#BookReview @shewritespress: The Shell and the Octopus: A Memoir by Rebecca Stirling

Synopsis: This is the story of Rebecca Stirling’s childhood: a young girl raised by the sea, by men, and by literature. Circumnavigating the world on a thirty-foot sailboat, the Stirlings spend weeks at a time on the open ocean, surviving storms and visiting uncharted islands and villages. Ushered through her young life by a father who loves adventure, women, and extremes, Rebecca befriends “working girls” in the ports they visit (as they are often the only other females present in the bars that they end up in) and, on the boat, falls in love with her crewmate and learns to live like the men around her. But her driven nature and the role models in the books she reads make her determined to be a lady, continue her education, begin a career, live in a real home, and begin a family of her own. Once she finally gets away from the boat and her dad and sets to work upon making her own dream a reality, however, Rebecca begins to realize life is not what she thought it would be—and when her father dies in a tragic accident, she must return to her old life to sift through the mess and magic he has left behind. 

This title will be released on July 26, 2022.

#BookReview: Enough: A Memoir of Mistakes, Mania, and Motherhood by Amelia Zachry

Synopsis: A bicultural child of a Malaysian mother and an Indian father, Amelia Zachry was different from the get-go, never quite fitting in. In this raw, inspiring memoir, she chronicles the long, winding journey that brought her from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to Kentucky, USA--the place she and her family now call home.

Amelia was nineteen years old, her future wide open, when a fellow student from her Kuala Lumpur university spiked her drink and sexually assaulted her. After that night, she felt sullied--and convinced that what had happened was her fault. In the months and years that followed, she spiraled, first into isolation and then into promiscuity, as she attempted to try to take back some of the power that had been stripped from her that night. Eventually, she met the man who would become her husband and greatest advocate, Daniel, and began to emerge from that dark place--but even he couldn't fight her demons for her. In her late twenties, Amelia was diagnosed with PTSD and bipolar II disorder, both of which would go on to shape her adult life as an individual, a wife, and a mother.

A memoir of trauma and healing, mental illness and resilience, culture shock and new beginnings, devastation and triumph, Enough is one woman's story of learning to make peace with the fact that things are as they should be, even if she sometimes wishes they were different--and of discovering that however far away it may seem, there is always a light at the end of the tunnel. 

This title will be released on October 18, 2022.

#BookReview: A Sky of Infinite Blue: A Japanese Immigrant's Search for Home and Self by Kyomi O'Connor

Synopsis: From an early age, Kyomi's life was filled with emotional difficulties--an adulterous father, an overreliant mother, and a dismissive extended family. In an effort to escape the darkness of her existence in Japan, Kyomi moved to the States in February 1990 to start a new life as a researcher working at NIH in Bethesda, MD. Soon, she fell in love with her husband-to-be: Patrick, a warm, charismatic British cancer researcher whose unconditional love and support helped her begin to heal the traumas of her past. Eventually, their journey together led them to change their careers and move to San Diego, CA, where they dedicated themselves to a Buddhism practice that changed both their lives--aiding them in their spiritual growth and in realizing their desire to help others.



Then Patrick was diagnosed with stage IV metastatic melanoma in the brain--and, after a fierce, three-year-long battle against his cancer, died on July 4, 2016. Devastated, Kyomi spent a year lost in grief. But when she one day began to write, she discovered that doing so allowed her to uncover truths about herself, her life history, and her relationship with Patrick. In the process, she surfaced many old, unhealed wounds--but ultimately writing became her daily spiritual practice, and many truths emerged out of the darkness. After many years of struggle and searching, Kyomi finally found the love and light that had existed within her all along.

#BookReview: Walking Him Home: Helping My Husband Die with Dignity by Joanne Tubbs Kelly

Synopsis: Alan and Joanne marry in midlife and live a happily-ever-after existence until, at sixty-nine, Alan is diagnosed with a rare, fatal, neurodegenerative illness. As he becomes increasingly disabled and dependent on others, and decreasingly able to find joy in life, he decides he wants to end his suffering using Colorado’s Medical Aid in Dying law. 

Joanne desperately wants Alan to live, but when he asks for her help completing the Medical Aid in Dying application, she can’t say no. She helps him complete the requirements, hoping deep down that his application will be denied . . . only to be stunned when his medical team approves his request and writes him a prescription for the life-ending drugs. 

