MAKE HIM A SANDWICH by Candace Owens @realCandaceO

 5 GOLD stars

On Candace's website - Canada and US only
On Amazon.com - ships to UK

On Goodreads

How I discovered this book: I saw it advertised on Candace's show.

In a Nutshell: 'Why real women don't need fake feminism'

My husband bought me this for Christmas; such was the demand for this elegant treatise of feminist culture that it didn't arrive until a few days ago.  Having just closed the book, I imagine most will agree with me that the wait was worth it.  MHAS is so well-written I became totally engrossed in every historical account, every 'celeb' incident, every aspect of the way in which the media and those who run it have manipulated young women to think that (for instance) getting your kit off on the internet for money is 'liberation'.

I particularly liked Chapter 4, Beyond the Pale, which outlines the origins of the movement, back as far mid 19th Century Russia.  So much I didn't know.  Oh, and don't miss Chapter 6: The Kardashian School of Plastic'.  Or #7, Along Came Hannah, about 'trad wife' Hannah Neeleman and her YouTube channel about life at her family home, Ballerina Farm. I was glued to the pages throughout!

MHAS compares the biology of men and women, the emotional differences, which made me think about aspects I hadn't previously considered.  The book is a light and 'easy read', wise, honest and straight to the point but always classy.  I watch Candace often, so I know how intricately she researches every detail, how careful she is before presenting facts.  She digs deeper than most, into both her subject matter and the motivations of others.

Something else I appreciated was the way the chapters themselves were structured - a masterclass in keeping the reader's attention.  I can't recommend this book highly enough.  It cuts through all the lies, myths,  hype and manipulation; the hows and whys about the overturning of Roe vs Wade was an eye-opener.

Make Him A Sandwich is informative, fascinating, funny, beautifully structured, and fears no man!  Or woman, of course.  😉

The Eradication of Humanity by Social Media by Lena Ma #TuesdayBookBlog

4 out of 5 stars

On Amazon
On Goodreads

How I discovered this book: It was offered for review by book blogger and blog tour operator @shanannigans / RR Book Tours

In a Nutshell: Exploration of social media, mostly TikTok, and how its obsessive use affects young people.

This book was not quite as I expected from that dramatic title, and I soon discovered that I am definitely not within the target demographic. It's an exploration of the culture surrounding the TikTok app; other sites are briefly touched upon, namely Facebook, Twitch and Instagram, but mostly as a comparison, examining only one or two areas of the sites.  Having said this, I now know a great deal about TikTok, all of which was most interesting; many members of its royalty are named, and I found myself wondering who Charli D'Amelio was.  I looked her up on Youtube and ended up spending half an hour watching her dance videos - I can see why she's so popular.

Ms Ma has concentrated her study around those who use the platform to gain fame and fortune, and writes extensively on how damaging this can be, and the lengths to which users will go to achieve their goals, from the silly and fun to the darker than dark.  I did find this all quite fascinating, as well as her in depth look at how the site works; its algorithms, and so on.

Where the book falls down is in its limited outlook.  It assumes everyone uses social media in the same way, addicted to the 'likes', constantly checking for evidence of popularity, sharing all manner of personal content with no thought for privacy.  Ms Ma makes constant generalisations:  

'Most of us live mundane lives that leave us unmotivated, work 9 to 5 jobs and come home to alcohol and television.'  Um, no, we don't, but this is, apparently, why 'we' are all so addicted to social media.

'Why are we so desperate for internet and TikTok fame?  Why do we see losing followers and fame as the end of the world?' (Answer: millions, of us aren't, and don't).

'We constantly feel the need to check up on our own profiles or feeds to see if people like our material or not'.  Every day I see many young users of Twitter who use social media for reasons other than posting selfies and videos of themselves to get attention.  I have a bright, attractive, outgoing niece of 20 years old, who doesn't use any of the sites much at all.  My nieces-in-law are of a similar age and have 'lives', not just phone screens.

Ms Ma writes well and this is a basically a good book; if it wasn't, I wouldn't have read it all.  However, I think it needs more thinking through, and most definitely a different title.  She does not have enough material to cover the present one; Twitter, for instance, is scarcely mentioned.

To write a proper study of this massive and complex subject, Ms Ma would need to look at the beginning of social media and how it evolved - MySpace, the original, is not mentioned at all.  Her ideas are good, and have weight, but I think that she needs to use Facebook and Twitter more to actually understand how they work, and research how people other than her contemporaries use them.  Alternatively, give the book a different title that indicates what it actually is: an exposé of all that is wrong and dangerous about TikTok.  As such, it is extremely good, and I can imagine many disillusioned users of the site lapping up every word - and telling their friends about it. Of course, the place to promote it would be TikTok itself; I hope she realises this!

