Teddy Rose Book Reviews Plus More


Soulful Return by Fidelis O. MkparuSoulful Return by Fidelis O. Mkparu

Publisher:  DX Varos Publishing (November 22, 2022)
Category: General Fiction, Literary Fiction, African-American Fiction, Immigrant Experience
Tour Dates November 2-23
ISBN: 978-1955065603
Available in Print and ebook, 332 pages

Soulful Return

Description Soulful Return by Fidelis O. Mkparu


“The hounding voice inside me would not let go.”

Thus begins the emotional journey of Afamefuna Onochie Nwaku, a Harvard-trained medical doctor with a career most can only dream of, a loving wife, and supportive family. Then, he receives a telephone call from his sister who lives in Nigeria that her life is being threatened.

Left with no other fair choice, Afam leaves behind his family, throwing his marriage into turmoil and risking the life he has built in Boston. Instead of the Nigeria that he loves, that he needs, he finds a land and people he barely recognizes waiting for him. Afam decides to stay but realizes that his future in Nigeria is as murky as the River-Niger after a torrential tropical rainfall.

As Afam sets out on a journey to reconnect with the family and heritage that he left behind, he must face new enemies in an increasingly corrupt Nigeria where many people see him as an American intruder. And through it all, he must fight to keep his family together—and alive.

My Thoughts Soulful Return by Fidelis O. Mkparu


Afamefuna Onochie Nwaku left his homeland and family in Nigeria to attend Harvard medical school to become a doctor.  It was always expected by his family that he would return to his homeland one day to take over the running of his family lands. In the meantime, he built his career, married, and had children in Boston.

Now he is 60 years-old.  He is offered the CEO position in Boston Medical Center and his wife wants him to accept the position.  It was such an honor to be offered the top position!   However, he is also yearning for Nigeria.

His father passed away 25 years ago and that was the last time he was in Nigeria. Then he receives a call from his sister.  Their cousin is trying to claim his father’s lands.  He goes against his wife’s wishes and takes a sabbatical from work and goes to Nigeria.

He finds it has changed and not for the better.  At every turn he runs into corrupt police, just trying to make his way home to his sister.  Then when he gets there, his cousins are there and demanding “they get what’s there’s”

You will have to read the book to find out what happens as I do not want to give away spoilers.  Fidelis O. Mkparu’s writing is hypnotizing, making it hard to put the book down.  He captures the Nigerian land and people with his poetic prose.  His characters are well fleshed out and grabbed me through the pages and transported me. I will be thinking about this book and its characters for a very long time to come, they will not let go!  I highly recommend you read ‘Soulful Return’!

Awards and Praise for Fidelis O. Mkparu


2018 EVVY winner, Literary & Contemporary Fiction for Tears Before Exaltation.

Silver Medal: Nautilus Book Awards, Fiction 2016 for Love’s Affliction.

Reader Views Literary Award Winner 2015/2016 for Love’s Affliction.

Finalist 2015: INDIEFAB Book of the Year Award, Multicultural Fiction for Love’s Affliction.

“A must-read, Love’s Affliction is an exceptionally gripping and poignant story. While intense throughout, there is resolution – and not quite what one may expect!”—San Francisco Book Review

“An exceptionally well crafted work, “Love’s Affliction” is an engaging and extraordinary multi-cultural novel that documents author Fidelis O. Mkparu as a talented, first class storyteller. “Love’s Affliction” is very highly recommended for personal reading lists and would prove to be a valued addition to community library Contemporary Fiction collections.”—Midwest Book Review

About Fidelis O. Mkparu Soulful Return by Fidelis O. Mkparu


Multi award winning author, Fidelis O. Mkparu is a Nigerian immigrant in the U.S. who wishes to speak to his experiences and those of his fellow immigrants. He is a professor of Medicine at Northeast Ohio Medical University and a senior attending cardiologist at Aultman Hospital and Mercy Medical Center in Canton, Ohio. Previously, he was a Spaulding fellow at Massachusetts General Hospital at Harvard Medical School.

His preceding novels include Love’s Affliction and Tears Before Exaltation.

