Kate Humble has really compiled a collection of anecdotes in this book, but they hang together and are both thought provoking and enjoyable. Clearly someone who treasures a life where she is largely self sufficient and leaves as little negative impact on the planet her enthusiasm in search of this goal is infectious. You'll find everything from a recipe for sourdough bread to an insight into a collection of houses built using old car tyres and requiring minimal heating. Kate's writing style makes for easy reading. Enjoy

I approached this book with great hope. I like the presentation style that Kate Humble has and, particularly in the current climate, a slower, simpler approach to life is highly attractive.

There's no mistaking that this is an easy read. You can almost hear Kate's voice in the narrative and the style is very approachable. However, that, for me, is where the positives really end. I'd liken the book to watching an episode of Countryfile or Springwatch. It gives you points to ponder but doesn't really take you any further. It felt a little vacuous.

The whole was full of the kind of contradiction that we almost take for granted on TV - flying halfway around the world to look at an ecohouse - which whilst acceptable in that form of media feels rather unnecessary in a book. If it were billed as a book cataloguing some of the best or unusual ideas that Ms Humble has come across I think I would forgive this, but as a book of ideas as to how to slow down and take things more simply it just didn't work for me. The result is muddy - less of a Year Lived Simply and more "look what I did".

If you approach this book for what it is then it's worthy of a read. If you are seeking something that will inspire you to lead a simpler life then you may have to look elsewhere.

With thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the ARC

Kate Humble is a brilliant writer, this book is full of kind words and gestures, interesting scientific facts and figures, she often made me smile and sometimes even laugh.

However...

1 – There is nothing new in this book, mostly she talks about how working for money makes you unhappy, people often ending up with serious mental health problems. Doing things to find satisfaction is key (make your own bread), and think of the environment (want something new, buy something old). Nothing of all of this I hadn't thought about myself or have seen mentioned by others before;

2 – With all the things she ponders to change, she never once mentions trying to be a vegan or simply cut out meat. This could have a huge impact on her footprint, but it was never mentioned. Unlike the roasted chicken. I'm not saying what she should've done, I am saying that I don't understand this wasn't part of her research, her journey, this project;

Being housebound (with a duvet day not being a heavenly prospect, when you spend most of your time horizontally) this was a hard book for me to read. Kate Humble goes out into the world with her car or camper van, takes Dog for a walk or goes for a run, visits France, the Netherlands, New Mexico... And insists to emphasize the importance of communities as opposed to being online.

If it wasn't this funny or enjoyable, I would've given it two stars...

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of the book.

I enjoyed Humble's writing style - which is pretty informal and reads as if she is having a casual conversation with a friend - as well as her optimism and zest for life. I also enjoyed the chapters about the Earthships and various organisations such as Mens Shed and repair cafes who do excellent work within their communities.

However, I did find parts of the book to be hypocritical and patronising such as flying to stay and work in the Earthships and getting the train to interview the lady working in the repair cafe. The lady herself even encourages talking online and eventually persuades Humble to take the train as opposed to flying (yet again!). I also find it strange that she criticises Facebook yet has a Twitter page. She gives a specific example which is a understandable criticism of social media as a whole but why have any social media pages at all in that case?

Overall, an interesting if somewhat hypocritical view of minimalism, self-sufficiency and anti-consumerism. My views differ somewhat considerably but perhaps an interesting read for someone who is starting their own journey.

Thanks to Octopus Publishing and NetGalley for the ARC.

I liked Kate Humble’s style of writing and how I felt like I was there with her, trying new things and meeting interesting people who were Doing amazing things with recycled materials. She gave me a lot to think about and inspiration as to how to improve my life by living more simply and respecting the earth more, although I’m not sure I can do what she has done and move to the countryside and be self sufficient. I can however learn to make things and do more to reuse and recycle and live more simply.

Thanks to NetGalley for a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

Kate has made some research, but she contradicts herself, she is not keen on buying online but she is happy to sell her books on Amazon. She does not like Facebook, but is happy to use Instagram and Twitter. She dedicates a whole chapter on how she flew to New Mexico to help build a house made from used tyres and glass bottles, but has no intention to live in one and is happy to return to her stone house in Wales. She seems to have compiled a lot of anecdotes of people working with their hands and then written a book about them. Again she hasn't put many of her own experiences. I think that most people would know what is a pestle and mortar and how to make toast.

I was looking forward to reading this book, however I found it to be a tedious vacuous book. I stuck with it though and did find a slight improvement. Driving across the continent rather than flying to interview someone. Flying to Mexico to learn about earthship building to me is not a ‘simple living’ I am thinking that the tittle is slightly misleading. I have to say I was disappointed with this book and would not recommend.