Told with affection and spiced with humor, Walking Him Home is Joanne’s tale of coming to terms with her kind, funny husband’s illness; of learning to navigate the intricate passageways of caregiving and the pitfalls of our medical system; and of choosing to help Alan in his quest to die with dignity, even though she wants nothing more than to grow old with him. Tender and heartfelt, this is one woman’s story about loving extravagantly—and being loved in kind.

#BookReview: Sunday Afternoons and Other Times Remembered (A Memoir) by Ben Ewell

Synopsis: On the afternoon of Easter Sunday, 1992, Ben Ewell’s brother, sister-in-law, and niece were all murdered. While trying to make sense of this staggering tragedy, Ben can’t help but think back through his life: the hard work and the many peaceful Sunday afternoons growing up on his family farm in Ohio in a house without a bathroom or running water; his high school antics in the 1950s; his time in Haight-Ashbury while attending law school in 1960s San Francisco; and the highs and lows, both personal and professional, of life after school. Threaded throughout these reminiscences, Ben reveals the details of the investigation of his family members’ murders—and the arrest and trial of the parties involved. 


In this decades-long saga, there is marriage and divorce, love and loss, family and friendship; there are political campaigns and business ventures, some failed and some fruitful. Ultimately, this is a story of perseverance in the face of tragedy, of creating opportunities out of problems, and of appreciating the gift of life and the world around us—with some humor along the way. 

This title will be released on June 14, 2022.

#BookBlitz @RABTBookTours: Find Your Flavor by Lauren Doyle M.S. @mkwebsiteandseo

 

A Recipe for Discovering Your Ideal Career

 

Nonfiction / Career

Date Published: March 30, 2022

Publisher: ‎Getting Results Inc

 

What do you want to be when you grow up?

That may have been fun or easy to answer years ago, but for teens and young adults, it's a question that can be disconcerting at best... and sometimes downright frightening now that the question has become real.

 

Career choice is a huge decision with layers of consequence.

In Find Your Flavor, Lauren Doyle walks readers through the step-by-step process she uses with the young adult clients she works with which include:

Integrating your interests, strengths, and lifestyle desires to create the recipe for the ultimate career success.

The importance of playing, experimenting, and sampling with potential ingredients to be included in your career recipe.

How to distinguish between enduring intrigue v.s. hobby-like interests.

Better understanding and mastering your own mind for more successful life outcomes.

Guidance on how to get your foot in the door (or on the ladder).

Learn to use existing social networks to help you land a position in your chosen field.

She offers specific exercises that help readers put these critical, but often 'invisible' concepts to work to uncover the perfect recipe for choosing the ideal career. Whether you are a teen considering a college major or a young adult about to launch into a professional role, you'll definitely want to read this book and 'find your flavor' that will put you on the path to success and life-long fulfillment.

#ReleaseBlitz: The Way of the Tracker by Carrie Jost @RABTBookTours

 

Natural Health / Self Development / Kinesiology / Healing / Holistic Health / Wellbeing / Fulfillment

Releasing April 2022

Publisher: Serapis Bey Publishing

 

 

This book takes you on an adventure of personal development through the detective work of Creative Kinesiology.  Muscle testing gives us the powerful tool we need to delve into any problem. It allows the body to show us what is going on physically, emotionally and in our feelings, with the mind and the spiritual self. Using maps of the body, subtle energies and clues to the problem gives the tracker the direction of healing.  Working creatively with the person and their intent for healing gives us all we need for healing and inner work to begin and continue. We look at the way the latest discoveries from the scientific world add new perspectives on the way the body systems work – or don’t.  Plumbing the depths of our being takes us to the reasons for our stress and anxiety – the traumas, large and small that can create problems in any part of us, including the digestive system, the brain and the nervous system. We may have lost our ability to look forward and reach for our visions and dreams. Help is there for us; in the exercises and techniques we can use for ourselves; some are introduced in the book.  Increasing our awareness of the body’s messages can give us the healing impetus to help ourselves and can take us to practitioners, both in the natural health world and in the medical profession.

Discover this gentle and powerful approach to healing and health for yourself as you read the book – a healing journey in itself.

#BookBlitz: UpLevel Now by Ursula Mentjes @RABTBookTours @mkwebsiteandseo

 

Make the Domino Effect Work for You and Create More Peace, Freedom, and Joy in Your Personal and Professional Life

Nonfiction / Business

Date Published: March 20, 2022

Publisher: ‎ Authors Place Press

 

You can UpLevel your life Now in 3 simple steps.

