Rating: 
Summary: The real sequel, IMHO, to Your Money or Your Life
Review: Bravo to Linda Breen Pierce. At long last, her careful research and penetrating insights have produced the book readers of "Your Money or Your Life" have been waiting for.Others have tried to write sequels to Your Money or Your Life, but Ms. Pierce has been the only one to get it right: fourteen chapters bursting with real financial data from a wide variety of practitioners of voluntary simplicity; and it's both the disclosure of precise financial figures and the diversity of people profiled that makes this book so special. Figures do matter - and if Simplicity folk won't share what they earn and how much they live on with others - people who've ostensibly overcome the American Money Taboo - then who can or will? Explodes the myth that the circle of simplicity only includes profligate, spendthrift yuppies in recovery. Why cashing-out by selling one's 4000 square foot dream home, new cars, and other symbols of an egregiously over-the-top lifestyle, to then "get by" on "only" USD $30,000 a year should be offered up as an example to follow by the rest of us (i.e. those who aren't profligate, spendthrift yuppies), I'll never know. Of particular interest to me were chapters Seven: "On the Road to Simplicity: Travelers in Transition", Eight: "Long Timers: People Who Have Always Lived Simply", Nine: "Starting Out Simply: Generation X Takes a U-Turn" and Eleven: "Living Well on Very Little: Amazing Stories of Courageous People." Required reading for everyone concerned about overwork and underplay; a perfect companion to the book "Your Money or Your Life."
Rating:
Summary: Useful Stories
Review: Choosing Simplicity was hard to put down. I spent all waking hours of one day reading it when I got it. The stories inspired me when I was in doubt, making a transition in life. I regret now that I gave it to my favorite library when I was finished, I should have kept it.
Rating:
Summary: I really needed this
Review: I choose a simple lifestyle and I care deeply about living a nonconsumer-y, peaceful life. Not so easy, as I live in New York City. Maybe it's because I live here, but I desperately need to hear about people choosing the same path I have. It helped me so much to read about their setbacks and triumphs and to read the author's nonjudgmental statements about the message she's pulled from each of her interviewee's stories. You need to clarify your values, then get your life in line with those values--whether you chose to live in an urban or a rural setting. This clear written, thoughtful book connected me with others out there who chose simplicity for the same or other reasons as I have. It helps to read other's journeys to feel not quite so much like a freak on a daily basis. Very thought provoking and thoughful.
Rating: 
Summary: I love most 'simplicity' books but not this one
Review: I found these 'real life simplicity stories' unsatisfying and incomplete. It's not the topic that bothered me -- I am a big believer in simple living and I like many of the simple living books. Just not this one. I especially didn't enjoy the author's writing style. Your mileage may vary! :-)
Rating:
Summary: I love most 'simplicity' books but not this one
Review: I have been a fan of "Your Money Or Your Life" since it was first published, along with the New Road Map Foundation. I've given several copies of that book to friends and family. However, many people will find that, while they can support and agree with the principles that Dominguez and Robin publish, the practice of those principles as laid out in the book don't fit their chosen way of life. That's where this book comes in. It is a gentler illustration of many of "Life's" principles. Its value is in the narration of families' applications to different ways of life. As other reviewers have noted, choosing simplicity need not be a 'return to nature' movement or the adoption of practices impractical for so many families. Many of us earn our living doing things we already love, with no need to 'retire' to voluntarism. Plus, it should be remembered that choices available to single people are not necessarily proper for those with family responsibilities. This book is indeed the proper followup to the Dominguez/Robin book. In the future, if I make that book a gift, this book will accompany it.
Rating:
Summary: Evolutionary, Not Revolutionary
Review: I have been a fan of "Your Money Or Your Life" since it was first published, along with the New Road Map Foundation. I've given several copies of that book to friends and family. However, many people will find that, while they can support and agree with the principles that Dominguez and Robin publish, the practice of those principles as laid out in the book don't fit their chosen way of life. That's where this book comes in. It is a gentler illustration of many of "Life's" principles. Its value is in the narration of families' applications to different ways of life. As other reviewers have noted, choosing simplicity need not be a 'return to nature' movement or the adoption of practices impractical for so many families. Many of us earn our living doing things we already love, with no need to 'retire' to voluntarism. Plus, it should be remembered that choices available to single people are not necessarily proper for those with family responsibilities. This book is indeed the proper followup to the Dominguez/Robin book. In the future, if I make that book a gift, this book will accompany it.
Rating:
Summary: Well written commentary on simpleliving
Review: Linda Breen's commentary is very insigthful and interesting. I enjoyed reading this book. It's a keeper!
Rating:
Summary: Well written commentary on simpleliving
Review: Linda Breen's commentary is very insigthful and interesting. I enjoyed reading this book. It's a keeper!
Rating:
Summary: Amazing real-life examples
Review: Many of us talk about it, but few of us act on it - living simpler, de-stressing our lives, and enjoying life's "little pleasures". This book presents some fascinating real-life examples of people who have simplified - and not always in traditional ways (living in a small apartment in the center of a big city). If you want some inspiration on how you can make your life richer (figuratively) and more fulfilling, this is the book for you. I've never considered myself a big fan of "touchy-feely" books, but the many personal accounts of how people simplified their lives is what makes this book so interesting. Well worth your time - it may change your life.
Rating:
Summary: Amazing real-life examples
Review: Many of us talk about it, but few of us act on it - living simpler, de-stressing our lives, and enjoying life's "little pleasures". This book presents some fascinating real-life examples of people who have simplified - and not always in traditional ways (living in a small apartment in the center of a big city). If you want some inspiration on how you can make your life richer (figuratively) and more fulfilling, this is the book for you. I've never considered myself a big fan of "touchy-feely" books, but the many personal accounts of how people simplified their lives is what makes this book so interesting. Well worth your time - it may change your life.
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