Teddy Rose Book Reviews Plus More


Jan 13

16

Review & Giveaway: Through Angel’s Eyes by Steve Theunissen

Posted by Teddyrose@1 on January 16, 2013
Posted in Books Read in 2013 • My Past Giveaways  | 6 Comments

Book Description:

‘Through Angel’s Eyes’ is the first person account of a 13 year old Black girl as she experiences the pivotal events of the 1963 civil rights movement in Birmingham, Alabama. The book is a Young Adult historical fiction that infuses the timeless wisdom of Martin Luther King into an intriguing narrative that takes readers on a roller coaster of emotion while they learn about a time when a group of courageous young people quietly said ‘Enough!” and stood up for what they believed in.


My Review:


Through Angel’s Eyes is the fictional account of the civil rights movement in Birmingham, Alabama as told by 13 year old Angel Dunbar.  Angel really looks up to her older brother, Jimmy.  He becomes active in the civil rights movement and Angel wants to get involved as well.  They follow the peaceful movement led by Martin Luther King.  However, Angel starts to fall for a boy, Ronny,  in her class who she finds out is in the black power moment.  With two opposing points of view on how to gain civil rights, can they come together?


The civil rights movement and the 60’s is another time period I can’t seem to get enough of.  Through Angel’s Eyes was written for young adults but as an middle aged adult, I found it quite powerful.  At first I had a bit of trouble with the authentic southern dialect, Steve Theunissen used.  However, it was necessary for the continuity of the novel and to stay true to the location.


The character jump out off of the page and into the readers imagination.  The book debates the issue of black power and civil rights in a way for the reader to understand the difference between the two movements and the story flows beautifully.

I highly recommend Through Angel’s Eyes to both adults and young adults.


5/5


About Steve Theunissen:


Steve Theunissen is a 47-year-old middle school teacher who lives in Tauranga, New Zealand. Steve combined his passion for fitness with his love of writing as he forged a career as a freelance fitness writer. From there he branched out to produce books about his next great passion – U.S. history. Through Angel’s Eyes, Steve’s first novel, draws upon his life-long study of the Civil Rights movement.


Thanks to Paula Krapf of Author Marketing Experts, Inc., I am giving away one print copy.  This giveaway is open worldwide and ends on January 30, 2013.  Please use Rafflecopter to enter.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Copyright 2007-2010: All the posts within this blog were originally posted by Teddy Rose and should not be reproduced without express written permission.

Jan 13

9

Review & Giveaway: My Journey As a Combat Medic by Patrick Thibeault

Posted by Teddyrose@1 on January 9, 2013
Posted in Books Read in 2013 • My Past Giveaways  | 1 Comment

Book Description:


Publisher: Osprey Publishing, July 24, 2012
Category: Military Medic, Memoir
Tour Dates: January, 2013
Available in: PDF, Kindle , 176 pages

My Journey as a Combat Medic is a no-holds-barred look at the modern medic in the US Army, allowing us a glimpse at the training as a soldier and as a specialist, as well as deployment and front line duties and the impact of service on civilian life, including an honest look at PTSD, from the author’s own personal experience. Rather than a technical manual, My Journey as a Combat Medic is a detailed firsthand account, concluding with a letter to new medics, providing a career’s worth of advice and knowledge as they begin their journeys. This book is about the soldiers who bring compassion and humanity to the battlefield.

My Review:


Before this, I never read much about the military before, except for what is in the news.  I loved the idea of reading a personal account of one guy from the military and that is why I accepted this book.


I wasn’t expecting such a well written account.  I guess I was stereotyping and thinking that people from the military couldn’t be real writes.  I was wrong!


My Journey As a Combat Medic was well written and grabbed me from the first page.  Patrick Thibeault was in the military for a very long time, starting in Desert Storm in the 90’s and ending in Afghanistan. He wanted to be the best medic possible and took advantage of all of the courses and opportunities the army had available to him.


His description of learning to be a paratrooper was nail biting.  He made several jumps over his army career.


