I enjoy books about strong women. In this coming of age memoir, the author shares her struggles and discoveries living with both visible and invisible illness, and the tremendous gifts and lessons to be reaped from trauma. Read more below and enter the giveaway to win a copy!

Book Details:

Book Title: My Beautiful Detour: An Unthinkable Journey from Gutless to Grateful by Amy Oestreicher
Category: Adult Non-Fiction, 529 pages
Genre: Memoir
Publisher: Singing Tree Publishing
Release date: November 2019
Tour dates: Nov 19 to Dec 17, 2019
Content Rating: PG-13 (This memoir deals with sexual abuse and PTSD)


Book Description:

An estimated 70 percent of adults in the United States have experienced a traumatic event at least once in their lives and up to 20 percent of these people go on to develop posttraumatic stress disorder, or PTSD. An estimated 5 percent of Americans—more than 13 million people—have PTSD at any given time.

Amy Oestreicher was one of them. So, what happens when an ordinary teenager has to turn into a warrior just to survive? And can the journey through Post Traumatic Stress Disorder really become an “adventure?”

Amy had ambitious plans for college and a Broadway career, until her stomach exploded the week before her senior prom. Months later, she awoke from a coma to learn that she might never be able to eat or drink again. After years on IV nutrition, her first bite of food awakened her senses to life's ordinary miracles but also brought back memories of being sexually abused by a trusted mentor for months, just before the unexpected rush to the emergency room that fateful Passover night. With determination, imagination, relentless resilience, and an inner “hunger” for life, Amy created a roadmap where none existed. Her journey through life's unthinkable detours is nothing short of miraculous, but the creative path to healing she forged is accessible to anyone. As a survivor—and “thriver”—of abuse and extensive medical trauma, Amy discovered sources of resilience she didn’t know she had but it turns out we all possess. In this book, she creates a tapestry made from each of each thread of her journey, empowering others to find gratitude in every setback and discover their own infinite inner strength. Amy’s search for “home” proves to be the greatest test of cultivating resilience after near-death, and reclaiming identity after both sexual assault and medical trauma. Amy’s journey is ultimately a celebration of ordinary and extraordinary challenges and miracles.

In this coming of age story, Amy shares her struggles and discoveries living with both visible and invisible illness, the tremendous gifts to be reaped from trauma, its lessons which have illuminated her path, and how these gifts can be discovered as a unique, yet universal way to navigate any kind of uncertainty.

Interwoven through her remarkable story are insights on navigating any kind of uncertainty, including:

• What is a “detourist”– and why is it important to take those detours?

• The importance of detours for college students

• How to transition from being a “survivor” to a “thriver”

• Amy’s” Four Hardcore Skills” to resilience

• Finding your own uniqueness not through what’s happened to you, but what you choose to do with it

• The power of art to heal

• Our innate ability to be artists, and why creativity is an essential mindset

• How sharing your story becomes imperative to healing

• How humor is a way through

• Turn messes, mistakes and setbacks into creative detours

My Beautiful Detour offers practical strategies for individuals and unexpected tools for the families of trauma survivors, helping communities build new, limitless futures. The book includes numerous “trauma insights,” and is enriched with humor, art, poetry, and useful takeaways for readers. Reading one woman’s heroic adventure through trauma, recovery, and discovery of new directions in healing the body and the mind is an empowering tale of not just getting through, but thriving.







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Melding Spirits is a well-written story with a great cast of unforgettable characters. I loved the sleepy town setting of 1950s, the coming of age aspect, and the murder mystery.
Book Details:

Book Title: Melding Spirits by Michael E. Burge
Category: Adult Fiction, 371 pages
Genre: Literary fiction, Mystery, Coming of age
Publisher: Michael E. Burge Publishing
Release date: June 2017
Tour dates: Jan 14 to 31, 2019
Content Rating: PG-13 (The book alludes to criminal acts and deviant behavior, but does not provide graphic description.)

Book Description:

Twelve-year-old Evan Mason’s life has been turned upside down by the sudden death of his father. His mother isn’t home much, the insurance office during the day, waiting tables at night. Evan is spending a great deal of time alone.

Now he finds himself on a Greyhound bus headed for a small town on the Wabash River where he’ll spend the summer of 1958 with his loving grandmother.

Evan soon meets his new neighbor, Katie Dobbins. She’s a feisty blue-eyed girl with a ponytail, the type of girl Buddy Holly might sing about on American Bandstand. Evan is instantly enamored with her.

It seems the perfect summer is underway—but strange things are happening in the woods surrounding the Ghost Hill Indian Mound.

There’s a dark cloud lingering over the Wabash Valley—It won’t be long before it erupts into a raging storm.