This is the best line in the whole book, and one to bear in mind, for many reasons:

  

No social media site has ever been created or optimised for the sake of its users.

MATILDA WINDSOR IS COMING HOME by Anne Goodwin @Annecdotist #RBRT

4.5 out of 5 stars

On Amazon UK
On Amazon.com
On Goodreads

How I discovered this book: it was submitted to Rosie's Book Review Team, of which I am a member.

In a Nutshell: Unusual family drama.

I thoroughly enjoyed this novel, which is both entertaining and incredibly sad.  It is set mostly in 1989/90, with flashbacks to the 1930s, and Matty Osborne, also known as Matilda Windsor, has been a resident in psychiatric hospitals for fifty years - since she was around twenty.  The reason given at the time was 'moral turpitude' - in other words, becoming pregnant without being married.  I remember seeing something on television once, a long time ago, about how, in the first half of this century, young girls who were committed to asylums for getting pregnant, and were never let out again.  In this circumstance, Matty eventually lost her mind; her path to this state is not revealed until the end of the book.

She believes that she is in her own stately home - sometimes during the Great War, at other times during World War II - that the other residents are her guests, and the carers are her staff.  The story weaves between three points of view: Matty, a young carer called Janice, and Matty's younger half-brother Henry who doesn't know where she is or why she left home.  The staff of Tuke House have no idea whatsoever what goes on in Matty's head, or probably within the head of any of the residents.  Janice is likable and fun, and I enjoyed the portrayals of the people she worked with, most of them ghastly, grey jobsworths with limited imagination.  She is very much a young woman of the Thatcher years with anti-Thatcher ideals; I felt such a sense of going back over 3 decades when I read about her.

I guessed early on what had led to Matty's dreadful fate, but it's not obvious, and I did change my mind a few times; either way, the fact that we don't know 'how, who and why' adds to the page-turning quality of the book.  When I got to the end of her 1930s story, I could have cried at how alone she was, how there was no-one, anywhere, who would listen to and believe her.  It was so tragic, so shocking, made even more so because you know that this sort of thing happened to so many girls, never mind the stories of some of her friends in the unmarried mothers' home. 

Another element that adds to the suspense is Henry's search for the long lost sister he hardly remembers, and all the near misses when he could have found her but didn't.  They're frustrating; each time I though, oh, they're going to find each other!

I found this book particularly interesting because I've worked at a psychiatric hospital in the past, and because I was reminded of my late mother, who had Alzheimer's for eleven years and lived in a care home for the last seven or so years of her life.  I visited her often; I remember her being under the impression that the place was a hotel, and the carers were waitresses.

Although this story has a certain amount of resolution, I gather there is to be a sequel.  I admit to being a little disappointed as I expected to get to the end and have everything nicely wrapped up - but life isn't like that, and the stories of Matty, Janice and Henry will continue.  I look forward to reading the next book when it appears!

THIS WILL BREAK EVERY BONE IN YOUR HEART by Keith Anthony Baird @kabauthor

4 out of 5 stars

On Amazon UK
On Amazon.com
On Goodreads

How I discovered this book: Twitter

In a Nutshell: Long novelette/short novella, dark psychological fiction/horror: mind control.

This is a clever, short book about a boy called Zachary who is placed in an institute at a very early age, where he has contact with no humans apart from his carers for some years.  He is found 'parents' at around the age of 5, and from then on every aspect of his life is monitored and controlled by a shadow organisation.  His family, friends, the ups and mostly downs throughout his life—none of it happens by accident.  His formative years are damaging enough, but as the tragedies and losses pile up, he becomes increasingly paranoid and sociopathic.

The story is very well written, and a real page turner; I couldn't work out why any of it was happening or what the outcome was going to be.  In the last third of the book there is a massive twist, completely unexpected—and the purpose of the whole 'experiment' is revealed at last.  I'm usually pretty good at predicting stuff like this, but I didn't guess it.

It's a dark and distressing story, not for the faint of heart, but for anyone who likes low-key, psychological horror, and has an interest in behind the scenes mind control (that's me with both hands up), I'd most certainly recommend it.

DONKEY BOY and other stories by Mary Smith @marysmithwriter

4 out of 5 stars

On Amazon UK
On Amazon.com
On Goodreads
 

How I discovered this book: It was submitted to Rosie Amber's Review Team, of which I am a member.  Two years ago I read No More Mulberries by this author, which I liked a lot.

This is an interesting and diverse collection of stories, set in several locations, from Scotland to Pakistan, where the author lived for a while.  Some of them were written as monologues, which have been performed.

