Peter Okonkwo

Rodney D. Roby’s Paralyzed Emotions is one of those impressive autobiographies that held me captive until I finish indulging my relatable emotions in it. It is wholly transparent, emotional, empathetic, and its a drive into the author’s struggle with mental illness. This book detailed the life of Rodney starting from his childhood days to his days in school until the time when he impregnated a fourteen years old May whom he eventually married. The journey into depression, anxiety, and stress began at this time. The scenario of the event surrounding Rodney’s marriage is sympathetically unbelievable, I became shocked reading through the nonchalant act of May dealing with their innocent son which later resulted in his illness. Every part of this book seems to have a lesson attached to it. There is some sort of lesson attached to Rodney’s childhood, his marriage life, his struggle with mental illness, and his ultimate faith in Christ. It’s a saddening story – yet I feel like it’s life-saving. I’m particularly intrigued when I read through the part whereby Rodney thought of killing himself, hurting himself, and how he would hear some strange voices telling him to do evil things; I paused at this point to ponder if those thoughts could be associated with the presence of a demon – I can’t say. I loved the author’s choice of words, his story-telling techniques took the style of the pronoun “I” and it was interestedly awesome. The plot twist and characterization are mind-blowing, in my opinion – they depict a perfect literary work. While this book may be considered as a good resource for therapists, medical doctors, or patients of mental illness, I’d love to appreciate the author’s transparency at writing every ugly situation surrounding his life, in my opinion – he voices what the majority of people might be scared of or might conceal; the level of his openness kept me captivated and immensely absorbed and this idea added an extraordinary feature to the book. I shall resist revealing further as I attempt to keep this review spoiler-free and would love to recommend this book to lovers of autobiographies, or people who suffer from mental illness, therapists, doctors, etcetera. There is a great level of reality in this book that would help people in similar situations find solutions to their maladies.

One who does not know his fate should not cry at every inch of disappointment, failure, or rejection that comes his way. The adventure of fate might take a path that we may not be aware of, nor ever planned for, nor have the power to control. Yet, each step of our life is in congruous with our destiny, which we often cannot blame when faced with unwanted circumstances; so is it in Chasing Fate, an engrossing story of Nadia whose tale held me captive, it is emotionally gripping, rashly daring, tearful, yet courageous story of love and hatred. The relationship between Nadia and Anthony was on the good side before Anthony travelled back to the States. Nadia holds herself despite obstacles and made her way to study journalism which paved way for her eventual transit to the United States. The occurrence of characters like Florence and Ben, then the old lover, Anthony, and then, Lizzy would seal the fact that these people are tied to the event around Nadia's fate. Nadia trudged through the path of genuine love, betrayal, repudiation, acceptance, sorrow, perseverance, and many more chronic issues that leaves my palm on my chin as I imagine onwards. I wondered if any woman would be able to endure her sort of predicament. Nadia's gruesome experiences relate to my intuition about the philosophy of human fate, which is the fact that every step of a man's life is in agreement with an unknown, yet fixed event called destiny that silently lies ahead of him. I became so empathetic reading through the tragedic story of Nick's death, and the events around the birth of Emmett. If Nick was to be a real character, I'm sure his sort of personality would be difficult to find. Having been engulfed with sympathy, my instinct further consoles me that a man can do less or nothing about his own fate, what shall we do when we're stuck in trying times? Shouldn't we just accept our obstacles and look out for possible opportunities and continue to chase our fate? I had to wipe my tears as I empathetically flip through the pages of this absorbing, mind-blowing novel. As if that was not enough, Anthony, the once runaway husband came back feeling remorseful of how he'd left Nadia with pregnancy for 15years. Having realized his fault, he tried his best to reconcile and to bury the hatchet, but what could poor Nadia do, when Emmett is already involved, when the scar of Nick's death still rings in her heart like a bell. It looks as if I was watching a movie, each page left me craving for the next page, I wished the book never ends - but soon, the tone changes, Nadia was already at the edge of reconciling with Anthony, and that Emmett would be happy to have a father after so many years of waiting. Suddenly, fate abruptly drove them(Nadia and Emmett) through another rocky path where they'd had to start weeping and wanting to question the sort of their predicament. Anthony has suddenly been diagnosed with chronic kidney disease of which the only means to survival was a kidney transplant. I shivered and ask myself why Nadia had to pass through all these troubles? This scenario left me resonating about the gruesome questions that I've personally asked in my third poetry collection (Whose Fault, Kismet, or Impediment?) Could all these happening be termed to Nadia's fate, or an invisible force secretly wrestle with her, or God authentically made her encounter it? It left me feeling emotionally disturbed as I continue to seek comfort in the pages of Chasing Fate (I couldn't post all my review)