Set in 1958 in a small town on the Wabash River, Michael E. Burge's new novel is a coming of age story of 12-year old Evan Mason, a pleasant boy who has lost his father in death and is sent to spend the summer with his grandmother because his mother is rarely home, working long hours to make ends meet. There he makes friends with a group of kids and meets newcomer Katie Dobbins, with whom he experiences first love.

But among this sleepy town and the innocent play of young teens, there's a killer on the loose who is targeting girls. The story starts off with the reader becoming immersed in Evan's life and the book has the feel of a middle-grade literary fiction until it picks up pace and takes on the feel of a murder mystery through the eyes of the authorities who are tracking the killer. It's like a train that picks up speed and goes barrelling to its destination.

The best part of this book for me was the characterization of the cast. The characters jump off the page. Evan is twelve but he is somewhat of an old soul until he meets Katie and experiences first love. We get to like Evan as we witness his interactions with his friends and Riley, a man with limited mental abilities. The story is interspersed with references to music of that era and the simpler life of young ones without technology. It was a refreshing read of a bygone era.

There is some allusion of how the loss of his father and having an absentee mother affected Evan but not enough. I think the story would have been enhanced if these issues would have been dealt with so there would have been more inner conflict that would have meshed with the outer conflict of the story to bring about a deeper emotional element to the story.

Melding Spirits is a well-written story with a great cast of unforgettable characters. I loved the sleepy town setting of 1950s, the coming of age aspect, and the murder mystery.
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Jake, Lucid Dreamer is a heartwarming coming-of-age story about a boy learning to deal with the loss of his mother. One of the best middle-grade novels I've read this year.

Book Details:

Book Title: Jake, Lucid Dreamer by David J. Naiman
Category: Middle Grade Fiction, 188 pages
Genre: Magical Realism, Coming-of-age
Publisher: Kwill Books
Release date: May 4, 2018
Content Rating: G

Book Details:

Book Title: A Journey to Yonder by Nidhi Kaur
Category: Adult Non-Fiction, 130 pages
Genre: Memoir / Poetry
Publisher: Independent (Createspace)
Release date: September 2017
Tour dates: Jan 3 to 19, 2017
Content Rating: R (for explicit sex scenes written poetically and in good taste)

Book Description:

A Journey to Yonder is the tale of one woman’s refusal to allow the challenges of her past to define her present. She grows up with a special needs sibling and loses her childhood home, and we then follow her through an abusive relationship and into the most unforgiving of human trials.

With experiences that leave you feeling so alone, how do you hold on to hope? How do you go on?

Nidhi Kaur’s compelling use of both poetry and prose intimately welcomes readers into this moving story of spiritual rediscovery. Poems are sprinkled throughout the story, guiding readers through intimate and stunning moments of truth. Kaur reminds us that if we offer our trust completely to God, we are never alone.

The author of the spiritual collection of poetry My Wedding with Truth, Nidhi Kaur once again delivers an emotionally enlightened journey through the human heart. Miracles can be seen everywhere in this world, and Kaur helps us remember to keep our eyes open in this riveting story of redemption.


A Journey to Yonder is a young girl's coming-of-age story growing up in India. It is a beautiful narrative that reads like a memoir, scattered with poems; writing propelled by pain and the author's belief that she is writing from her soul.

The story begins with the pre-teen years and the loss the author feels when her deaf brother is transferred to live with relatives so he can get a better education. It continues with the loss of her beloved grandmother and her childhood home. She writes of her first love filled with wonder, joy and pain. She then enters into an abusive marriage. My heart broke for this girl who experienced so much heartache and desperation.

The story is divided into two sections. The second part is like another story, a reawakening, or a rebirth. The girl has renewed strength, a new vision and outlook on life.

A Journey to Yonder is an emotional book. There is abuse and pain but also beauty and strength in the way this girl loved her brother and her first love. Despite the prevalent theme of pain, I found this author's writing pleasant and easy to read. There are two explicit sex scenes that are written poetically.

If you like coming-of-age memoirs, books set in India, or poetry, you will enjoy this heartfelt account of one girl's determination to live a good life despite what she went through.

To read more reviews, please visit Nidhi Kaur's page on iRead Book Tours.

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Nidhi Kaur is the author of My Wedding with Truth, a collection of inspirational poetry. After discovering the healing power of the written word, Kaur began exploring the power of the divine through her poems.

A Journey to Yonder combines prose and poetry to explore Kaur’s challenging trails of life and her search for miracles in every moment of time.

Kaur lives in Fremont, California, where she works as a software engineer.

Connect with Nidhi: Website ~ Twitter ~ Facebook ~ Instagram
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Book Details:

Book Title: Appointment with Yesterday: A Novel in Four Parts with a Prologue and an Epilogue
Author: Christopher Stratakis
Category: Adult Fiction, 334 pages
Genre: coming-of-age / WWII / immigrant experience
Publisher: IndieReader
Release date: January 2017
Tour dates: Oct 2 to 20, 2017
Content Rating: PG-13 + M (There is no bad language or violence, but there are references to sex and sexual situations (including between a pre-teen and teen)


Book Description:

A poignant and compelling first novel, Appointment with Yesterday tells the story of Yanni, a cheeky and delightful Greek boy growing up in a small town on an island in the eastern Aegean.