 

Even after her best year ever in business and the launch of her third bestselling book, Sales Expert, Speaker, and Author Ursula felt uninspired and even frustrated by what she had created. Unable to put her finger on the exact cause of her dissatisfaction, she dug in—determined to turn this upheaval into an UpLevel.

Leveraging all of her tools, skills, and team members, Ursula uncovered three key steps that allowed her to UpLevel every area of her life. In no time at all, she was witnessing the domino effect in action—more vitality and peace, thriving personal and professional relationships and collaborations, and more fun, ease, and momentum in her own sales and business growth.

In UpLevel Now, Ursula shares her personal and professional journey and offers a guide to help you:

ask the one question that will immediately bring crystal clarity

realize how your current challenges are happening for you, not to you

identify and take the right, and sometimes challenging, next step

topple the dominoes in the right direction personally and professionally

double and triple your income and joy and freedom with more ease

It’s time for you to experience the domino effect in your life and UpLevel Now.

 

#BookBlitz: Are We Really Biochemical Robots? by David Lawrence @RABTBookTours @mkwebsiteandseo

 

Sam Harris' Crusade Against Free Will

Nonfiction

Date Published: March 19, 2022

Publisher: Biochemical Press

 

 

It's the 10th anniversary of Sam Harris' Free Will, one of the most popular books of the past decade written on the free will debate. Harris' well-deserved reputation as an author, intellectual, and social commentator has afforded Free Will exposure that books on the subject rarely enjoy. The 10th anniversary of its publication makes the timing right for a no-holds-barred critique of determinism and Free Will's take on determinist doctrine. The moral implications of the free will debate have gained renewed urgency from scientific findings that the belief in determinism leads to cheating, aggression, and other immoral conduct. Are We Really Biochemical Robots? delivers an unsparing blow to determinism and its circular premises, reliance on selective evidence, and moral equivalency.

#BookBlitz: Your Maternity Leave by Nathalie Koren @RABTBookTours @BookBuzznet

 

The Ultimate Practical Guide (1st UK Edition)

Self Help, Parenting, Motivational, Career

Date Published: November 19, 2021

Publisher: Breakthrough Publishing

 

Maternity leave can be a challenging time for any woman, but with good preparation, a clear understanding of your rights, and a positive attitude, managing this crucial phase of your life has never been easier!

Packed with checklists and handy tips, this book covers a full range of relevant practical situations to guide you through the various stages of your maternity. It will provide you with the information, advice and reassurance you need to successfully transition out—and also back into—the workplace.

Presented in a simple, easy to follow format, this book is the perfect companion to inspire and empower all working women about to embark on this life-changing journey.

#BookBlitz @RABTBookTours: The Power of Wellbeing by Clive Elliott @mkwebsiteandseo

 

A blueprint for rebuilding the social fabric and reimagining an inclusive society

Nonfiction

Date Published: November 15, 2021

Publisher: ‎ Cogent Publishing

 

A timely reminder of our shared humanity and the fragile social contract that binds us together.

This book is also about taking a deep breath and reassessing our institutions, systems, and values and re-purposing them in an uncertain post-pandemic world. It is about engineering positive change to achieve a better world—“for the people”—where most of the population can thrive and prosper, while building and maintaining the core values of equality, trust, and empathy. I hope to show how a shift in perspective that has blossomed in our small island nation might be the catalyst for far more sweeping change in bigger countries like the United States and the United Kingdom. I hope that it will help awaken the world to the fragility of our shared humanity at what may well prove to be a unique time in history.

#BookBlitz @RABTBookTours: Think People Think by Allen Brown @BookBuzznet

 

Nonfiction / Current Events

Date Published: October 7, 2021

Publisher: Xlibris

 

75 pages of a 91-year-old man looking at some major world problems today.

Emphasis on wars/death, money (it is not where it is needed), honesty (can it make a come-back? what form of Government is right for us? Computer malware is taking a large toll on normal life. AI (Artificial Intelligence) can be expected to replace humans in almost every aspect of life, including running the Government.

#BookBlitz @RABTBookTours: The Business Beast by Brian Dyer @mkwebsiteandseo

 

Unleash Four Primal Instincts to Silence Your Inner Bitch, Lead Your Tribe, and Hunt Down Success

Nonfiction / Self-Help

Date Published: March 26, 2022

 

 

 

Silence Your Inner Bitch and Let the Reign of the Beast Begin!