This is a heartfelt account as well.  No matter who his patient, soldier, enemy or civilian, Patrick did his best to help all.  He even treated children.  towards the end of the book Patrick talks about PTSD- Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and how it has affected him.  However, he makes clear that he doesn’t regret his service to his country.

Patrick, I want to thank you for your years of service and your on-going work outside the military.  I applaud you!


If you’re like me and don’t agree with most of the wars that are fought in the world, it doesn’t matter. The military is an important aspect of our world.  This is an inside account of one of our troops.  It is not a blood and guts account, so no need to be squeamish. Highly recommended!


 5/5

About Patrick Thibeault:


Patrick Thibeault was raised as an Army brat. He lived in Germany, Fort Devens, Massachusetts, Fayetteville, North Carolina and his father was stationed in Seoul, South Korea where he attended Seoul American High School and graduated in 1989. During his time in Korea, Patrick watched several of the Olympic games in person as they were in Seoul, South Korea in 1988. He grew to respect and understand the different cultures he encountered.

Upon graduation from high school, Patrick enlisted in the Army becoming a paratrooper medic. The first unit that he was assigned to was the elite 3rd Battalion / 160th Special Operations Aviation Regiment (Airborne). Patrick deployed to Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm back in 1990. During his tenure with the 160th, Patrick had the opportunity to grow both as a soldier and as a medic. He attended SERE school (Survival training), went to Army enlisted flight medic school at Fort Rucker, and attended Primary Leadership training at Fort Stewart, Georgia among other types of military training. He deployed both stateside and overseas with the 160th and even spent some time on the USS. Theodore Roosevelt. During his time with the 160th, he was on both on enlisted crewmember flight status and parachute status.


He then joined the Kentucky Army National Guard. Patrick deployed twice to Ecuador during his time with the Kentucky Army National Guard. He continued to grow in the medical field and nursing field and started nursing school at Eastern Kentucky University. Patrick’s first job as a nurse was as a registered nurse in Indianapolis,Indiana. Patrick transferred to the Indiana Army National Guard where in 2000, his entire brigade travelled to Fort Polk, Louisiana to participate in the combat simulations at the Joint Readiness Training Center or JRTC.

He graduated with his bachelor’s degree in nursing in May 2003 from Marian University in Indianapolis, Indiana. In 2004, he deployed with his unit, the 76th Infantry Brigade in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. His unit was part of Task Force Phoenix. This task force trained the conventional Afghanistan Army and had soldiers embedded into these Afghanistan units both during training and combat operations. Patrick worked briefly as a liaison for Task Force Phoenix at Bagram Airbase before going back out into the deserts of Afghanistan to serve as a medic.


Patrick started on his master’s degree to become a Family Nurse Practitioner upon returning from combat in 2005. He graduated from Indiana Wesleyan University in December, 2008. Patrick then transferred to the 138th Field Artillery Brigade, part of the Kentucky Army National Guard, where he remained till he retired in January, 2011. Patrick currently works part time in a medical intensive care unit part time as a registered nurse and works full time in a urgent and primary care clinic as a Family Nurse Practitioner.


Hobbies include Corvettes,writting poetry, working out, Star Trek, and reading medical books. He is married to his wife Connie. They have a dog named Rocco and two cats named Savannah and Georgia. He named his cats after the beautiful city of Savannah and the other cat after the state of Georgia when he was stationed at Hunter Army Airfield, in Savannah,Georgia.

His awards and decorations include the Combat Medical Badge, 2nd award from both Desert Storm and Enduring Freedom. The Meritorious Service Medical from Afghanistan, the Air Medal from Desert Storm. Patrick also has earned the Expert Field Medical Badge, parachute wings, and the enlisted crewmember aviation wings.

