finn_manders's review
Good premise (live simply without being silly about it) but the lack of self-awareness was frustrating and made her experimentation seem hollow.
kirkw1972's review
3.0
This isn’t a bad book, I quite enjoyed it. I took away a few things I can learn from but I didn’t feel like the book appealed to every standard of living. I have no chance of being able to afford some of the simple things within the book. However I can take away some of the ideas and look at how I can recreate for myself within my own salary and personal standard of living so it was worth reading for that.
les_allan's review
4.0
A great book because of all the inspiration inside. From Cleaning out the bathroom cupboard to building an entire house out of waste material, this book looks at how we can live more lightly on the earth but also be more joyful. Although it was far ranging, I would say it looks at simplicity mostly from a western, middle class, materialistic point of view. It fails to go to the heart of simplicity, which is not to live a duplicitous life, but rather to focus on what truly matters to you and to strip out everything that gets in the way of pursuing that. Simplicity is not just about make do and mend, or baking bread, it is mental, emotional and soul work so you can express who you truly are.
lsd11's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
lfrankie78's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
kalkie's review against another edition
2.0
Usually these kind of “A year of …” books follow a path whereby the author is trying something new out for a year. However this book is a lot less unstructured and seems to just dot around as Humble tries out a few things without any kind of overall plan.
It read more like a freelancer being paid to travel the world and find out about living simply to produce a book at the end of it. Not many people could jet off to New Mexico to intern on building eco houses costing up to millions of dollars. Or travel the UK just to find out how to make chilli jam or bread. Or hire a gardening expert to help plant seeds and build a greenhouse.
This is less of a “let’s try it and see what happens” book and more of a “let’s talk to people and ask what they did”. Saying that, it’s an interesting read and enjoyable in places. But don’t expect a 12-month plan on how to live more simply.
It read more like a freelancer being paid to travel the world and find out about living simply to produce a book at the end of it. Not many people could jet off to New Mexico to intern on building eco houses costing up to millions of dollars. Or travel the UK just to find out how to make chilli jam or bread. Or hire a gardening expert to help plant seeds and build a greenhouse.
This is less of a “let’s try it and see what happens” book and more of a “let’s talk to people and ask what they did”. Saying that, it’s an interesting read and enjoyable in places. But don’t expect a 12-month plan on how to live more simply.