Does the voice in your head fill you with doubt? Are you working harder but accomplishing less? Is your team a rusty wreck instead of a well-oiled machine? Are your goals receding instead of getting closer? Are you haunted by past failures? Does the life you’ve always hoped to live still elude you?

If you answered YES to any of these questions, it’s time to unleash the Beast. In The Business Beast, Brian Dyer leads you down a fulfilling—but sometimes dark and lonely—path. Entering the wild is dangerous, but it offers rewards you can only begin to imagine, and you’ll be in good hands as Brian guides you through the four primal instincts of the Business Beast:

1. Dilate your eyes like the great horned owl: See what others do not and prioritize what truly matters.

2. Rule your kingdom like the lion: Own and lead your tribe.

3. Enter attack mode like the cheetah: Strike quickly, effortlessly, and efficiently at the right moment.

4. Hunt undaunted like the honey badger: Develop a callused mind, dismiss failure, push past pain, and relentlessly pursue success.

Merge these four instincts, and nothing will stop you.

 

WARNING: This book is not for everyone. If you don’t want to do the work, if you’re happily winding down your career, or if you’re easily satisfied by mediocrity, stop reading now. If you value self-esteem more than self-awareness or self-respect, or if you value the amount of paid time off you receive from your employer, this book is not for you.

If you’re working hard to live a life of success and fulfillment but find yourself falling short of your goals, The Business Beast is the answer. Brian Dyer is in the trenches, viewing, leading, calculating, attacking, and building some of America’s most successful companies. He knows exactly what it takes to become a Beast because he’s done it, he’s doing it now, and if you follow his advice and put it to work, you can be a Business Beast too. And once you’ve lived the life of a Beast you will never go back.

If you’re ready to do what real beasts do, let’s go to work!

#BookBlitz @RABTBookTours: Own Your Story by Morene S. Lim @BookBuzznet

 

A Journey of Self-Healing After Grief and Loss

Self-Help, Grief & Loss

Date Published: April 20, 2022

Publisher: Westbow Press

Have you ever thought that you were alone in your struggle to have children? Maybe you have gone through a season of depression and anxiety, feeling alone and isolated, needing support. It is time to talk about the truth and the struggle to overcome grief, sadness, and disappointments in our lives.

Nothing makes us grow more than allowing our old ways to die and burying the emotional baggage that we hold on to: the past and the pain. We want to own it because we know nothing else. It is familiar, despite the messiness. We carry these hard-hearted matters like heroes carrying a victorious flag. To declare to you that the tangled narrative of my life will bring healing to your life is certain. You choose to partner alongside me because you wish to heal, and this is the initial step. Someone once declared, trust no one who does not walk with a limp. Don't trust someone who hasn't experienced a storm. Today, as I write these words, I walk with a physical lean, as I am recovering from two knee surgeries. These fractured parts of my knee, my meniscus, gravely damaged that it had to be removed, were the first of many ailments. My ACL ligament, the one that had to be sewn back together with a hamstring graft, is the source of my limp. Wandering around with this limp has humbled me, only the Father knows. I own this truth of being broken and sewn back together. More significantly, the divine surgeon has healed my past.

#BookBlitz @RABTBookTours: Unjust (Prexipitant of Greed) by Lee McGarr @mkwebsiteandseo

 

True Crime

Date Published: January 23, 2022

Publisher: Palmetto Publishing

 

It is time that "We the People" act and return our country to its righteous path.

Unjust is just one example of how injustice goes unchecked. Ultimately, there will be very few winners and an entire nation that loses.

Unjust starts with a case in Oklahoma and discusses how the case in Oklahoma is much larger than just Oklahoma and includes the entire United States.

#ReleaseBlitz @RABTBookTours: Lead Your Team Towards A Better World by Dr. Lies Wouters @authorparul

Management book / Leadership / Psychology

Date Published: May 10, 2022

Publisher:  Serapis Bey Publishing

Drs Lies Wouters, international organizational psychologist, advisor, trainer and team coach, based in the Netherlands, introduces her unique Metaphor Map and Metaphor Model of Psychological Safety in this, her first book published in English. She shines a new light on how all leaders across the world can use specific learnt skills to create teams where people thrive, when they understand that it is up to them to create the circumstances where people feel motivated, have fun and grow. She explains the neurobiology of our behaviour and its impact on performance, collaboration, creativity, happiness, productivity and so much more. Backed by relevant science, comprehensive research, real life examples and practical exercises this book takes you step by step through the underlying processes in your brain and body to develop the skills that ensure high performance. She reveals the significance of applying these skills in the world and how we can all play an important role in making this world better, where not only teams, but everyone can thrive.