I liked those set in Pakistan best, my very favourite being Accidents Happen, about a girl whose mother marries a man she hates.  I liked it so much I read it again, straight away.  I also liked Donkey Boy itself, about a little boy who has to work for his father instead of going to school, and Trouble with Socks, about the sort of ghastly, patronising auxiliary in a care home who thinks that physically disabled means mentally deficient.  The last one, a longer story called The Thing In Your Eye, was interesting.  A woman believes she sees evil in people in their eyes; this left me a little unsure, as I didn't know if we were meant to think it was all in her mind (as everyone else does), or if she really could 'read' people.  

They're all unusual, with a theme of private sadness.  I liked a very short one called My Name is Anya, too, about an Afghani girl adopted by Scottish parents.  They're ideal for a nice bit of lying on the sofa, afternoon reading when you're not in the mood for complicated plots.

THE UNRAVELING OF BRENDAN MEEKS by Brian Cohn @briancohnMD

5 out of 5 stars

On Amazon UK
On Amazon.com
On Goodreads

How I discovered this book:  it was submitted to Rosie Amber's Review Team, of which I am a member.  I had previously read The Last Detective by this author, and very much liked his writing style.

Brendan Meeks is schizophrenic.  He thinks his head contains an important, secret code, and that mysterious men in dark suits are trying to get inside his brain.  He comes from an affluent, middle class, dysfunctional family; his mother is cold and aspirational, his father a weak shadow, but his sister is the one light in his life.  Brendan lives in a run down apartment block, where his friends are a druggie, a drunkard and a dealer, but they've become his new family.

When tragedy strikes, Brendan is sure that the police are not doing enough to solve the crime, and takes on his own investigation.  Trouble is, he is unable to tell what is truth and what is just the voices in his head...

'My voices commanded me to do awful things, like jump off a bridge or slit my throat or step out into traffic.  They never told me to do anything useful or productive, like, 'Eat more vegetables' or 'Don't forget to floss'.'

I read this book over just two days, it's very good indeed.  Brendan is likeable and totally believable, and every character, even the minor ones, shine out.  Mr Cohn's writing style is intelligent, incisive, and subtly amusing, which is just right for this unusual and highly original story.  Cliché alert: I couldn't put it down!

Brendan makes some excellent observations:

About a DEA officer ~ 'His voice was low and soft, with a backwoods Louisiana accent, Cajun and Creole and jambalaya all mixed together.  I envisioned him living in a house on stilts, driving a fan boat and wrestling alligators in his spare time.  He probably put Tabasco sauce in his coffee'.

About a dealer: '...a pudgy white guy with short blond hair ... he looked like a bloated Eminem, and I wondered if he had eaten the rapper and taken on some of his persona in the process'.

The plot itself is interesting, some of it almost black humour, but it's tragic, too, and I had no idea what the outcome would be.  When it came, it wrapped all the threads up nicely, and gave me hope for Brendan too.  I don't throw 5* around but this book definitely deserves it.  The author has masses of genuine talent, the sort you can't learn, or fake with 'by-numbers' plots.  Highly recommended!

RONALD LAING by David Boyle

4 out of 5 stars

On Amazon UK HERE
On Amazon.com HERE
On Goodreads HERE

How I discovered this book:  It was a submission to Rosie Amber's Book Review Team, of which I am a member.

The name R D Laing is one that I've often seen around, probably on my parents' bookshelves, too, but I've never really known who he was.  I've long been sceptical about psychiatric diagnoses, so this book piqued my interest.  It's only novella length, so I knew it wouldn't be a huge chore to get through if I didn't like it.  Happily, I did. 
 
Laing was an unorthodox Scottish psychiatrist who challenged methods of psychiatric treatment during the 1940s and 50s, was greatly influenced by existential philosophy and became a cult figure in the 1960s.  This book is not long enough to be a biography; it's more an overview of his life and an examination of his principles, theories and work in relation to the trends of the time.  David Boyle writes intelligently, clearly and in language plain enough for the general reader with no knowledge of the subject.  He gives a few instances of Laing's experiments when working in psychiatric hospitals, such as this one: '...In one ward, he reduced the drugs to practically zero and locked the door.  In the first week of the experiment, about 30 windows were smashed.  Nobody was hurt, so from the second week onwards he unlocked the doors and found there was no rush to leave, and the windows stayed intact...'

Like others of his brilliance, philosophies, era and convention-challenging ideas, Laing sank heavily into the bottle and became something of a caricature of himself.  I was interested in much of what Boyle touched upon, found myself constantly nodding and highlighting passages, and will find out more, I am sure, probably from the bibliography at the back.   This mini-bio ends at 87%, after which there is the beginning of another work by David Boyle, and a list of others, which I was interested enough to look at.

'He had a complete lack of interest in any kind of small talk or going through the social motions'.   Hang on while I go and look him up on YouTube...