Mackenzie Carose

As The Page Turns: February Edition

By Mackenzie 10 Comments

Let’s dive in shall we?

Dear Wife by Kimberly Belle

Excellent, excellent thriller about two women who go missing and the cop investigating the cases and finds out there is a connection. A must-read for sure!

All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque

I am trying to challenge myself this year by reading more books that are considered “classics”, not just my usual genres of mysteries. This book did not disappoint. This book takes place during The First World War and is told from the point of view of a German soldier fighting at The Front. Heartbreaking and sad and profound, all wrapped up into one. I highly, highly recommend giving this a read, even if the subject matter isn’t normally your cup of tea.

Thriving as an Empath by Judith Orloff

Not a book for everyone obviously, but if you are a highly-sensitive person and you tend to FEEL ALL THE FEELINGS ALL OF THE TIME, then this might be the book for you 🙂

First, We Make The Beast Beautiful by Sarah Wilson

A book about one woman’s journey with “the beast” we call anxiety. I really loved this book and hearing Wilson’s perspective and how she deals with her struggles.

A Penny For Your Secrets by Anna Lee Huber

This is the third book in the Verity Kent series and did not disappoint! It left the reader with a bit of a cliffhanger at the end, but it wasn’t one of those annoying ones where it makes you irrationally angry at the author. This particular cliffhanger was just enough to entice and make you look forward to the next book in this 1919-set series.

Well, that’s it from me. Have you read any good books lately? Let me know in the comments 🙂

Thanks

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! 😀