![Reviewed: House Lust [Book]](http://www.meetmyuglybaby.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/house-lust-mcginn-book-review-thumb.jpg)
With chapters on grotesque McMansions, new builds, renovation-induced divorce, 30-hour/week HGTV habits – plus realtor conferences, scary flipping seminars and time-shares: House Lust (Daniel McGinn, 2008) covers some ground. Total train-wrecks: The ‘real estate investing’ seminar the poor author endures. It’s so much worse than you can imagine and – guess what – a total scam [...]
![One for the Canadians: Welcome Home [Book]](http://www.meetmyuglybaby.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/welcome-home-sarah-daniels-book-review-thumb.jpg)
Know any random home-buying rules and regulations? Of course not. They’re someone else’s concern. So goes the likable tone & approach of the author, Sarah Daniels, a local BC real estate agent. She “recommends needing only this (quite thin) book and your common sense to either buy or sell” (page 3). Is the book – Welcome [...]
Two truths. 1) I picked this book up because it matched my walls, and, 2) I had no idea what Domino was. Which is why you’re rolling your eyes as I review & test out a book released in 2008. Domino, apparently, was quite the cult. As I’ve since become best friends with author Deborah Needleman, I [...]
![Reviewed: Dare to Repair, Replace & Renovate [Book]](http://www.meetmyuglybaby.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/dare-to-repair-replace-book-review-thumb.jpg)
Granted, I’ve learned my few DIY skills (skim coating, grouting vinyl tile) from YouTube & Skype. From a book, though? Dare to Repair, Replace & Renovate (2009) promises to teach how to install a tile backsplash and plenty more. Ok. If you can help me figure out that quandary, you’re on the A-List. Organized by categories (plumbing windows, [...]
![Reviewed: Sucking Eggs [Book]](http://www.meetmyuglybaby.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/12/sucking-eggs-nicol-book-review-thumb.jpg)
Points for the catchy title, Patricia. With avid WWII interest and West Coast green-leaning – I couldn’t wait to begin Sucking Eggs: What Your Wartime Granny Could Teach You About Diet, Thrift and Going Green by Patricia Nicol (2010). It champions frugality in all areas – eat less, waste less, buy less, grow & mend more – and [...]
![Reviewed: Seven Steps to Sold [Book]](http://www.meetmyuglybaby.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/seven-steps-to-sold-freeman-thumb.jpg)
Tip #99: “Clean like you’ve never cleaned before” (page 11). I’m going to hate selling. Tip #1? ”Start packing! Begin the move-out process as soon as you decide to sell” (page 5). I’m going to love selling. I didn’t expect to enjoy a book by two realtors… but it’s lovely. For such a skinny little book, I [...]
![Reviewed: The Perfectly Imperfect Home [Book]](http://www.meetmyuglybaby.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/perfectly-imperfect-review.jpg)
Bonney vs Needleman sounds like a landmark court case. After reading Design*Sponge last week, I had to give design books another go. While I enjoyed flipping through it, I emerged none the wiser. And I need help! I’ve got six thousand miles of blank walls to cover, plus a very yellow bedroom. Someone, somewhere, is [...]
![Reviewed: Design*Sponge at Home [Book]](http://www.meetmyuglybaby.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/design-sponge-at-home.jpg)
Late to the party? Nope. I’m trying to drum up some enthusiasm for the decoration phase of our apartment – and the book’s #1 in three Amazon categories. It’s an apt investigation. If you regularly read Design*Sponge and/or love design, you already own the book (it’s probably signed). For the rest of us – here’s [...]
![Reviewed: Investing In Gold Mine Houses [Book]](http://www.meetmyuglybaby.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/gold-mine-houses.jpg)
It has ugly in the title – I couldn’t help it. That would be the succinct Investing in Gold Mine Houses: How to Uncover a Fortune Fixing Small, Ugly Houses and Apartments by Jay DeCima (2008) It’s got a hokey front cover… can we get beyond that? I’m not sure. Have you made your assumptions? Here’s [...]
![Reviewed: 101 Condo Buying Tips [Book]](http://www.meetmyuglybaby.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/09/101-150x150.jpg)
A quick-to-read book with a long title: 101 Streetsmart Condo Buying Tips for Canadians by Douglas Gray (2007) No hype and little enthusiasm – instead, a packed glossary of anything you’ve ever heard a realtor say. Use it as a textbook primer – not summer reading. The author knows his stuff, that’s for damn sure. Reading [...]