Website: https://fidelismkparu.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/fidelismkparu
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fidelis.mkparu

Preorder Soulful Return by Fidelis O. Mkparu


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Giveaway Soulful Return by Fidelis O. Mkparu


This giveaway is for 3 print or ebook copies. Print is open to the U.S. only and ebook is open worldwide. This giveaway ends on November 24, 2022 midnight, pacific time. Entries accepted via Rafflecopter only.

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Soulful Return by Fidelis O. Mkparu

All the Rivers Flow into the Sea by Khanh HaAll the Rivers Flow into the Sea and Other Stories by Khanh Ha

Publisher:  Eastover Press LLC (June 7, 2022)
Category: Short Stories, Literary Fiction, Historical Fiction, Vietnam
Tour dates: July 25-August 31, 2022
ISBN:  978-1958094020
Available in Print and ebook, 208 pages

 All the Rivers Flow into the Sea

Description All the Rivers Flow into the Sea by Khanh Ha


From Vietnam to America, this story collection, jewel-like, evocative, and layered, brings to readers a unique sense of love and passion alongside tragedy and darker themes of peril. The titular story features a love affair between an unlikely duo pushing against barely surmountable cultural barriers. In “The Yin-Yang Market,” magical realism and the beauty of innocence abounds in deep dark places, teeming with life and danger. “A Mute Girl’s Yarn” tells a magical coming-of-age story like sketches in a child’s fairy book.

Bringing together the damned, the unfit, the brave who succumb to the call of fate, All the Rivers Flow Into the Sea is a great journey where redemption and human goodness arise out of violence and beauty to become part of an essential mercy.

All the Rivers Flow into the Sea was selected as a winner of the 2021 EastOver Prize for Fiction and has received much advanced praise.

My Thoughts All the Rivers Flow into the Sea by Khanh Ha


Khanh Ha has released a new collection of short stories.  When Ha puts out a new novel or short story collection, it goes to the top of my list.  He has never disappointed and so is the case with this short story collection, ‘All Rivers Flow Into the Sea’!

Not all authors can write a good short story, it is a true art form an Ha has it.  I don’t give out 5-star reviews like candy however, every novel and short story collection of his had earned 5 stars, including this collection.

The stories are all about the people of Vietnam or the American soldiers who fought there.  They are all heart felt stories.  These are not stories that one ploughs through fast, they are to savor and contemplate.  I like to read one, put the book down and think. Many of these stories left me with my heart pounding with anxiety, like  the story about ‘The Woman-Child’. Cam live in a poor fishing village with her father.  Besides cooking for him, she has many other responsibilities like repairing his fishing nets every night. This is pain staking work but also becomes dangerous when a neighborhood drunk man appears and tries to rape her.  We learn this is not the first time. 

She has a new friend, a young Vietnamese-American man who is there working on his thesis about the environmental impact of shrimp farming.  This is a big problem in the country, much like Salmon farming is in North America.  He witnesses the attempted rape and asks Cam if she has told her father about it.  Her father basically shrugs it off and tells her to fight him off. Eventually the young man has to go back to the United States and hates leaving her.

I was delighted to hear the name Rossi again, that popped up in one of the stories about a U.S. man, Mr. Rossi, working as a diplomat towards the beginning of the Vietnam war. He was taking Vietnamese language lessons so he could better do his job.  Ha wrote an entire novel about Mrs. Rossi searching for the remains of her son, whom was an American solder fighting in the war.

I don’t want to giveaway to much from each story, you will have to read this collection for yourself. Be prepared for some sleepless nights contemplating some of these stories.  Also have some tissues available.  I am not trying to scare you off, ‘All Rivers Flow Into the Sea’ is a must read for literary fans!

Ha’s writing is mesmerizing and captivating. I completely forget my surroundings when I read his poetic prose.  I am transported to the places and people of whom he writes.  It is the closest thing to time travel one can experience. Highly recommended!