PHILOSOPHICAL MUSE AND STUFF A CAPTIVATING BOOK OF COGITATION AND ENTHRALLING STORIES. Stephen Peter Oldham's Philosophical Muse and Stuff 'n' Nonsense is a captivating book of thoughts and absorbing, mind-blowing stories. Made of two distinct parts that stand alone possessing certain poetry features, this book explored the reality of the link between "now" and "hereafter"(page 33) in a tone that is sympathetic, and in some other instances demystifying some concept about drugs and addiction. I particularly love the author's idea on the nine muses of Greek Mythology, it's something I am not too familiar with, even has a poet, which made me note some ideas about Calliope, Clio, Erato, Euterpe, Melpomene, Polyhymnia, Terpsichore, Thalia, Urania, it added more charm to this artistic work. In the pages of "A Performance Muse" the narrator viewed life as a butterfly, as we all do flutter about, landing here and there to whatever attracts us. Flipping through the page that tells the story of the cleaner and the spider, a tale that chronicles the life of an addicted drunkard, who wrestle for freedom but all sounds like an illusion to him; thus, leaving the life of the narrator shattered, losing his wife, his contract, resulting in a stricken misery on the narrator, it afterward discusses how the narrator was able to break loose from it. In My Amigo, Muse; this part tells the story of the author's experience with Amigo, the United Kingdom's leading guarantor loan provider. I find this part humorous, yet, pathetic as it's a common organogram with most loan financial institutions to instill barbaric interest on their customers, which made most victims end up paying more than the exact loan amount. As with Amigo, it was written here, that most people committed suicide over the company's unfriendly method of business operation. The story of Colin and Rosie arouses pity, most especially the scenario of Colin's communication with his sick friend in the hospital, reading through this part made me sympathize with them. Several parts of this book contain some gruesome muse, one capable of tearing one's eyes, like that of a narrator whose son is a drug addict, and also suffers from bipolar disorder. Some stories are extremely satirical, "The Cleaner and the Driver". Who killed Bambi, likewise, is a story that held me hostage until I finish indulging my relatable emotions in it. The latter part of this book is filled with real fiction series, philosophical poems, and I find Limerick, Ode, even as I recite other ones. Stephen Peter Oldham's writing techniques are extremely fascinating, stylishly resembling that of the old British Poet, Geoffrey Chaucer. I cannot wait to see what Stephen Peter Oldham comes up with next. I solely recommend this artistic work for poetry lovers who seek to lose themselves into the muse of a critical storyteller, and poet like Stephen Peter Oldham.

SCHIZOAFFECTIVE DISORDER BY GUENEVERE MACDONALD "An enlightener on Schizoaffective disorder, and other related mental issues" This book chronicles the author's experience living with schizoaffective disorder, and the proposed techniques that would guide patients faced with similar health issues. I haven't solely come across, or had an idea about this particular mental illness; this book gives a detailed meaning of schizophrenia, the features that characterize it, like genetics, brain chemistry, structure, and development, thus, delving more into schizophrenia's subtype; paranoid, catatonic, and residual, to mention a few. MacDonald's Schizoaffective Disorder made me remember some mental health materials that I've enjoyed which mostly were written based on the author's perception and experience, like that of Shawna Baca's Fear Less: Conquering The Demons of Mental Purgatory, and Omotoyinbo Babatope's, On the Spectrum: Among the Neurotypicals, all of which I think expound on chronic matters of mental health that are stylishly similar. The book reveals and illustrates the positive and negative symptoms of schizophrenia, touching issues like hallucination, delusion, clumsiness, motionless rigidity, and the age range that are susceptible to this illness. Schizoaffective Disorder seems like a clinical book by a professional in the field of psychotherapy, wanting me to debate the authenticity of the author not being a medical practitioner, as stated in the preface page. It's a well-researched material, offering a guide to those who languish in this sort of mental issue. I paid careful attentiveness to the author's idea on bipolar disorder, from its early to its critical stage. It was also surprising to learn about the author's experience of hallucination, as told on page 38. The latter part of this book touches on the techniques of schizoaffective disorder medication; co-morbid disorder, hospitalization, the necessity of self-care, managing crisis, family support, and suicide prevention. A sizeable portion of this book contains argumentative questions and answers on the stigma and stereotype associated with schizoaffective disorder patients, I specifically admire this part because it's full of vital information and stealthily humorous. I shall resist revealing more as an attempt to keep this review as succinct as possible, and would recommend this book for patients seeking a guide, and a way forward out of these mental health issue.