Currently Patrick is working on a book of combat medic poetry, a book about working as a nurse and a nurse practitioner from the perspective of a man and a fictional book about a time travelling medical provider who gets stuck in the past while trying to learn medicine and nursing and working on his website at http://www.medicstory.com/


Now for the Giveaway! The author, Patrick Thibeault has agreed to giveaway one PDF copy of My Journey As a Combat Medic. This giveaway is oppen worldwide and ends on February 14, 2013.  Please use Rafflecopter to enter.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Follow the Tour:
JoyStory Jan 8 Review
So Many Precious Books  Jan 9 Review & Giveaway
JoyStory  Jan 9 Interview
Rhodes Reviews Jan 10 Review
Angela Shelton Jan 11 Review
Angela Shelton Jan 11 Interview
Every Free Chance Jan 14 Review & Giveaway
Sincerely Stacie Jan 15 Review
Jolly Blogger Jan 16 Review
Book Lover’s Library Jan 17 Review
Book Lover’s Library   Jan 18 Guest Post & Giveaway
My Devotional Thoughts Jan 18 Review
Second Bookshelf  Jan 21 Review & Giveaway
Sugar & Spice Jan 22 Review
wall-to-wall books Jan 23 Review & Giveaway
Eclectic Books & Movies Jan 24 Review
Eclectic Books & Movies  Jan 25 Interview
Dab of Darkness Jan 28 Review
Teena In Toronto Jan 29 Review
Bibliophilia, Please  Jan 29 Excerpt
MN Girl in LA Jan 30 Review & Giveaway
Ruby On Tuesday Jan 31 Review
2012: The Year In Books Feb 1 Review
The Opinionated Me  Feb 1 Guest Post
Everyday Is An Adventure Feb 4 Review
Everyday Is An Adventure Feb 5 Guest Post & Giveaway
Em Sun Feb 5 Review
Ordinary Girlz Feb 6 Review
Book Through Garden Window Feb 7 Review
Book Through Garden Window Feb 8 Guest Post
Older Mommy Still Yummy Feb 8 Review & Giveaway
Geo Librarian Feb 11 Review
Geo Librarian Feb 12 Interview & Giveaway
Peaceful Wishing Feb 12 Review
readitallbookreviews Feb 13 Review

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Copyright 2007-2010: All the posts within this blog were originally posted by Teddy Rose and should not be reproduced without express written permission.

Jan 13

7

Review: Flesh by Khanh Ha

Posted by Teddyrose@1 on January 7, 2013
Posted in Books Read in 2013  | 5 Comments

Book Description (From book jacket):


Publisher: Black Heron Press, June 15, 2012
Category: Historical Fiction, Literary Fiction
Tour Dates: January, 2013
Available in: Print Only , 368 pages

Set in Tonkin (now northern Vietnam) at the turn of the 20th century, Flesh tells the story of a boy who witnesses the execution, by beheading, of his father, a notorious bandit, and sets out to recover his father’s head, and then find the man who betrayed his father to the authorities. A coming-of-age story of brutal self-awakening and also a tender love story, Flesh takes the reader into places, both dark and wonderful, in the human condition where allies are not always your friends, true love hurts, and your worst enemy can bring you the most solace.

Khanh Ha writes of the physical world with such sensuousness that he will make the reader’s heart ache. At the same time, though Flesh is his first novel, his knowledge of the human psyche is that of a fully mature writer. The title refers to temptation—the temptation of the flesh. But it refers equally to the obligations of kinship, the connections between us and those to whom we are related, even if we would choose not to be.

My Review:

Flesh is not just a great book, it is a masterpiece!  The characters spring to life on the very first page and stay with you way after reading the very last page. Both the characters and landscape are unforgettable!  I completely forgot that I live in 2013 Canada.

Ha writes with such poetic prose that it is sensuous, as the book jacket says.  There are secrets to be drawn out that the reader does not suspect.  They make perfect sense and explain a lot.  They also add even more value to the story.

I highly recommend this book for either historical fiction lovers or literary fiction lovers.  This literary work deserves a prize!

5/5

Be sure to check out the guest post today by Khanh Ha and enter to win this masterpiece!

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Copyright 2007-2010: All the posts within this blog were originally posted by Teddy Rose and should not be reproduced without express written permission.

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