Thursday, October 3, 2013

Book Review: The Tiny House Revolution: A Guide to Living Large in Small Spaces by Michael Holtby

Image courtesy of Amazon.com
There is not much more that brings back those feelings of the night before Christmas as a child as much as ordering stuff from Amazon. I just love coming home from work to find a box patiently waiting for me on the front porch. I adore the idea that I can peruse Amazon at my leisure and two days later have whatever I desire delivered to my front door. Recently I ordered some things for my granddaughter and I threw in a book for myself. I chose The Tiny House Revolution: A Guide to Living Large in Small Spaces by Michael Holtby due to a combination of its price, just $5.21 and the description on Amazon: 


Living Large in Small Spaces Home ownership is the “American dream,” and it’s quite apparent that we are comfortable with dreaming big. Americans have always built the largest homes on the planet. Recently, however, there has been a quiet undercurrent bucking that trend. Some have questioned what all of this extra space is really buying us (apart from a larger mortgage). Some among us are wondering if there isn’t a better way of living out there. The Tiny House Revolution Inside, you'll learn all about Tiny Houses and the lifestyle that comes with them. Learn "What You Need versus What You want. Explore the Benefits of Living Small. Discover the 9 Ways a Tiny House Can Change Your Life. You'll find all that, and so much more. Written by Amazon Best-Selling author Michael Holtby, The Tiny House Revolution opens up a whole new way of living: smart, economical and revolutionary!
Sadly, I think I should have saved my $5.21. Not that five bucks is a tremendous amount of money these days, but the product description does not really match what is found inside the nice covers of this book. First off, it is SUPER short. That is on me, however as Amazon clearly shows the book length is 30 pages and it weights a mere 2.1 ounces. However, the typeface in this book is large with great amounts of space and the information contained within is just common sense. Most of what is in this book are ideas most folks would be able to think up just brainstorming the concept of moving into a small space. This book was not based on any significant research and contains information one could glean from an hour or two of Googling around the internet. With the exception of the nice cover, this book is simply not a quality production. I get the felling this "best selling" author simply is attempting to ride a current trend by producing something related to the topic, not something of high quality. He is by no means an expert, nor is this book much more than a basic research report that a high school student would put together. 

I would recommend this book for one purpose; that is if you have friends and family curious about a decision to move into a Tiny House, assuming they don't have any background knowledge of what a Tiny House is and why there is a movement that is growing momentum. This book would be good to give them a (very) broad overview of the Tiny House movement. This book is nothing more than an informative pamphlet. 

2 comments:

  1. Ohhhh, that always is disappointing to get a book a book that doesn't live up your expectations - but thanks for sharing an honest review so others won't mistakenly purchase the book who are looking for more detailed information.

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  2. It's a bummer sometimes when you spend money and the book is not what you expected. I have not heard of the tiny house movement before but I definitely do wonder why we have extra space some times. In my case, I think its just so my wife has somewhere to store extra STUFF :-). Thanks for an honest review.

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