#BookReview @ladybookmad: Unlock Your Storybook Heart (You Are Your Own Fairy Tale #3) by Amanda Lovelace

Synopsis: “life is not something that can be experienced on a deadline.”

amanda lovelace, the bestselling & award-winning author of the “women are some kind of magic” poetry series, presents unlock your storybook heart, the third & final installment in her feminist poetry series, “you are your own fairy tale.” this is a collection about being so caught up in the fable that is perfectionism that you miss out on your own life. be honest: when was the last time you stopped to take in the everyday enchantment all around you?

#BookReview: Wild Witchcraft by Rebecca Beyer @_SimonElement

Synopsis: Learn how to cultivate your own magical garden, begin your journey with folk herbalism, and awaken to your place in nature through practical skills from an experienced Appalachian forager and witch.

Witchcraft is wild at heart, calling us into a relationship with the untamed world around us. Through the power of developing a relationship with plants, a witch—beginner or experienced—can practice their art more deeply and authentically by interacting with the beings that grow around us all. Bridging the gap between armchair witchcraft and the hedge witches of old, Wild Witchcraft empowers you to work directly with a wide variety of plants and trees safely and sustainably.

With Wild Witchcraft, Rebecca Beyer draws from her years of experience as an Appalachian witch and forager to give you a practical guide to herbalism and natural magic that will share:
-The history of witchcraft and Western herbalism
-How to create and maintain your own herbal garden
-Recipes for tinctures, teas, salves, and other potions to use in rites and rituals
-Spells, remedies, and rituals created with the wild green world around you, covering a range of topics, from self-healing to love to celebrating the turning of the seasons
-And much more!

Wild Witchcraft welcomes us home to the natural world we all dwell in by exploring practical folk herbal and magical rites grounded in historical practices and a sustainable, green ethic.

This title will be released on May 10, 2022.

#BookReview: Welsh Witchcraft: A Guide to the Spirits, Lore, and Magic of Wales by Mhara Starling

Synopsis: The history of magic and witchcraft in Wales will inspire any modern-day witch. Written by a Welsh practitioner, this book shares the magical traditions of the land of the red dragon, exploring deities, fairies, folklore, charms, plants, and magic with dozens of exercises for hands-on practice.

Explore the history and terminology of Welsh magic and methods for honoring the land. Learn to connect with Cerridwen, Rhiannon, and other deities as well as fairies and mystical creatures. Discover how you can incorporate traditional Welsh folk magic into your modern witchcraft practice, with exercises for honoring those who came before, connecting with the spirit of your home, protecting against adversity and malignant spirits, changing the weather, and much more.

#BookReview: The Thrifty Witch's Book of Simple Spells by Wren Maple

Synopsis: From Wren Maple, the Thrifty Witch, comes an introduction to witchcraft with a variety of spells, tips, and tricks to get the most out of your practice.

There’s nothing wrong with simple and straightforward. Easy spells are not less worthy spells. These ideas are central to the practice of the Thrifty Witch. Sick of not being able to easily source (or afford) what she needed for spells, Wren Maple dedicated herself to collecting and optimizing spells that could work for all witches—no matter where they were on their journey and no matter their personal resources. Now The Thrifty Witch is sharing her research and bringing her collection to the page for the first time. The Thrifty Witch’s Book of Simple Spells is part primer, part spellbook. It includes:

Getting started/witch basics: Witchcraft as self-care, how to establish a practice, and a handful of super-easy spells to get casting today.

Key ingredients for spells: Starter stones and herbs, how to source, what to buy first, and more questions answered!

Simple spells for every witch: Just like the spells Wren is known for online, nearly every spell in the book requires five items or fewer, and all ingredients are easy to source.

Specific spells: Organized by purpose (e.g. love spells, protection spells), these spells are sure to cover what you're looking to cast.

Tips and Tricks for Casting: When to cast for best results, where to cast and why it matters...make your spells count! 
The beauty of these spells is that they are easy enough and affordable enough to practice daily. Since practice and process are so important, this book provides an invaluable resource—unlocking the ability to try new spells and refine casting methods multiple times per week—even daily.