Are you there, spirit? It's me, Travis Life lessons from the other side

Holp debuts with an upbeat compendium of wisdom drawn from his work as a spiritual medium and his own path to self-acceptance. The author recounts growing up gay in a rigidly conservative Ohio town, and how coming out in his early teens allowed him to live more authentically ("When we show up as ourselves, right where we are, exactly as we are, without trying to fix, change, or run away from ourselves, the Universe meets us where we stand"). Other chapters use client readings to draw out such key lessons as the link between grief and a sense of purpose: Holp recalls watching a client realize she should pour her love for her late son into nursing, and notes "the struggles you've overcome become the road map that helps others find their ways." The author's experience as a medium lends the advice a gentle spirituality, though the book's strength lies in its perceptive takes on human nature, as when Holp discusses what it means to surrender or advises readers not to chase after their desires, but instead become the kind of person "who naturally attracts what we desire," after which "everything has a way of unfolding effortlessly." This should please the author's fans and win him some new ones. (Nov.)

A psychic medium shares his personal history and how his clients have made a lasting impact on his spiritual livelihood. In his effervescent memoir, Holp combines personal stories from his diverse clientele alongside confessions about his difficult coming-out process and the cultivation of his psychic spirit talents. Growing up in rural western Ohio with ultraconservative Christian parents, the author feared coming out and instead honed his abilities to conjure communications with deceased relatives through a Ouija board. As an adult, Holp enjoyed a 17-year career as a makeup artist, but his life became unmanageable due to alcohol dependency, self-hatred, and unaddressed emotional pain. When a supernatural chorus of voices offered hope and direction, Holp's life was saved and he decided to follow those voices into a career giving tarot readings and working as a psychic medium channeling the deceased and helping surviving relatives move on and heal. Holp is keenly attuned to "the energy that exists beyond our physical senses" and believes that everyone is comprised of eternal and boundless energy and frequencies. He doesn't believe in coincidences and insists, instead, that they are perfectly timed messages from our loved ones, spirit guides, or angels. Evidence of his extrasensory, "magical and synchronistic" abilities are on fine display in a succession of client readings, some involving deceased relatives delivering postmortem messages of hope and love to grieving loved ones. As his popularity grew as a medium, he struggled to find love and make a true personal connection to romance. His visions and intuitive perception are a unique gift, he acknowledges, and ones he is grateful for and never takes for granted. Leavened with light humor and suffused with earnestness and a bevy of proactive if well-worn platitudes, Holp believes everyone has the ability to channel wisdom and create an enriching experience with it. Whether dismissed as hokum or praised as an otherworldly miracle, Holp universally radiates the kind of positivity everyone could use more of right now: "We are loved beyond measure," he implores, "and there is always hope." An inspiring, personality-driven tour of a spirited medium's life and experiences with the great beyond. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.