About Khanh HaAll the Rivers Flow into the Sea by Khanh Ha


Multi award winning author, Khanh Ha is the author of Flesh, The Demon Who Peddled Longing, and Mrs. Rossi’s Dream. He is a seven-time Pushcart nominee, finalist for the Mary McCarthy Prize, Many Voices Project, Prairie Schooner Book Prize, and The University of New Orleans Press Lab Prize. He is the recipient of the Sand Hills Prize for Best Fiction, the Robert Watson Literary Prize in Fiction, The Orison Anthology Award for Fiction, The James Knudsen Prize for Fiction, The C&R Press Fiction Prize, and The EastOver Fiction Prize.

Mrs. Rossi’s Dream was named Best New Book by Booklist and a 2019 Foreword Reviews INDIES Silver Winner and Bronze Winner. All the Rivers Flow into the Sea & Other Stories has already won the EastOver Fiction Prize.

Website: http://www.authorkhanhha.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/KhanhHa69784776
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorkhanhha

Giveaway All the Rivers Flow into the Sea by Khanh Ha


This giveaway is for 3 print copies and is open to the U.S. only. This giveaway ends on Aug 27, 2022 midnight, pacific time.  Entries accepted via Rafflecopter only.

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All the Rivers Flow into the Sea by Khanh Ha

Mockingbird in Mark Twain’s HatMockingbird in Mark Twain’s Hat by Kaia Alexander

Publisher: Waterside Press, Oct, 2020
Category: Children’s illustrated chapter book
Tour dates: May 27-June 30, 2021
ISBN: 978-1949001914
Available in Print and ebook, 138 pages
Mockingbird in Mark Twains Hat

Description Mockingbird in Mark Twain’s Hat


Mockingbird in Mark Twain’s Hat, is an adventure story full of animals that talk. Wynne is a precocious mockingbird born in the rural south in the late 1800s. His whole family are singers, but at four days old, he wants to be a novelist just like his hero, Mark Twain.

When crows attack his nest, he’s swept away on an epic adventure along the Mississippi River. Wynne learns to read and write, makes new friends in surprising places, and is mentored by Mark Twain himself. Full of delightful quotes from Mark Twain, this novel for children ages 8-12 shines with important lessons of character, perseverance, love, and the importance of friendship.

My Thoughts Mockingbird in Mark Twain’s Hat


I was first introduced to Kaia Alexander’s writing from reading her amazing historical fiction novel, ‘Written in the Ashes’. It was written under her name K. Hollan Van Zandt.

I was intrigued when I saw the title of her new book, ‘Mockingbird in Mark Twain’s Hat.’ I am a Mark Twain fan and I thought it would be great to introduce younger children to him.  I didn’t read any of his works or learn about him until Jr. High School.

Kaia Alexander brings Mark Twain to life in a story about a young mockingbird, Wynne, who wants to be a writer but must first learn to fly.  One day some crows attack and he falls out of the nest. This sets him on adventure far from home.  As he tries to get back home, he meets new animal friends along the way.  He also encounters danger.  Eventually, he even meets his hero, Mark Twain himself.

‘Mockingbird in Mark Twain’s Hat’ is a delightful and beautifully rendered story with glorious black and white illustrations. It introduces children to the era of Twain and post slavery America. At the same time entertains with Wynne’s adventures and thirst for learning.

Buy this book for your children but be sure to read it yourself.  It is sure to become a timeless classic for children and adults. I hope this isn’t the last we hear from Wynne, his family, and friends.   I give it all 5 stars!

I received the ebook for my honest opinion.

About Kaia Alexander Mockingbird in Mark Twain’s Hat


Kaia Alexander is an award-winning novelist, filmmaker, and writing coach, as well as founder of the Entertainment Business League, who can be found surfing her native California coastline.

Website: https://kaiaalexander.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/ThisisKaia

Buy Mockingbird in Mark Twain’s Hat


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Giveaway Mockingbird in Mark Twain’s Hat by Kaia Alexander

This giveaway is for 1 print copy to 3 winners. It is open to Canada and the U.S. only and ends on July 1, 2021,midnight pacific time.

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Mockingbird in Mark Twain’s Hat by Kaia Alexander