Left in the care of his loving grandparents, Yanni endures the deprivation and terror of the German occupation during World War II and finally leaves his beloved homeland and family to rejoin the parents who had left him behind to make a better life for themselves in America.

Filled with heartbreaking and heartwarming stories of love, devotion, disenchantment, and dashed dreams, Appointment with Yesterday is, ultimately, the story of hardships overcome and a determined boy’s journey toward finding his destiny.

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Christopher Stratakis was born and raised in Greece. After moving to America, he graduated from Drexel University in 1951 and New York University School of Law in 1955. Shortly after joining the law firm of Poles, Tublin & Patestides in 1960, he became a partner, specializing in admiralty and corporate law.

He has written and published several articles, lectured on professional and historical subjects, served as Legal Advisor to several non-profits (pro bono), and was an arbitrator in maritime disputes. He is the author of Mnimes “Memories” (2010), a book of essays, short stories, and poems that he wrote as a teenager. In 2015, he co-edited Chains on Parallel Roads, a book published by Panchiaki “Korais” Society of New York. In recognition of his extensive community involvement, he has been the recipient of several awards from religious, governmental, and educational institutions.

Mr. Stratakis lives with his wife in New York City. He is the proud father of three and grandfather of three. This is his first novel.
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A poignant and compelling first novel, Appointment with Yesterday tells the story of Yanni, a cheeky and delightful Greek boy growing up in a small town on an island in the eastern Aegean. It's a feel-good story and you could win your own copy, by entering the giveaway.

Book Details:

Book Title: Appointment with Yesterday: A Novel in Four Parts with a Prologue and an Epilogue
Author: Christopher Stratakis
Category: Adult Fiction, 334 pages
Genre: coming-of-age / WWII / immigrant experience
Publisher: IndieReader
Release date: January 2017
Tour dates: July 3 to 14, 2017
Content Rating: PG-13 + M (There is no bad language or violence, but there are references to sex and sexual situations (including between a pre-teen and teen)


Book Description:

A poignant and compelling first novel, Appointment with Yesterday tells the story of Yanni, a cheeky and delightful Greek boy growing up in a small town on an island in the eastern Aegean.

Left in the care of his loving grandparents, Yanni endures the deprivation and terror of the German occupation during World War II and finally leaves his beloved homeland and family to rejoin the parents who had left him behind to make a better life for themselves in America.

Filled with heartbreaking and heartwarming stories of love, devotion, disenchantment, and dashed dreams, Appointment with Yesterday is, ultimately, the story of hardships overcome and a determined boy’s journey toward finding his destiny.
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Angelica Schirrick wonders how her life could have gotten so far off-track. With two children in tow, she begins a journey of self-discovery that leads her back home to Ohio.

Book Details:

Book Title: In the context of Love by Linda K. Sienkiewicz
Category: Adult fiction, 270 pages
Genre: Women's fiction
Publisher: Buddhapuss Ink LLC
Release date: September 2015
Content Rating: R (This book contains profanity, violence, explicit sex scenes and mature themes.)
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Book Description:

What makes us step back to examine the events and people that have shaped our lives? And what happens when what we discover leads to more questions?

Angelica Schirrick wonders how her life could have gotten so far off-track. With two children in tow, she begins a journey of self-discovery that leads her back home to Ohio. It pains her to remember the promise her future once held and the shattering revelations that derailed her life.

Can she face the failures and secrets of her past and move forward? Somehow she must learn to accept the violence of her beginning before she can be open to life, and a second chance at love.

Buy the book:  Amazon  Barnes & Noble


Praise for In the Context of Love

“Linda K. Sienkiewicz’s powerful and richly detailed debut novel is at once a love story, a cautionary tale, and an inspirational journey. In the Context of Love should be required reading for all wayward teenage girls—and their mothers, too.” ~Bonnie Jo Campbell, author of National Book Award Finalist, American Salvage, and critically acclaimed, Mothers, Tell Your Daughters.

“With tenderness, but without blinking, Linda K. Sienkiewicz turns her eye on the predator-prey savannah of the young and still somehow hopeful.” ~ Jacquelyn Mitchard, author of the #1 NY Times Bestseller, Deep End of the Ocean

“Absorbing, heartbreaking, compulsively-readable and insightful, Linda Sienkiewicz’s In the Context of Love casts a hypnotic spell. This is storytelling at its best.” ~ Lewis Robinson, author of the critically acclaimed, Officer Friendly: and Other Stories, and Water Dogs

In the Context of Love | Book Trailer from Linda Sienkiewicz on Vimeo.