I ve been a fan of Kate Humble's presenting style. She always seems down to earth and I relate to her view. During lock down, I had time to contemplate life, what was important, what could I do without and was there anything that I wanted to change? So I was intrigued by this book which examines how Kate wants to change her life to make it more simple. I already share her views about nature and mental wellbeing from being in nature, as well as her reuse/recycle views and we grow vegetables too.
Other ideas were more intriguing and unusual and the book is peppered with stories about people that Kate interviews in her search for an achievable simpler life.
If you somehow think that life is too hectic and work is taking over, give this book a go.

I enjoyed this - a return to a simpler life is very appealing - particularly in the current situation. Interesting to read of Kate's version of living simply. My version is a bit different!

Reading a book by Kate is like reading a letter from a friend.
Kate Humble has a very friendly way of writing and a simple down to earth way of explaining how to live a simpler life.
This is a book to delve into often for inspiration, it has good ideas and some of them basic ideas that I think have been almost forgotten in this busy crazy world.
A book that every household should have a copy of.
Thank you netgalley.

READ THIS IF... you like nature, sustainability, or if you grew up watching Animal Farm like I did!

THE STORY... Kate takes us through her 'year of living simply' which ranges from her planting a garden, to visiting a 'repair cafe', to building Earthships.

I WAS... surprised by how much I enjoyed this book! Kate beautifully described the feelings she experienced doing simple things, and it was inspiring. I didn't think anyone could make rearranging a shelf of plasters and painkillers exciting, but she somehow did! The book had a meandering writing style, however this never put me off, as I trusted Kate had a good point she was about to make. I enjoyed how she introduced us to every 'character' we came across - as she clearly viewed everyone as not a means to an end for her book, but someone she (and the reader) could gain valuable insight from. I particularly enjoyed her making bread with Jennifer, and enjoyed her confessing her failures, as it's so easy to think that if things don't come naturally, we shouldn't do them - but Kate proved the opposite of this.

NOW... I would definitely gift this book to family members and I will remember this for a while to come as a genuinely lovely read.

A Year of Living Simply by Kate Humble

In this book Kate investigates lots of ways to live simply, visiting people who are already doing that and explaining her own ways of living simply.

I found this book extremely interesting and enjoyable. It was both inspirational and like a warm hug all at the same time! I like Kate's style of writing, like having a chat with a friend over coffee and cake, and I never felt she was preaching or criticising - a difficult balance to strike when talking about these critical issues. I will be buying a few copies for Christmas presents as I know so many people who are interested in the issues Kate covers, both old and young.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book.

A Year of Living Simply is Kate Humble's exploration of ways of living more cheaply, happily and mindfully. She explores topics such as gardening, cooking, upcycling and home-building, recounting tales from her own life and also visiting and interviewing people in different parts of the world who are living in simple and interesting ways..

Kate Humble has an easy and enjoyable writing style. There is background reading and research there, but she uses it lightly. I was really interested in some of the topics that she explores, particularly the earth ships in New Mexico and I also admire her honesty about her own successes and failures.

However the title of the book is a bit of a misnomer. This isn't really a 'year' in her life, it is more a collection of different essays, articles etc about different people and places. Although Kate Humble explores some notions of how to live more simply, it is overall lacking in any real conviction about the topic. She tries some different things, interviews a few people, but without drawing any significant conclusions about her way forward.

Like so many people I am looking for ways to make my like more sustainable and eco friendly and this book let me explore and find new ideas to make this happen.
This books scores because Humble isn't telling us what to do, she is exploring ideas and sharing her experiences, she also doesn't expect every option to work for herself, let alone the reader. Her explorations seem real and listing failures along the way make it seem ok to try and fail as we all try to save the planet.

A Year of Living Simply by Kate Humble is about taking pleasure from small things and that seems particularly apt at the moment.

Enjoyable enough and well written, I loved the idea and reason for this book but I was hoping for a little more. Most of the things that Humble Tried or talked about were already familiar to me as someone who is interested in this subject, I am not sure if I am ahead of the curve or if this book is a little late. I still think it will find an audience with people who are fans of Humble's work and people who want a guide or are new to the ideas presented.

A delightful read about Kate's journey to what she describes as the simple life, along the way she meets a variety of people who have tried different approaches whether it's self sufficiency or living with no debt. In Kate's own style it very comfortable, homey and easy to read. I think the overriding learning throughout was that the simple life, is actually quite a lot of hard work but most definitely satisfying. A wonderful enjoyable read.

