Books

On the shelf at my local library.  Interesting introductory material, including motivation for teens and results of a study that showed how yoga can benefit them.  I didn’t find the poses to be relevant for me, and I couldn’t interest my household teen.

I skimmed the introductory material and tried a few of the workouts.  It’s good stuff, but a little too “easy does it” for me.  It can safely be done by anyone of any age and fitness level… and although I’m out of shape, I am not a 90-year-old who has never exercised!

On the shelf at my local library.

A great book.  I got it from the library on 7-day loan, so I will have to get it again and read it slowly, to actually have a chance to implement some of the suggestions he makes.

An exceedingly annoying book.  I have two main arguments with it.  1. it could more accurately be called “how to be a real estate agent”, since that’s really the focus of the book.  2.  the secondary focus appears to be letting the whole world know that the author coined the phrase “home staging” and came up with the idea.  That’s fine, but I don’t care!

There are pictures of homes and yards that have been staged, but they are black and white, and don’t have any text explaining what was done or why.  There are barely any “how-to” tips, and the ones that are there are just common sense.  The only exception is putting beds with the headboard in the corner, which seems to be a particular ‘thing’ of hers that other home stagers don’t agree with.

Not recommended.

I wasn’t sure if I’d read this before when I found it on the library shelf, but it turned out I had.  I thought my 14-year-old son might enjoy it, since one of the characters is a 14-year-old boy.  I’m halfway through and have to take it back to the library today, but I will get it out again next week once they re-shelve it.  The character who is 14 is not particularly distinguishable from the adult characters, so it turns out not to be a draw for teens.

It’s not exactly a sequel to Last Call, but it takes place after it, and some of the events of that book are alluded to.

Surprisingly, this was the best of the three books I got out of the library on home staging.  I’d read it again.

Subtitled “Easy Home Staging to Sell Your House for More Money in Any Market”

I got this off the shelf at our local library branch.  I thought the fact that it was a Canadian publication, by a Torontonian no less, would make it useful.  Turns out she’s a television producer, and the book is really a collection of quotes and pictures from people she interviewed.  Nice pictures, but not very useful on the specifics.

I had to start this a couple of times before I could get into it.  Somehow it didn’t immediately grab me the way “The Shadow of the Wind” did.

On the final try I got caught up in it, especially the last dozen chapters when the motion picked up and various questions started getting answered.

Mom pressed this book on me, and it sat at the farmhouse for quite a while.  I picked it up one bedtime and was happy to find it accessible and actually funny!

A very satisfying read.

I love this book, like all of hers… I get it from the library regularly to motivate myself.