Teddy Rose Book Reviews Plus More


Oct 15

1

Review & Giveaway: Heroine Next Door by Zeena Nackerdien

Posted by Teddyrose@1 on October 1, 2015
Posted in Book Tours • Books Read in 2015 • My Past Giveaways  | Tagged With: , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Zeena NackerdienThe Heroine Next Door by Zeena Nackerdien:

Publisher: Book Venture (January 7,  2015)
Category: Modern Day Historical Fiction, Contemporary Fiction, Literary Fiction, Health
Tour Dates: October/November, 2015
ISBN: 978-1941736-272
ASIN: B00TIMY97G
Available in: Print & ebook,  154 Pages

The emotionally-wounded survivors of the 9/11 attacks include a fifty-year old, South African Muslim scientist, Leila, who lost her fiancée, Khalid, on that fateful day. She is the narrator of a story threading together the lives of four South African Muslims navigating a technologically advanced and increasingly-complicated world.

Initially tentative in pursuing her dream to aid patients with HIV/AIDS and other diseases (following deaths of loved ones to these illnesses) in the face of adversity encountered as a US immigrant, Leila finally asserts herself in middle age to carve her own identity and provide possible solutions to the management of diseases rampant in Sub-Saharan Africa.

My Thoughts on The Heroine Next Door by Zeena Nackerdien:

Zeena Nackerdin is a scientist first but has written not only about the health issues she is most interested in but also books of poetry and now ‘The Heroine Next Door.  She wanted to find a way to help us non-scientists better understand the issues of HIV/AIDS, TB, and Diabetes especially the vast numbers of people it effects in her motherland of South Africa. She decided to tackle this through the use of fiction and the lead character, Leila in this short novel.

We learn not only about the epidemic in South Africa but also issues facing U.S. immigrants. The book opens with Leila visiting the 9/11 memorial, thinking of her fiancée who died on that fateful day 13 years earlier.  She is an unemployed scientist but soon realizes that she wants to make a difference in South Africa.  Leila decides to pursue her dream of patient advocacy.  She decided to go back to South Africa to try to help of of the patients suffering from HIV/AIDS, TB, and Diabetes.  She makes fast friends with four South Africans who aim to accomplish the same goal.

I really liked how Nackerdien wove in 9/11 in contrast to the health epidemic in South Africa Though some readers may find the numerous references sighted during the story a bit disruptive to the flow of the story, ‘The Heroine Next Door’ is a tender look at the problems of HIV/AIDS, TB, and Diabetes. Leila and her friends strive not only to to help medical professionals better work with patients but also to help patients understand what they can do to gain the best outcome.  This patient empowerment could be used all over the world.

4/5

I was given a ebook copy of this book for my honest review.

Praise for The Heroine Next Door by Zeena Nackerdien:

“As a scientist turned patient advocate and writer, Nackerdien is intensely interested in building relationships with people from different cultures through storytelling and education. It is that drive that is palpable in this novel THE HEROINE NEXT DOOR – the author’s dichotomous life as experienced in apartheid-South-Africa and a Western world responding to the digital information age and emergent diseases: she knows terror, especially as a Muslim woman. She incorporates all of this In THE HEROINE NEXT DOOR, surprisingly her debut novel, by creating a fictional character, Leila, emerging from the darkness cast by personal and political upheavals, who gains a sense of her own identity and contributes knowledge gained in the USA to improving the management of the HIV/AIDS epidemic and other illnesses in South Africa.
One of the many shining aspects of Zeena’s luminous novel is her sharing the sensibilities of immigrants whose new life in a new country must sort out not only language and dress barriers but also religious or spiritual belief differences. In electing to focus on that turning point moment in history – the 9/11 tragedy – as the stimulus for altering life perspectives she manages to give us all a better sense of understanding and at least a different point of view – both healing factors in a nurturing a wound worthy of comparison to Amfortas’ wound in PARSIFAL. Highly recommended.” –Grady Harp, Amazon Top 100 Reviewer, Hall of Fame

