Book Review: Fix It, Make It, Grow It, Bake It

Title: Fix It, Make It, Grow It, Bake It

Subtitle: The D.I.Y. Guide to the Good Life

Author: Billee Sharp

Publisher: Viva Editions (April 13, 2010)

ISBN: 978-1573443654

Pages: 216 pages (paperback)

From the Publisher:
Author Billee Sharp shares her freecycling, budget-savvy, barter-better wisdom in this step-by-step handbook to revolutionize your spending habits and reclaim your quality of life. Fix It, Make It, Grow It, Bake It is an inspiring and instructive guide to living a handmade life by consuming less and creating more.

Practical and profound, this handy how-to covers every area of life and offers easy-to-do tips, recipes, and advice on saving money and the planet. You and your family can live more joyfully and far more creatively, all on a dime. The best things in life are free—or if they aren’t, you can have a lot of fun making them.

About the Author:

BILLEE SHARP studied anthropology and ancient history at University College, London. She went on to style herself a career as a contemporary art curator and gallerist, working with Damien Hirst and other art world notables.

In 1993, she took up residence in San Francisco and started both a family and record label with Scotsman Jonah Sharp, a pioneering electronic musician.

Billee currently runs a green cleaning business, organizes independent music, literary, and art events, and continues to raise her family, walk her dog, and write her blog.

 

My Review:
The first thing I thought when I started reading through this book is “Boy, I wish someone had given this to me when I got married!” There are so many things in here that I really wish I had know in those first few years of marriage and living on my own!

It includes everything from how to fix a toilet leak to how to grow your own lettuce and so much more. To lead a truly eco-friendly life, you really need to learn how to fix things, make things, grow things and bake things…all topics that are covered in Billie Sharp’s book.

The first few chapters focus on things like reevaluating your budget and changing your way of thinking. If you are a passionate buyer of cheap plastic things, you have to get out of that mindset before learning to enjoy simple things like gardening and making your own bread!

The book is organized in such a way that all the gardening info is contained in one chapter, all the cleaning recipes are together, etc. I do think that an index in the back of the book would be helpful so if you are looking for a SPECIFIC idea (How do I make pickles? for example) you could find it a little easier.

Another option would be to put sub-chapters in the beginning of the book.

Fix It, Make It, Grow It, Bake It is a very easy-to-read and useful book to have on your bookshelf. If you know a college grad moving out on their own or someone who is getting married, this would make a great gift. Just about anyone looking to go green, save money, and get healthier will benefit from this book.

Inspire someone to go green by learning to fix, make, bake and grow things for themselves! Learning to do these things will lead to a healthier, greener, and more frugal life!