I’m in two minds about A Year of Living Simply as the timing of it coming out during the Covid19 pandemic is either very appropriate or not depending on how you look at it and I suspect on the state of your mental health as you read it.

Kate Humble extols the virtues of living more simply since moving from an urban courtyard garden in the city to a four acre smallholding in Wales twelve years ago when she “swapped roads, pavement and streetlights for a dirt track, woods and fields”. Much of what she has done in order to live more simply has been foisted on a large percentage of the UK population in 2020 and it feels a little bittersweet at times. Personally I enjoyed the book as living more simply is something I have aspired to for years but truth be told for me, and I suspect many others too, I would like a choice in these matters and I am not feeling quite as enamoured with the 2020 'living simply' when it goes alongside isolation from others. Interestingly, one section in the book is about the importance of community and especially local community.

There is a lot of great stuff in this book, including some very practical advice and I have made copious notes as one day I may purchase an Uncle Peter’s Trowel or make some of the recipes from foraged ingredients.

It’s full of wisdom and a lot of humour too. The section on finding her husband’s hordes of light bulbs and plaster to last a lifetime and beyond resonated all too much with my own household. Must be a male thing!

One part I especially loved was her describing Lisa’s reasoning for living in Frome using the ‘jambo’ test. I loved that and will put that to use if ever I move. I can see it working for choosing a church and many other things too! You will have to read the book to learn more about that!

Some of the book was very affirming for me as I am fortunate enough to live in a community that is very cohesive and we have a Repair Cafe, a Men’s Shed and similar initiatives. A Year of Living Simply is very inspiring if you want to help build your own community and have a simpler and happier life.

With thanks to NetGalley and Octopus Publishing for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Recently I got very into Kate Humble’s television series Twice the Life for Half the Price. The premise is that families living in urban environments seek out a life in the country that delivers less of the stress of modern life and more of life on the land, for less money or at least relatively less for what they have in return. What distinguishes this programme from others about escaping to the country is that the lives they seek out are real and authentic country lives, rather than chocolate box versions bought out of their appreciated London assets and healthy pension pots. As a result the programme is both more accessible and more satisfying.

In her writing Kate continues to focus on practical realism (albeit wrapped in a snug duvet of her trademark kindness and positivity) as she seeks to understand different facets of living a “simpler life” and relate them to her own situation. As always the first hurdle with such books is to overcome the distinction between simple and easy. Simplicity is about a lower resource intensity, which in turn means a greater reliance on the self, both technically and physically. So a simpler life requires harder work, but the pay back is that the work has meaning. The second “myth” of a simpler life is, I believe, that of self-sufficiency, as everything I have learnt in my own small experiments is that a simpler, less resource intensive, lifestyle is absolutely reliant on other people in community.

Early on in the book the author visits Satish Kumar and he neatly sums up a key problem that we face as a society when he says: “It’s innate. It’s intrinsic to human nature. Our hands are made to make. But our society and the way we educate our children dismisses manual labour – it is only for those who have failed, who are not intellectually up to doing anything else. And because of this attitude, instead of being a society of makers we are a society of consumers, dependent on buying everything we need and easily swayed into buying so much we don’t.”

By the end, having visited a range of fascinating people all doing very different and creative things to move towards more sustainable and rewarding ways of living, she turns to an ancient voice to sum up her findings quoting Confucius (possibly internet meme Confucius rather than the actual person), “Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated.” We are beholden to the notion of progress, but it seems that sometimes we don’t stop to question what that actually means. Too often progress is defined as bigger and more, but with a little more reflection we might learn to see that the progress we need now, having over-shot our limits to a catastrophic level, is smaller and less.

It is not just the ecological breakdown that we are witnessing that tells us we need to pause for a while and re-think. Rising mental health problems should also give us an indication that we are losing our way. Perhaps the biggest question though is how we manage to do that reflection and make those changes collectively. It feels like we have rarely been so divided as people, whether economically, socially or virtually any other potential line of difference you can think of. Are we capable of cohesive thought and action at this crucial time? Maybe that’s where smaller and less really comes to its own solution, through localised relationships and communities. When big has been the problem for so long, looking for the big solution is perhaps futile.

If that is the case then there is hope contained in this book. Groups of people across the globe are creatively carving out space for lifestyles that value both people and planet and may guide us to a more balanced relationship with the world. It can be depressing to watch news, hear politicians or become bogged down in the miasma of social media, so we have to manage our sources of information and the stories that we prioritise. In A Year of Living Simply Kate Humble tells some stories that are worth investing in and can help us to begin to plot a course for our own journey of experimentation.

This book is an ideal read for the current circumstances. Lots of interesting anecdotes and information about how to declutter your life both physically and mentally..