Book Review: Make Your Place

Since I love books, I own a lot of books, and also like talking about books, I thought it would be a nice idea to do a book review here now and then. For my first review, I'll talk about a fun little book called Make Your Place: Affordable, Sustainable Nesting Skills.

This little volume is unique in that the author, Raleigh Briggs, has not only illustrated the book, but written the entire text in her own handwriting. This gives the book a casual, quirky style that makes for a fun read. 

Make Your Place  tries to show the reader that we can all take care of ourselves, our homes and our gardens without the use of expensive and/or toxic products from the grocery store or pharmacy. The book is divided into three main sections: Health and First Aid, in which Raleigh gives information on using a variety of herbal remedies; Non Toxic Cleaning and Body Care, in which she lists her personal recipes for different cleaning tasks; and Gardening, where she gives tips on cheap organic gardening, which she calls "the greatest nesting skill on Earth."

I really enjoyed reading this book--all three sections of the book gave me loads of ideas for things I'd like to try. However, I will say that this book is not comprehensive, but more like a jumping off point for those interested in the self-sufficient lifestyle. For example, the book gives Raleigh's personal recipe for homemade deodorant--but I have seen many other different recipes on the Internet that might be equally good, so I would likely do a bit of research before I decided to make the recipe listed here.

However, for someone who is just getting started with making their own household products, this book would be excellent, because it assumes the reader has no prior knowledge and lays everything out clearly. It's easy to understand, and as I previously said it's a fun book to read. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone interested in making their own natural products for home and garden.

Comments

[gardenmama]

Thank you for sharing this book review!
I like the cover and the illustrations and handwriting remind me of my much loved Moosewood cookbook!
I have been dreaming of making toothpaste these days... I hope to get to it soon! : )

[Lindsay]

That looks like a fantastic book - thanks for sharing! Something else to add to my reading list :)