“I am able to identify with both the notion of being personally and/or emotionally uprooted on and after 9/11 as well as the concept of being utterly overwhelmed by life in NYC. Zeena Nackerdien’s work rings a personal note with both natives and those making the journey to establishing themselves in the metropolis.”-Curt, Amazon Reviewer

” What a haunting story. We all remember that fateful day. We are introduced to Leila, a brilliant woman whose life is turned upside down on September 11, 2001 when her fiance is killed in the attack. Through a series of Facebook posts we are taken on a journey that explores Leila’s past, her relationships with family and friends, and her background in the field of science. Heartwarming and raw, you will find yourself in a great story of triumph. Zeena Nackerdien has written a wonderful story, highly recommend this read!”- Sierra Klein, Amazon Reviewer

About Zeena Nackerdien:Zeena Nackerdien

Zeena Nackerdien is a dual US and South African citizen. She obtained a PhD degree in Biochemistry from the University of Stellenbosch in South Africa. Zeena has been a research chemist at the National Institute of Standards and Technology in Maryland and a senior research associate at The Rockefeller University in New York.

She is the author of several publications in scientific journals and two poetry collections, “Mist Over Peace” and “Scatterlings.” As a scientist turned patient advocate and writer, she is intensely interested in building relationships with people from different cultures through story-telling and education. Zeena currently lives in Brooklyn, New York.

Website: http://www.heroinenextdoor.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/zeenasbooks
Google+: https://plus.google.com/105525451604342478576/posts
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/pub/zeena-nackerdien/9/175/b6a
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/zulu2/zeena-nackerdien/

Buy The Heroine Next Door by Zeena Nackerdien:

Amazon
Book Venture
Barnes & Noble
Book Depository

Giveaway of The Heroine Next Door by Zeena Nackerdien:

This giveaway is for the ebook version and is open worldwide.  This giveaway ends on November 4, 2015.  Entries are accepted via Rafflecopter only.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Follow The Heroine Next Door by Zeena Nackerdien Tour:

Teddy Rose Book Reviews Oct 1 Review & Giveaway

SolaFide Self-Publishing Oct 5 Interview, Excerpt, & Giveaway

Ajoobacat Blog Oct 6 Review & Excerpt

Infinite House of Books Oct 7 Interview

Father, Writer, & Logistical Wizard Oct 15 Interview

Cassandra M’s Place Oct 16 Review & Giveaway

Avenue Books Oct 19 Guest Post  &  Excerpt

Lady of Books Oct 22 Guest Post, Excerpt, &  Giveaway

What U Talking Bout Willis? Nov 2 Guest Post  &  Excerpt

Deal Sharing Aunt Nov 3 Review

Teddy Rose Book Reviews Oct 1 Review & Giveaway

SolaFide Self-Publishing Oct 5 Interview, Excerpt, & Giveaway

Ajoobacat Blog Oct 6 Review & Excerpt

Infinite House of Books Oct 7 Interview

Father, Writer, & Logistical Wizard Oct 14 Review

Father, Writer, & Logistical Wizard Oct 15 Interview

Cassandra M’s Place Oct 16 Review & Giveaway

Avenue Books Oct 19 Guest Post  &  Excerpt

Lady of Books Oct 22 Guest Post, Excerpt, &  Giveaway

What U Talking Bout Willis? Nov 2 Guest Post  &  Excerpt

Deal Sharing Aunt Nov 3 Review

Zeena Nackerdien

Sep 15

10

Giveaway: All Together Now by Gill Hornby

Posted by Teddyrose@1 on September 10, 2015
Posted in My Past Giveaways  | Tagged With: , , , | 7 Comments

Gill HornbyThanks to Olivia Aylmer of Hachette Book Group, I am giving away 5 print copies of ‘All Together Now’ by Gill Hornby.

Description of ‘All Together Now’ by Gill Hornby:


The small town of Bridgeford is in crisis. Downtown is deserted, businesses are closing, and the idea of civic pride seems old-fashioned to residents rushing through the streets to get somewhere else. Bridgeford seems to have lost its heart.