A scriptural novella. Freddie Floyd's You Are Designed To Be Successful is a book that helps readers to focus on God, lightens the heavy loads, and bring us back to our maker despite the circumstances that befell us. This book is made up of six amazing chapters filled with life-changing godly messages; with themes that explore the difference between man and God, as seen in Numbers 23:19, it explains the power of solely putting one's trust in God rather than, in man. Thus, diving into the necessity of acknowledging God in all that we do to direct our path. In chapter one, Freddie Floyd reminded us of the life of Job, how Satan dealt with him despite his perfectness, took away all that he had, and Job's afterward reactions to his calamity. Here, Floyd invites us to put ourselves in the shoe of Job and envisage what would have been our reactions supposedly we were Job; this part reminded me of Billy Graham's Hope For the Troubled Heart. This book uncovers the things that are enmity before God: the lust of the eye, the lust of the flesh, the pride of life, and how, we, humans languish in these things, their effect, and its likely deliverance. In steward of our money, the author illustrated how wealth sometimes might be a dangerous thing, making a cogent reference to one of Robert Kiyosaki's book; and what's expected of us as Christians to the doctrine of giving. I shall resist revealing more and would leave the reader of this review to check out for themselves the sort of message that Freddie Floyd Jr, has had to pass in his transformational book, You Are Designed To Be Successful. How many times have we been told so? What happens when success becomes sluggish, how do we equate the place of failure to the mandate that has been assigned to us by God? All of these are what the author seeks to shed light upon in his amazing, touching novella.

Fear Less, Conquering The Demon of Mental Purgatory, is a book that the author herself had written from her gruesome personal experience of dealing with Fear, Agoraphobia, Panic attack, Anxiety attack, Depression, and a whole lot of striking breathtaking horrific experiences, in which most times, she wished that she'd died and that God should have better taken her life, rather than leaving her to survive from the pang of horrible fear, and helplessness. The story of Shawna began three days after her twenty-first birthday. She often experiences chest pains, hyperventilation, which was the basis of her weekly visit to therapists. Having been on medication with drugs like prozac, valium, whose implications are mostly dreadful on Shawna that most times she would hear strange voices telling her to kill herself and her mother. Shawna is been perceived as been possessed by a demon whenever she feels a panic attack and probably sought treatment in hospitals. It was on these basics that Shawna lost her job, estranged, and had to leave in her home for twelve months. There are instances of this story that made me so emotional, and that was the instance when Shawna drown in a swimming pool, it was quite unexpected that she survived it. Amidst this, Shawna's panic attack seems to come more frequently and now she wasn't even safe at home. This time, she was frustrated and had lost hope of a good change. She kept having nightmares, and her cases seem to keep growing worst. Shawna's mother couldn't cope with her daughter's maladies anymore that she had to take her to the Pala Indian Reservation where she was cleansed in a sweat lodge by a medicine man. Something she considered a modern exorcism, as those "spirits of fear" were cast out of her with chants, songs, and incantations. Something I find obscure here, is if Shawna was absolutely cured of her agoraphobia, claustrophobic panic attack, depression, and other sorts of ailments that her therapist had diagnosed by the ceremony of this medicine man, or by the prayers she had said before entering into the sweat lodge? I seek to get an answer to that. I'd thought that spirituality and the use of black magic are at best in the African world, I became astonished having heard Shawna's honest experience with one. Perhaps, I wasn't exposed enough. There is much to be said about this book, more than I can ever describe. I won't give a spoiler of it, so it is most advisable to get a copy for yourself. It is a sort of book that everyone who suffers from a panic attack, anxiety attack, depression, agoraphobia, addiction, and other mental disorders or who would love to expand his/her understanding on this subject matter, should read. I think it is also a good one for therapists, spiritualists, lightworkers, shamans, curanderos, healers, and drug and alcohol counselors. Shawna out of her gruesome experience of fear had written this consoling, encouraging, and comforting book to those in such severe circumstances of fear, to Fear Less, and that they're not alone in the fight.

"Doboro" as I would also love to say it fast with an Asian accent; has intriguingly portrayed himself in the novel, Doboro The Bottlenecker. Dave Granger(Doboro) himself enacted a kind of peculiar characteristics throughout this fiction novel. I love the author's brilliant sense of description, and amazing storytelling skills - it's a learning avenue for young writers like myself. It's no doubt, Kelvin M. Kraft had researched cultures in his book. I love the indomitable features that Doboro himself exhibited amidst diverse challenges that befell him and his undying passion for playing the guitar. A distinctive work from an adept author, one of the longest novels I've ever read. Peter Okonkwo