Mackenzie Carose

As The Page Turns: February Edition

By Mackenzie 10 Comments

Books, books, books! Time for my latest book reviews 🙂

Everything Is Spiritual by Rob Bell

I first heard of Rob Bell when he was a guest on one of The Minimalists podcasts. I enjoyed the episode and decided to check out his book. It was so good. This isn’t a “woo-woo” book or anything but Bell weaves together his stories and his life with the awareness that we are all part of something bigger. We are all interconnected. It really is kind of hard to fully explain but I truly enjoyed this book and it made me think which I feel, is what non-fiction books are supposed to do.

Enough by Jessica Rose Williams

There aren’t many bloggers that I follow and actually take the time to read their blogs and actually be invested in their words and photos and stories, but Jessica is absolutely one of those people. She writes about simple living and minimalism and just last month, published her very first book! Enough, is about being enough in our own lives and to stop trying to be something you are not and know that you are truly enough. Jess weaves in her personal stories with reflections and journal prompts and while parts of her story were definitely hard for her to share, she shares her journey and how it can help others.

The Deep Places by Ross Douthat

Ross Douthat is a New York Times columnist who wrote this memoir chronicling his debilitating five-year struggle with Lyme Disease. To be clear he still has the disease, but he is in a stage of the chronic form where he able to manage the symptoms much better. But wow, what he went through… There is no cure currently for Lyme Disease which is afflicting more and more Americans each year and Douthat’s story, chronicling his depths of despair while being so intensely sick, is a fascinating foray into documenting your life as it is happening, knowing that if it can help just one person, then something good can come from the heartbreak.

A Monstrous Regiment of Women

A Monstrous Regiment of Women is the second book in the series featuring Mary Russell and Sherlock Holmes. This series imagines a woman partner to Sherlock instead of Dr. Watson. These books take place in the 1920’s, where Sherlock is in his late 50’s, still solving cases. The first 7 or 8 books of this series are really the best. If you want to read this book however, I’d recommend reading the first book in the series, The Beekeeper’s Apprentice, or otherwise you’ll be a bit lost in this one.

That’s it from me! Any interesting books you’ve read lately? Let me know!

As The Page Turns: January Edition

By Mackenzie 8 Comments

First book review of 2022! Let’s dive in, shall we?

The Man Who Died Twice by Richard Osman

This book is the sequel to the mega-hit novel The Thursday Murder Club which if you haven’t read yet, you need to. Both books revolve around four elderly friends who live in a retirement community in England who solve crimes. It is highly entertaining and laugh-out-loud funny, and you will honestly wish you knew these people in a real-life setting. I absolutely recommend giving The Man Who Died Twice a go, but please read the initial installment first. It will give you a better feel for the characters and the situations that eventually set up the second book.

The Matter of Black Lives edited by Jelani Cobb and David Remnick

This tome is over 800 pages of previously published articles in The New Yorker by black authors. Here, you will read missives from many different authors regarding race and what it meant to be black in America. James Baldwin wrote his piece for The New Yorker in the early 60’s which laid the foundation for his book The Fire Next Time, which is a fantastic read by the way. I learned about Zora Neale Hurston and Ralph Ellison. I also learned about The Pullman Strike and the lives that continued to be affected by Hurricane Katrina.

Decades and decades worth of stories that just pull you in and make your heart hurt. I cried several times reading this book. It is that good. Don’t let the number of pages be a preventative measure to reading this book. This is one you must read.

The Crooked House by Agatha Christie

So, several years ago I sold quite a few books that I no longer read and were just taking up room on my bookshelf. I figured someone else would get use out of them and love them just as much as I did.

Well, The Crooked House was one of those books. As much as I adore Christie and her mysteries, not all of them are ones I love or enjoy giving them a proper re-read. This book was one of the ones I had sold so when I happened to see it on the bookshelves at my local library, I decided to check it out and read it again and remember why I didn’t keep it.

Oh, so that’s why I didn’t keep it, is what I kept saying as I read the book. I don’t want to give anything away if you haven’t read this one yet and were planning to, but it just wasn’t that good. Mysteries where it is told in the first-person and they cannot figure out who did it until one page from the end of the book drive me crazy. Have someone else tell the story then! If they have all the same clues at their disposal and we can figure it out, but they can’t… *sigh* I just can’t with books like that.

That’s all from me this month. What have you read lately?

As The Page Turns: December Edition

By Mackenzie 12 Comments

Hello all! It is the last book review of the year 🙂 Let’s dive in, shall we?

The 5 Second Rule by Mel Robbins

I was listening to The Minimalists podcast, and they had Mel Robbins on as a guest. I had never heard of her, but she is a really popular motivational speaker and although I do not normally go in for that kind of thing, I found her and her story to be interesting, so I checked out her book from the library.

Not all of us do but for those of us that sometimes waffle on making a decision due to “decision paralysis”, this rule can be a game changer: when we have to make a decision, we need to just do it because studies have shown that it takes our brains about 5 seconds to start overthinking and what-ifing, and the should I or shouldn’t I’s start kicking in. So, what she is saying is to just make the decision, just do the gosh darn thing. Because in 5 seconds your brain is going to start trying to “keep you safe” proverbially and talk you out of why you shouldn’t do the thing you are contemplating.

I found the concept interesting from a psychological point of view and I realize Mel and her message are not for everyone. But if you are feeling stuck in your decision-making or feel like procrastination is a term that you’d like to leave here in 2021, then maybe check this book out.

A Line to Kill by Anthony Horowitz

This is I think, the third book in this series featuring Detective Inspector Daniel Hawthorne. I am sure you are aware of my penchant for British mysteries and this one did not disappoint. I would absolutely recommend this whole series and also suggest starting with the first book in this sequence: The Word is Murder.

The Whispering Statue and The Haunted Bridge by Carolyn Keene

More Nancy Drew books to add to the list. When you need a break from real life, read something that doesn’t require a whole lot of effort 🙂

Ruth and the Green Book by Calvin Alexander Ramsey

I checked this book out from the library based on the recommendation of a fellow mom on Instagram. It is a children’s book but it is a great book for adults as well.

I am not going to delve too much into a history lesson here, but I am sure most folks know that for quite a few decades of the 20th century, black people couldn’t use the same motels, gas stations, etc… as white people, mostly in the South but other places as well. So, a black man named Victor Green wrote a sort of handbook to help black travelers. It was basically a listing of all the hotels, gas stations, restaurants, and other businesses that would serve black people. It was called the Green Book. This book was a lifesaver and it helped black people be able to travel freely and know where they could go and couldn’t go.

I liked this book for several reasons, but one big reason is because of my own heritage. My black grandparents traveled back and forth from the South to here in California in the 1940’s and they had friends who had this book and told them where to go and where to stay. Times were definitely different back then.

That’s it from me! What have you been reading this past month?