Mackenzie Carose

As The Page Turns: January Edition

By Mackenzie 16 Comments

New year, new month, new book review!

Those People by Louise Candlish

Excellent contemporary English mystery about what happens when a couple moves in to a neighborhood and become the epitome of the “neighbors from hell”. When a horrific death happens, everyone starts pointing fingers on this quiet little street and everyone has something to hide.

Blowout by Rachel Maddow

The oil and gas industry is super corrupt and their ties to Russia go back to way before the 2016 election. It is all intertwined and complicated, but Maddow does an excellent job in explaining it all and making it make sense.

Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport

A great read on social media and its effects on how we function and operate. If social media gives you anxiety or puts you into a funk, or you are just ready to throw your smart phone out the window, then this is the book for you. Learn how to curate whom you follow on social media and use it for the fun purposes like it was initially intended.

Climate Justice by Mary Robinson

This book was amazing. Mary Robinson is the former President of Ireland and worked previously for the UN fighting climate change and all the resounding issues that go along with it. In this book, she interviews different people all over the world, talking to them and sharing their stories about climate change is impacting their lives and their towns/villages. This book was fascinating and it will open your eyes to what is truly going on in other parts of the world.

That’s it from me! Any interesting books you guys have read lately?

As The Page Turns: December Edition

By Mackenzie 18 Comments

It is hard to believe we are at the end of the year with these book review write-ups, but here we are! 😀

House Between Tides by Sarah Maine

Atmospheric novel that goes back and forth between the years 1910 and present-day. A London woman receives word that she’s inherited the family ancestral home in Scotland. What she didn’t expect to find were human remains buried beneath it.

This is not a creepy or scary novel at all. The book goes back and forth between Hattie, the woman who has inherited the home and her trying to find out whose bones are on her property, and the year 1910 where the original inhabitants lived and breathed,  and died. If you are looking for atmosphere, than this would be your book. The 1910 era of the book was informative and very interesting and I found myself wanting to skip the “current” time=frame and get back to the 1910 part to find out what happened.

Dear Rachel Maddow by Adrienne Kisner

I do not usually read young adult books, but I had this one on my radar for more than a year and realized I hadn’t tackled it. I am glad I did because I thoroughly enjoyed this book! 🙂

This book is about Brynn Harper, a high school student who watches The Rachel Maddow Show daily and after writing to Rachel for a school project and actually getting a response, Brynn starts drafting emails to Rachel but never sending them. Brynn tells Rachel about her brother’s death, her dating life, problems with her mother and stepfather, even that she is stuck in remedial courses & is considering dropping out of high school. But when Brynn is confronted with a moral dilemma she has to figure out what to do and turns to the one steadying force in her life: Rachel Maddow and asks, what would Rachel Maddow do?

Guys, this book was so, so good! It has quite a bit of cursing in it, FYI so just a head-up, but it was such a great read!

The Vows of Silence by Susan Hill

So ever since I read my first Simon Serrailler novel, I have been a bit obsessed in reading all the novels in this series that follows a Chief Inspector working in England. It is a contemporary mystery series which is usually not my cup of tea owing to the fact that I like mysteries before the computer age, but these books are definitely worth the read.

This particular book finds Chief Inspector Serrailler trying to track down a gunman who is terrorizing young women in their town. It seems like the women being gunned down are random, with nothing linking them. But the Chief Inspector will look for any thread, no matter how tenuous, to find a link and catch a killer.

I am already onto the next Simon Serrailler novel and I have about three more after that 🙂 What can I say, I enjoy this series! 😀

 

As The Page Turns: November Edition

By Mackenzie 14 Comments

Let’s get to those book reviews, shall we? 🙂

The Nanny by Gilly MacMillan

So, so good! This mystery about a nanny that disappears one night (or does she?) and is believed to be murdered (or was she?) was just so good, y’all. I could not put it down and it had so many elements of surprise and things turning in ways that you don’t expect. A great read!

Cozy White Cottage by Liz Marie Galvan

I heart Liz Marie. Seriously. I have been following her on Instagram for awhile now and when she announced that she had written a home décor book, I jumped on that and headed to my nearest brick and mortar store and purchased that bad boy. Her style and home are swoon worthy and she is really the sweetest blogger.

The Comforts of Home by Susan Hill

I mentioned on Instagram the other day how much I love this book. Seriously, guys. This is the latest book in the Chief Superintendent Simon Serrailler series and I didn’t feel like I was missing out by not reading any of the proceeding books in this series. You know I love me some British mysteries, and this contemporary novel checked all the appropriate boxes 🙂

A Mind of Your Own by Kelly Brogan

Y’all, I saved the worst for last. I saw this book had been recommended in the “natural healing” communities, and I decided to give it a read. Her being a doctor, I though hey, let’s hear what she has to say about healing your body when you have anxiety and/or depression.

Some points she made were solid such as doctors as a whole aren’t looking at the person they are treating, they are just throwing medication at one’s symptoms and moving on. I also agree that the foods one puts in their body can make a difference in how they feel. And yes, there are other ailments that can mimic depressive symptoms and a person may not have depression per se, but some other illness going on with their body that is causing similar symptoms.

Yessssss, honey. I was like okay, she is getting somewhere with me, but then…

She went on a rant about vaccinations. *sigh*

Are you freaking kidding me? You are a doctor who is ANTI-VAX???

Don’t tell people who are already depressed and are turning to your book for help, THAT MAYBE THAT POLIO VACCINE YOU GOT 30 YEARS AGO IS CONTRIBUTING TO YOU FEELING LIKE CRAP AND FEELING WORTHLESS. No. Just no. I am tired of people likening vaccinations with all that is wrong with the world. People who have never had a vaccination in their entire lives, still get depression. AND THEY DO. It is absolutely irresponsible to say the nonsense that she must’ve thoughtlessly scribbled out on a steno pad to her editor somewhere. For Pete’s sake…

Also, she is anti-antibiotics. *another heavy sigh* I cannot. I seriously cannot. Look, are antibiotics over prescribed in our society? I don’t know, probably. But, ANTIBIOTICS ARE NOT THE DEVIL. Antibiotics and Depression are not off holding hands somewhere, wondering how they can f@#k up your life any more than it already is. I mean, really?? Antibiotics save lives. Let me say it louder for those in the back. ANTIBIOTICS SAVE LIVES. Period. Don’t tell anxious and depressive people that they probably feel the way they do because that bacterial infection that they had that one time, that a doctor prescribed antibiotics for, is probably causing them to currently feel like shit.

And don’t even get me started on the coffee enemas she prescribes to help you get off whatever current anti-depressant you are on. Yes, that’s right. Coffee. Enemas.

This book would be better used as kindling for your fireplace.

That’s all from me. Any great books y’all can recommend?