In a sense, it all started with a bike, a powder-blue cruiser with chrome fenders and a wire basket. To Tsh Oxenreider, this birthday gift represented a promise made with her husband "that we'd try, with all our collective might, to make a new and better life that actually aligned with our values."
In another sense, the blue bike was simply one more milestone in a quest begun years before to live more simply,, more fully, and more purposefully. This memoir traces the family's journey from an urban high-rise in Turkey to the congested city of Austin, Texas and finally to a small town in Oregon. It chronicles false starts, changed minds, periods of chaos and boredom, doubts and dilemmas - but also moments of surprising and transcendent grace as the Oxenreiders gradually learn to live the life they have chosen.
Tsh Oxenreider is the founder of www.TheArtofSimple.net (previously Simple Mom), a community blog ddicated to the art and science of simple living. She's the author of Organized Simplicity and One Bite at a Time, a regular contributor to (in)courage, an advocate for Compassion International, and a top-ranked podcaster. A graduate of the University of Texas, Tsh currently lives in Bend, Oregon, with her family.
Learn more at www.TshOxenreider.com
MY REVIEW:
I read this book in two sittings. It was a wonderful book, drawing me into Tsh's world. I really liked how honest and open she was about her successes and her failures.
Even though she lives a totally different life than I do, I was able to get a lot of great ideas from her and many of which I want to put into place in my life and in my home. We're not travelers, as she and her family are, but we have a lot in common as far as how she views the world and the longing for simplicity.
The biggest thing that I came away from the book with, and which I want to implement into our lives, is eating healthier. Eating foods that aren't full of chemicals or pesticides. When she told of how she and her family got sick eating the food here after returning from Turkey, it really opened my eyes to what these chemicals are doing to us.
I love how she talks about making small changes, a little at a time, until you're living a life of simplicity and focus on the really important things. So many times books will tell you to make huge changes all at once or it's not worthwhile, but Tsh shows how making the little changes, a little at a time, makes a huge difference over time.
This is a wonderful book that I enjoyed so much. I highly recommend it and give it 5 out of 5 stars.
*This book was provided to me for my honest review by Shelton Interactive
GIVEAWAY:
I'm so thrilled to be able to offer one copy in a giveaway! Shelton Interactive is giving a copy to one winner of this giveaway - however - it is open to US and Canadian Residents only.
Please enter to win on the Rafflecopter below. PLEASE READ THE RAFFLECOPTER CAREFULLY AS YOU MUST LEAVE A COMMENT ON THIS BLOG POST TO BE ENTERED.
I will pick a winner for this book on Thursday, August 14th, 2014.
Blessings - Julie
The book looks amazing.. thanks for the chance (if the giveaway is international )
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It sounds like a great story!
ReplyDeleteThis is an amazing book. I enjoyed it more than others I have been reading. I'm not entering the giveaway since I have it on my Kindle, but just wanted to say this was a good review. I look at life differently from having read it.
ReplyDeleteI would love to read this book! I'm always inspired by how people try to live their values and make it concrete in every day situations. Although I am not a resident of the US, I do have an address to send the book to.
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