About this book:
Blue Rider Press // April 22, 2014
Dee William’s life changed in an instant, with a near-death experience in the aisle of her local grocery store. Diagnosed with a heart condition at age forty-one, she was all too suddenly reminded that life is short, time is precious, and she wanted to be spending hers with the people and things she truly loved. That included the beautiful sprawling house in the Pacific Northwest she had painstakingly restored—but, increasingly, it did not include the mortgage payments, constant repairs, and general time-suck of home ownership. A new sense of clarity began to take hold: Just what was all this stuff for? Multiple extra rooms, a kitchen stocked with rarely used appliances, were things that couldn’t compare with the financial freedom and the ultimate luxury—time—that would come with downsizing.
My thoughts:
I was absolutely in love with this memoir. It was inspiring and amusing. I immediately had the desire to purge and simplify my life. How Williams just took life by the horns was incredible- especially after being faced with heart problems. Who thinks about their heart and mortality during the young years of your 40s? Dee had to, and this was her result: time to reevaluate, simplify, and get back to loving life. She did this by building (yep- all on her own!.. how awesome is that?!) her own tiny house to live in and share the love. As her adventure of building the home, finding the home its own home base, and then the business of actually living in the home, Dee brings the reader close and invites us into her personal life and mind.
The Big Tiny is a well balanced book of the good and the bad to tiny house living- just like this memoir is a well balanced book with the ups and downs in her life. Williams shared with us and I truly did find it interesting. I liked that she seemed so "normal", yet here she is writing a memoir. She isn't a famous movie star or musician telling the sob story of her upbringing- she is a normal woman sharing her inspiring life story. There is more to Dee Williams than her tiny house reflects. After reading this, she is a rock star in my mind (as I'm sure she is the tiny house culture!) and she put a great memoir together.
By the way, I've always loved tiny spaces- cubby holes, window seats, campers, tents, treehouses- they have all been places of refuge for me. (you can see my love for tiny spaces on my "tiny space love" pinterest board) Like Dee, crawling into this tiny spaces was comforting. I've dreamed the dream of living in a tiny house, and am glad I read this book because even though Williams shares the upside of a tiny house, she also shares the downsides.. and way too many downsides for me to tackle if I were to actually live in a tiny house. I can still dream of a tiny house- but only for recreating, not so much for full on living.
I high recommend this book to memoir lovers, tiny house fans, and anyone in need of a humorous and uplifting story.
About the author:
Dee Williams is a teacher and sustainability advocate. She is the co-owner of Portland Alternative Dwellings (www.padtinyhouses.com), where she leads workshops focused on tiny houses, green building, and community design. Her story has been featured on Good Morning America and NBC Nightly News, and on NPR, PBS, MSNBC, CNN, and CBC. She has also been profiled or featured in hundreds of online blogs and articles, and in print media including Time, The New York Times, and Der Spiegel. Williams lives in Olympia, Washington, with an overly ambitious Australian shepherd, in the shadow of the house of dear friends.
write to be understood, speak to be heard, read to grow
FTC: I received this egalley from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review. Image from Firsttoread.com, book information and author information from amazon.com
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