House Lessons explores the practical aspects of renovating an old home as it reflects on the psychology of architecture and the details that transform a house into a home.

House Lessons: Renovating a Life by Erica Bauermeister

Genre/Categories/Setting: Nonfiction, Memoir, Essays, Home Renovation and Design, Family Life, Washington (Puget Sound)

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My Summary of House Lessons:

House Lessons explores the practical aspects of renovating an old, historic home as it also reflects on the psychology of architecture and the design decisions that transform a house into a home. At the heart of the memoir is family.

My Thoughts:

Back List

Occasionally, I experience a lull in my reading life. I’m caught up on ARCs; I’m waiting on library holds; and I’m debating whether or not I want to pay full price for a Kindle book. That’s when my thoughts turn to back list books that are waiting for their chance to be read (and often immediately available at the library). I have loved No Two Persons and enjoyed The Scent Keeper, so House Lessons has been on my back list radar for some time. In addition, I look for opportunities to add to my percentage of nonfiction for the year.

Writing Style

Since I’ve enjoyed Bauermeister’s fiction, I wondered if I would enjoy her memoir as well. The answer is yes! I love her warm and friendly style. The house renovation content in House Lessons is softened by Bauermeister’s poignant and insightful reflections and her poetic prose. She’s honest and transparent in her portrayal of complicated family dynamics and personal challenges, and she made me fall in love with that house. I haven’t renovated an old house, but I’ve lived in an old house in a historic section of town and I could relate to many of her sentiments. Through my years of home ownership, I’ve done enough remodeling (including a large room addition) that I could easy relate to the demanding details of the process.

Favorite Quotes

“While we might like to believe that our house needs are pragmatic line items, our true needs, the ones that drive our decisions, come far more often from some deep unacknowledged wellspring of memories and desire. Because here’s the thing–we aren’t looking for a house, we’re looking for a home. A house can supply you with a place to sleep, to cook, to store your car. A home fits your soul.”

“It’s not just our minds that make decisions. We live in bodies with five senses, and the stimuli they receive from our external environments have a far great effect upon our thinking than we know ….. Our physical senses are busy little puppeteers, playing with the strings of our emotions. So watch out for the pleasurable feel beneath your fingers of that smooth door handle, the satisfying click of the latch as it closes tight and secure.”

“I finally began to understand my mother’s quest for the perfect Christmas tree–the desire to find art in the everyday, when everyday is the palette you were given.”

“This is the beauty, the power, of architecture–it exists both outside and inside of us, a dance between structure and self. And it is when we begin to recognize the integrated relationship we have with our built environments that we can effect change. We can design dining rooms that invite families to eat together, bedrooms that foster relations and intimacy, living rooms where a natural flow to a garden encourages us to put down our screens and go outside. We can think about who we want to be and then shape our homes in ways that will bring out those best qualities in us.”

“By repeating particular events in particular ways, we create the architecture of our families out of memories and values. We shape them and they shape us, just like houses.

Recommending House Lessons

I’m enthusiastically recommending House Lessons for fans of reflective memoirs, beautiful prose, and the details of house renovation. Readers of Bauermeister’s fiction will not want to miss her thoughtful memoir.

Related: You might also appreciate this design book, Joyful.

My Rating: 4.5 Stars

Meet the Author of House Lessons, Erica Bauermeister

Erica Bauermeister is the NYT bestselling author of four novels including The Scent Keeper, The School of Essential Ingredients, Joy for Beginners, and The Lost Art of Mixing. Her newest novel, No Two Persons, will be out in May of 2023. She has also written a memoir, House Lessons: Renovating a Life. Her work has been published in over 25 languages and has been a Reese’s Book Club pick (Scent Keeper), a Costco Pennie’s Pick (School of Essential Ingredients) and all four of her novels have been Indie Next Picks. Before she began writing fiction and memoir, she earned a PhD in literature and co-authored two guides to books: 500 Great Books by Women and Let’s Hear It For the Girls. She lives in Port Townsend, WA and loves to talk with book groups. For more personal insights, you can visit her at http://www.ericabauermeister.com or at http://www.facebook.com/EricaBauermeisterAuthor.

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QOTD:

Is this back list title on your TBR or have you read it?

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