Thursday, April 15, 2010

Fix It, Make It, Grow It, Bake It by Billee Sharp

Recently, I was fortunate enough to have been given a copy of the book Fix It, Make It, Grow It, Bake It (The D.I.Y. Guide to the Good Life) by Billee Sharp, to read and review, and let me tell you, I am in love with this book!

The book is essentially a “how to” type of guide on ways to do everything in the title, but the minute I started reading the Foreword I knew I was in for so much more than that. Billee takes you through life in her own family, as a way to show just how simple each of the suggestions can be, and through her frank yet easy going approach she lets all readers know just how much better our life will be if we take her advice to heart.

There is not a single page in the book that I didn’t have an “a-ha!” moment or find some useful tip or website / organization that could make me an even Greener Greenie. With resources out the wazoo (everything from how to calculate your own carbon footprint to the websites for Freecycle) and enough recipes for home made cleaners and meals, I don’t think this book can live on my bookshelf; it must be stored in the kitchen as a reference guide!

I really enjoyed her easy way of explaining just how simple it is to make the switch to a more frugal, old school if you will, mentality by telling us that, at first it may be difficult, but will get easier each time we take the initiative to take on more ourselves.

Because I am a writer I did notice a few editing goofs, one of which would cause a bit of confusion as it was for a website URL but overall the book flows. Even me, the slowest reader on the planet, got through it in just three sittings. The encouraging thing is I am already ready to thumb back through it as just today I have a need to make use of one of Ms. Sharp’s suggestions for polishing silver!

Because I was so uber impressed, and fully intend to make great use of this book on very likely a daily basis, I am granting Fix It, Make It, Grow It, Bake It (The D.I.Y. Guide to the Good Life) by Billee Sharp a Four and a Half Leaf Rating!


I think there is a new authority in town on Greening up our lives and it is Billee Sharp! Take her advice to heart and look for her book at your local library or second hand book store before buying new, but if you absolutely can not wait to find it, the book is a steal at $15.95 from Cleis Press online. Thanks for your keen eye on the planet and our pocketbooks Billee, living frugal never sounded so fun! ♥love♥

2 comments:

Sharon said...

Sounds like a good book!

Almost Precious said...

I'm putting this one on my must find list. Thanks for the recommendation.