This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Free Book Program, which is open to all readers and is completely free. The author will provide you with a free copy of their book in exchange for an honest review. You and the author will discuss what sites you will post your review to and what kind of copy of the book you would like to receive (eBook, PDF, Word, paperback, etc.). To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email.
This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Book Review Exchange Program, which is open to all authors and is completely free. Simply put, you agree to provide an honest review an author's book in exchange for the author doing the same for you. What sites your reviews are posted on (B&N, Amazon, etc.) and whether you send digital (eBook, PDF, Word, etc.) or hard copies of your books to each other for review is up to you. To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email, and be sure to describe your book or include a link to your Readers' Favorite review page or Amazon page.
This author participates in the Readers' Favorite Book Donation Program, which was created to help nonprofit and charitable organizations (schools, libraries, convalescent homes, soldier donation programs, etc.) by providing them with free books and to help authors garner more exposure for their work. This author is willing to donate free copies of their book in exchange for reviews (if circumstances allow) and the knowledge that their book is being read and enjoyed. To begin, click the purple email icon to send this author a private email. Be sure to tell the author who you are, what organization you are with, how many books you need, how they will be used, and the number of reviews, if any, you would be able to provide.
Sherry Sidoti is an award-winning author and yoga teacher. She is the founder of FLY Yoga, a yoga teacher training program and non-profit that offers yoga and meditation for trauma resilience on Martha's Vineyard, MA and leads embodied memoir writing courses, somatic healing workshops, and yoga + writing retreats globally. Her musings, infused by twenty-plus years of practicing and teaching yoga, healing arts, and mysticism have been published in Heart & Soul Magazine, The Martha's Vineyard Times, Anthropology and Humanism Quarterly, Mystic Magazine, among others. Her story “Mosaic” is featured in the She Writes Press Anthology Art in the Time of Unbearable Crisis: Women Writers Respond to the Call. Sidoti’s debut memoir, A Smoke and a Song received the 2023 Gold Medal for Inspirational Memoir with Living Now Book Awards, Honorable Mention for 2024 Eric Hoffer Book Awards Grand Prize Winner in E-book non-fiction, National Indie Excellence Award Finalist, Finalist for the da Vinci Eye Prize, and earned 2024 Readers’ Favorite Gold Medal Award for Non-Fiction Inspirational. She currently resides on Martha's Vineyard, MA.
Reviewed by Trudi LoPreto for Readers' Favorite
A Smoke and a Song is a powerful memoir by Sherry Sidoti, who shares her life from childhood to old age. Along the way, we meet her mother, her sisters, and the men she loves. Her childhood was painful with a single mother who was not always there for her girls, leaving Sherry feeling as if she had to be the responsible adult. Throughout her life and up until her mother’s death, their relationship shifts from happy to sad, to angry and pained. Sherry has two sisters who are very different and they are examined in great detail. They do not seem to see or remember things in the same way, but somehow there is always love and a bond between them. Sherry finds it hard to love and is often in a shaky relationship with the men in her life. Through it all, her son Miles always remains her pride and joy. In time Sherry becomes the owner of a Yoga School offering others a learning tool to handle their trauma through meditation. Sherry takes over as their leader and spiritual trainer and is highly regarded after her 20-year career.
A Smoke and a Song will have you crying, laughing, and shaking your head in amazement as you follow along and become a part of Sherry’s story as the words draw you into her reality. This memoir will make you pause and think about your own life in terms of where it has been and where it is going. I found it impossible to stop reading and was amazed at the strength, spirit, pain, love, hurt, and healing that one woman was faced with, yet she managed to find peace and a bright ending. This is a must-read for women from all walks of life who are looking for answers to the frequently asked question: Who am I, and what is my purpose? Please do not pass up this book, but put it on the top of your reading list as you will not regret it.
