, where my reading life has clearly been living its best, most dramatic, globe-trotting existence. This batch took me from 16th-century France to the Canadian wilderness, from small-town courtrooms to Nazi Germany, and even into the delicate (and sometimes chaotic) corners of childhood and faith. In other words—no passport required, just a comfy chair. What struck me this month was the sheer range. I found myself completely swept away by a few unforgettable five-star reads (the kind that make you cancel plans and ignore laundry), while a handful of others didn’t quite stick the landing. There are powerful stories of resilience, richly […]

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Secrets, Subplots, and Strange Skies: Cornwell’s Latest Scarpetta Mystery

3.5 stars for the eBook, 5 stars for the narration. Identity Unknown takes Dr. Kay Scarpetta into two chilling cases: the suspicious death of 7-year-old Luna Briley and the bizarre murder of Nobel-winning physicist Sal Giordano, who was once Scarpetta’s lover. The story begins with intrigue, from a tragic child abuse case to a haunting murder scene in an abandoned theme park, complete with crop circles and eerie clues. The forensic details are sharp, but the novel feels overloaded. With countless subplots and references to past events, I struggled to keep track. This isn’t a standalone—new readers will probably feel left out. The UFO angle was weird, though it ironically […]

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