But there is one thing that just might unite the community–music. The local choir, a group generally either ignored or mocked by most of Bridgeford’s inhabitants, is preparing for an important contest, and to win it they need new members, and a whole new sound. Enlisting (some may say drafting) singers, who include a mother suffering from empty-nest syndrome, a middle-aged man who has just lost his job and his family, and a nineteen-year-old waitress who dreams of reality-TV stardom, the choir regulars must find–and make–harmony with neighbors they’ve been happy not to know for years. Can they all learn to work together, save the choir, and maybe even save their town in the process?

All Together Now is a poignant and charming novel about community, family, falling in love–and the big rewards of making a small change.

About Gill Hornby:Gill Hornby


Gill Hornby won over critics and audiences alike with the deliciously droll bestseller The Hive in 2013, which the Sunday Times called “the debut of the year.” The sister of writer Nick Hornby, she lives in Berkshire, England, with her husband and their four children.

Giveaway of of ‘All Together Now’ by Gill Hornby:


This giveaway is open to the U. S. and Canada and ends on September 24, 2015.  Entries are accept via Rafflecopter only.

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Jul 15

30

Giveaway: If I Could Turn Back Time by Beth Harbison

Posted by Teddyrose@1 on July 30, 2015
Posted in My Past Giveaways  | Tagged With: , , | 5 Comments

Beth HarbisonThanks to Jessica Preeg of St. Martin’s Press, I am giving away one print copy of ‘If I Could Turn Back Time’ by  Beth Harbison.

Description of ‘If I Could Turn Back Time’ by  Beth Harbison:


Told with Beth Harbison’s wit and warmth, If I Could Turn Back Time is the fantasy of every woman who has ever thought, “If I could go back in time, knowing what I know now, I’d do things so differently…”

Thirty-seven year old Ramie Phillips has led a very successful life. She made her fortune and now she hob nobs with the very rich and occasionally the semi-famous, and she enjoys luxuries she only dreamed of as a middle-class kid growing up in Potomac, Maryland. But despite it all, she can’t ignore the fact that she isn’t necessarily happy. In fact, lately Ramie has begun to feel more than a little empty.

On a boat with friends off the Florida coast, she tries to fight her feelings of discontent with steel will and hard liquor. No one even notices as she gets up and goes to the diving board and dives off…

Suddenly Ramie is waking up, straining to understand a voice calling in the distance…It’s her mother: “Wake up! You’re going to be late for school again. I’m not writing a note this time…”

Ramie finds herself back on the eve of her eighteenth birthday, with a second chance to see the people she’s lost and change the choices she regrets. How did she get back here? Has she gone off the deep end? Is she really back in time? Above all, she’ll have to answer the question that no one else can: What it is that she really wants from the past, and for her future?

Praise for Beth Harbison:


“Smart, funny, and unapologetically romantic.”—Publisher’s Weekly, Starred Review! on Chose the Wrong Guy, Gave Him the Wrong Finger

“Harbison dazzles in her latest, a perfect blend of chick lit and women’s fiction…absolutely first-rate.”—Publisher’s Weekly, Starred Review! on When in Doubt, Add Butter

“Touching, truthful, and profoundly satisfying.”—Jen Lancaster, New York Times bestselling author, on Always Something There to Remind Me

About Beth Harbison:


Beth Harbison

Photo Credit: Chandler Schwede

BETH HARBISON is The New York Times bestselling author of Chose the Wrong Guy, Gave Him the Wrong Finger; When In Doubt, Add Butter; Always Something There To Remind Me; Thin, Rich, Pretty; Hope In A Jar; Secrets of a Shoe Addict; and Shoe Addicts Anonymous. She grew up in Potomac, Maryland, outside Washington, D.C., and now shares her time between that suburb, New York City, and a quiet home on the eastern shore.

Giveaway of ‘If I Could Turn Back Time’ by  Beth Harbison:


This giveaway is open to Canada and the U.S. only and ends on August 13, 2015.  Entries are accepted via Rafflecopter only.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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