
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
I wanted to love this book after it had been recommended by my cousin's wife and popped up on several blogs I read. I even asked my library to purchase it -- and they did! (I figured buying a book railing against excess would defeat the purpose!)
When I told Shawn the premise -- seven experiments to limit excess food, clothes, possessions, media, waste, spending and stress -- he thought it sounded gimmicky. That's exactly right, but that doesn't mean it's without merit.
I held off reading the book because I wasn't ready to be convicted of my excess. I expected the book to get under my skin and inspire some changes. After reading it I don't think I'm any more aware of my excess than I was when I started. The book has valid points but nothing I haven't been thinking about before.
All that said I did like the book. The author's personality sparked through the book, and the stories about her family were interesting. It was written very informally -- like a blog turned into a book without a good editor. That was a bit of a turn off for me, because when I think "I could have written this better," I'm not apt to fall in love with the writing! But I don't write and am certainly not in a place to focus on and write about these things.
I will continue our efforts to scale back in all the areas she wrote about. Media and possessions are very hard for me, not that any areas are easy!
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