Jun 302017
 
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Making Things Work, Nancy R. Hiller (Putchamin Press, 2017)
Hilarious, engaging, and relatable, Hiller shares her philosophy of work with anecdotes drawn from her life about what constitutes success and the bumps in the road getting there. For some, her coarse language and tendency to call a tool a tool might irk a bad conscience. But for others, her dry wit and tenacity offer a refreshingly honest look at life and work on her own terms.

 

Good Clean Fun, Nick Offerman (Penguin, 2016)
We had the pleasure of seeing Offerman in the store at the outset of his book tour, and it was doubly a pleasure to read his book. It’s a conglomeration of fun, from projects to anecdotes to offbeat asides. Open it to any page and find something charming or inspirational. Learn to properly gauge your manliness. Build a stool. Have a cookout. Meditate on the process of giving new life to a once-living tree. Just don’t stop having a good time.

 

Woodland Craft, Ben Law (GMC Distribution, 2016)
An inspired glimpse at permaculture in the UK, Law’s book brings an ancient craft into modern day. From coppicing and woodland management to furniture and yurt building, this book spans from heritage to sustainability. If only there were such a book suited to North American conservation and resource management—dare to dream.

 

Where We Lived, Jack Larkin (Taunton Press, 2006)
Using data from the 1930s HABS (Historic American Buildings Survey) and first-hand journal entries and letters, Larkin looks at the oldest surviving habitations in the United States (mostly from the 1700 and 1800s) to discover how our colonizing ancestors lived. Bounded in this way by the progression of colonization, Cincinnati is considered “the West” and Florida does not exist. We delve into regional peculiarities, roads and commodes, the atrocity of slavery, and the effect of all, large and small, on the living arrangements of our unwashed if industrious ancestors. Fascinating.

Amy received her MFA in Creative Writing from San Francisco State University. She is the staff writer at Highland Woodworking. In 2015 she and her dad co-founded Coywolf Woodworks, their hobby shop in North Florida.

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