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22nd out of 41 books
—
17 voters
A Householder's Guide to the Universe: A Calendar of Basics for the Home and Beyond
Nowadays, �go local,” �organic food,” and �sustainability” are on the tip of everyone's tongue. Harriet Fasenfest's A Householder's Guide to the Universe takes up the banner of progressive homemaking and urban farming as a way to confront the political, social, and environmental issues facing the world. While offering plenty of useful advice on how to do common household c...more
Paperback, 260 pages
Published
November 1st 2010
by Tin House Books
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Well. What to say about this book ... I won this in a Good Reads give away & I really wanted to love it. While this book is packed with tons & tons of good tips, the tone is very off putting to me. I loved "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle" -- it made me want to run right out & start digging in the dirt. This book doesn't fill me with the same excitement -- after reading it, I just feel annoyed. So I'm giving this three stars -- for good information -- but the author's superior tone preven...more
Let me be perfectly frank and say that I am a member of the choir to whom Fasenfest is preaching. We grow about 70% of our own produce. We have brought home live pigs & geese which later made an appearance on the dinner table. My husband is an unreconstructed back-to-the-lander, farming not only our own land, but the neighbor's plot as well. We buy whole foods in bulk, we preserve, we compost. In short, we embrace the lifestyle that Fasenfest is promoting. She takes it further in this book t...more
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I LOVED this book. It has information, plenty of inspiration, as well as witty comments on managing your household. Any book that takes what could be a dry subject and manages to make me laugh out loud is worth delving into. This book gives me hope for my little garden and helps me express my happiness by being the caretaker of my own home and family. Householder's of the world unite! No need to hide in the closet! We ARE valuable. In fact, this world is sorely lacking the tender care of a true...more
Most people aren't householders like the author, for the simple reason that it really is a full-time job (and then some). It's inspiring whilst not ignoring the very hard work. But I know I'm not the only one who wants to do a little bit more. Maybe you already can in-season produce for later, and want to grow your own. Or maybe you've discovered a good local farmer's market and want to know what to do with your find. This book tells you how to plan a garden for your needs, what to plant (and wh...more
I wasn't as thrilled by this book as I was hoping to be, though it did have a lot of good gardening information and recipes from this Portland, Oregon author.
In a lot of ways, it seemed like a pale imitation of Barbara Kingsolver's Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, but there didn't seem to be a lot of 'new' information within this book.
As other readers have mentioned, the overall tone of the book was very off-putting and didn't leave me really all that anxious to go on to the next chapter..let alone...more
In a lot of ways, it seemed like a pale imitation of Barbara Kingsolver's Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, but there didn't seem to be a lot of 'new' information within this book.
As other readers have mentioned, the overall tone of the book was very off-putting and didn't leave me really all that anxious to go on to the next chapter..let alone...more
For such a thick book, I had hoped that this would offer more than what I consider to be basic information on householding. Instead, it reads more like a personal journal, which is fine, just not what I wanted. I did like the month by month aspect of it, and sometimes her humor appealed to me, like all the nap taking she recommends.
I didn't read this book because I was interested in householding; I read it because I was interested in the type of people who choose to do it. Fasenfest knows what she's doing is a hard sell to the average--or even very liberal--American. While her tone can sometimes be didactic, the bottom line is that supporting a family on a garden smaller than a city plot is a difficult enterprise, and she knows what she's doing. An interesting diary and detailed manual for any modern American looking to tr...more
This book was full of a lot of the info I was looking for: planning a garden, succession gardening, various preserving methods, and how to best plan out your year. I especially love the canning yield chart and the preserving game plan worksheet. I can see myself referring to this throughout the year.
So, why only three stars? I found the author to often be condescending and judgmental. For example, she took a jab at runners for not being in their garden working up a sweat. Apparently gardening an...more
So, why only three stars? I found the author to often be condescending and judgmental. For example, she took a jab at runners for not being in their garden working up a sweat. Apparently gardening an...more
What I really love about this book is organization by month. Each chapter was dedicated to a month is Harriet's householding life. For example, she writes about how she spends January...in regards to gardening and maintaining her home...and so on...for each month. I loved the personal stories she threw in because they added character and often humor. It is part story...part how-to. My only gripe is that she lives in Oregon, so the gardening season is different from mine. Hey Harriet...if you're...more
I won this book through Good Reads and was so excited to get it in the mail. I love the way the author mixed personal essays and anecdotes with practical advise that we can all use. It's set up as a calendar with month by month advise. I will use this as a go to book for years to come. Whatever month is is you can look up practical things you can do around your house in the garden, kitchen and rest of your house. I will recommend this to other friends interested living a simple lifestyle.
Pretty, but inside is all text and quite bloggish. If you're in the mood for a blog in a book, maybe this will hit the spot. I couldn't seem to get into it!
Month by month approach used by one family trying to make life at home simpler. Fasenfest does the topic justice, though I was hoping for a little more how-to, rather than the philosophy behind her decision-making.
Glad I read this book. It's full of useful information for anyone wanting to be a "householder" and I have been considering the possibility of putting a garden in my yard so it was perfect timing. I wish it contained more recipes but the information that was there was extremely interesting.
I love reading books by opinionated women!
So incredibly disappointed by this book. The practical information seemed good and very useful, but the rest of the book is so laden down with her personal beliefs and anecdotes. MY GOD THE ANECDOTES. It's like you're asking someone about how to can peaches and she keeps going, "Let me tell you about this time I had dinner with my son's girlfriend... well! They met at the methadone clinic and..." OMG STFU I BEG YOU JUST TELL ME ABOUT THE FREAKING PEACHES. I couldn't read more than a chapter or t...more
part memoir, part garden/ kitchen book. Not as thorough as I was hoping, but a good read encouraging those to start taking care of feeding themselves rather then relying on current food distribution systems.
The main problem I have with these types of books is that they are almost always very location specific. While this book contains lots of great information, it is obviously written for a climate that experiences distinct seasons, i.e. not Texas! Unfortunately, the way it is organized (by what the author does each month) makes it very hard to find the information that you want. All in all, it was too much work to be very helpful for me.
2.5 stars
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This book didn't really grab me, but for purely logistical purposes. If I'm going to read a narrative I want a book I can hold in one or two hands easily, not a huge hulking textbook. I figured this was going to be a more nuts-and-bolts type of work but that is not the case.
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This book didn't really grab me, but for purely logistical purposes. If I'm going to read a narrative I want a book I can hold in one or two hands easily, not a huge hulking textbook. I figured this was going to be a more nuts-and-bolts type of work but that is not the case.
This is a month-by-month guide to things like gardening, food preservation, and general running of the house. It's not all practical for me, but it's fun to read and I'm glad that I won it :)
I've won a copy through First Reads and look forward to reading it.
May 24, 2013
Veronica
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May 21, 2013
Lisa Crook
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May 18, 2013
Angelica- Woman of Many Dogs
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Mack
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May 08, 2013
Dana
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Leigh Hinton
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May 07, 2013
Holly
marked it as to-read
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Nov 22, 2010 12:01pm