I enjoyed reading this book about the author embracing a simpler life in the country, although anyone can benefit and enjoy small changes wherever you live, as the she states. The book has beautiful photos (darling animals!) and has so many helpful and cost saving ideas to embrace from gardening, canning, baking, and much more. A very nice focus on involving and spending time with the family too.

A relaxing walk through the life of the author, Annette Thurmon, and her family's choice to move to the country and live a simpler life. Choosing doing over electronic consumption of entertainment. Being closer to nature and the earth, living seasonally.

The author explains you have to know you "why", why are you making the choice. This is a hard choice to make on a whim. You are moving away from the city life you had, the convenience of having things close at hand, ordering supper to be delivered if you don't feel up to cooking. Living in the country you are far from many stores others regularly visit, some favorite items may only be available through mail order. The benefits though are many. You get to see where your food comes from, grow you own veggies, free from pesticides. Meet the farmer who gives you milk, eggs and meat. Build relationships with your kids that don't involve screen time.

If you have ever dreamed of making a choice like this, read Simple Country Living it is a delightful read full of recipes, photographs and great advice.

I loved this book and I bet the hardcopy of this book is beautiful. I loved the photography in this book and all it stands for. Unfortunately, I am not in a situation where I can do some of the things in this book but I'm all about the lovely food recipes!

I appreciate getting an arc copy of this!

This is a beautifully designed and extremely aspirational book - so much so that the title "simple country living" seems to be some kind of cheeky joke (it's certainly not simple living that is described). However, this book would make a beautiful gift or serve well as a coffee table book for anyone interested in dabbling in homesteading.

Such a lovely book! As someone raised in the city and now lives on a few acres in the country I love learning from women who have “been there, done that.” The pictures are gorgeous, recipes are easy to follow and the stories and anecdotes are great. I will definitely be reaching for Simple Country Living a lot as I navigate my own simple country living adventure.

Simple Country Living: Techniques, Recipes, and Wisdom for the Garden, Kitchen, and Beyond is a one of those books that is beautiful, but has information that most of us won’t want to use or adapt to our lives. Expecting good, down-to-earth recipes in this book, it was quite disappointing because the recipes actually included are those that most of us would never want to make. Recipes for DIY dryer sheets, laundry detergent, and All-Purpose Cleaning Spray may appeal to some tree huggers, but you can’t eat any of these. It is unfathomable that as far as we have come, people want to go back to a different century. The emphasis is on “natural.” There is excellent gardening information in the book, as well as canning freezing, and dehydrating, which is helpful.

One positive thing about this book is that there are beautiful, professional photographs or not only the few edible recipes, but also

All told, this is a book for those who want to give up everything modern and go back to a time when things were much more difficult. Apparently those who love this book are those who have a lot of extra time on their hands. Anyone who wants to go back to the basics will love to have this book; those of us who like modern conveniences will want to skip it.


Special thanks to NetGalley for supplying a review copy of this book.

This a beautiful and idealized look at country living. A perfect 'coffee table book', if you will, where the enjoyments lie in the crafted photos and simple recipes for sun tea and bruschetta. No new information, you won't learn anything, but it's nice to escape into romanticized simple living sometimes.

I love the soft colors throughout the book. It's very welcoming and makes me want all the animals that she has. I enjoyed all the recipes and will be making most of them.

This is a very sweet, pretty book. It is really best suited for two groups of people -- firstly, those who know absolutely nothing about simple/country living or topics like gardening; secondly, those who really like to look at Instagram type photos of idealized country life.

There are lovely photos and fun little projects like making salt dough ornaments or homemade lemonade, in addition to basic information on things like starting to garden. The author was previously an ICU nurse and the designer of couture wedding gowns. Now she describes her job as "I inspire others to live a simple life" (ie she makes her living as an influencer). The photos are all of herself, her husband and her little daughter in beautiful clothes (generally white, flowing and brand new looking) and looking blissful. She also says that she and her husband had their (gorgeous) house built once they found land they could afford, so this is not attainable for those without that kind of budget. It's hard to tell what her husband does but he describes himself elsewhere as the child of "entrepreneurs" so I'm guessing he has inherited wealth. She describes herself as the child of persecuted Christian Cuban immigrants, so she clearly did not come from privilege initially though.

Thurmon does not ever preach in the book, either about her strong Christian faith (she seems to be 7th Day Adventist) or about being supposedly vegan (as she's described elsewhere on the web), though she seems to eat the eggs and honey that her livestock provide so I'm really unclear about why she's described as vegan. I would have loved to read more about how she uses all the animals on her farm if not for food, and to read more about how she sources food for her family since she makes it sound as if her farm provides all their food but her IG has things like sponsored posts with Country Crock margarine. She does mention the alpacas are raised for shearing their wool and I did notice no dairy in her recipes, but I would really appreciate a "farm girl" book about being vegan as that's certainly not a dialog you get to hear often in country living books. I'm guessing she left those bits out so she wouldn't alienate any readers, but I would appreciate seeing more of how it actually works for her family.

It's a beautiful book and she seems very sweet, but I would love to see more nitty gritty realism and a little more depth. Still recommended, especially for the lovely photos and the sections about how to involve small children.

I read a temporary digital ARC of this book for review.

I have to admit, the cover was what gave me pause and drew me in. I was excited to see if Ms. Thurmon offered new ideas with a nature inspired home . I wanted her to share different concepts concerning cultivating a garden and mastering the home kitchen . I desired views I hadn't read before now.

The colorful photos were enticing. The author wrote in a soothing manner to allow beginners to follow her easy directions. But did I learn anything new? No.

Thank you to Net Galley, Annette Thurmon and Cool Springs Press for the opportunity to read an arc of this book. If anyone is new to the homesteading concept, this is a wonderful start.

Simple Country Living by Annette Thurman is a great beginning to intermediate book for anyone looking for homesteading or sustainability books. Beautiful photos throughout, it includes practical hands on tips and recipes for gardening, cooking, cleaning, and living a more cottagecore lifestyle. I jotted down a few ideas from the author and started following her online at Azure Farm.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This is a short, but useful book on living a simpler life. The pictures were beautiful and it even had recipes!

I loved this book. From planting to preserving this book had it all. Especially good if you have little ones at home. Has some amazing ideas for including them in your garden and life as you do day to day tasks. Even has different age appropriate suggestions. Tried the bread and loved it! Will definitely be picking this book up for me and maybe one for a friend.

Author’s inspirational story of her journey into homesteading. Author provides recipes, tips and family activities. She advises to start slow to make the changes of a simpler lifestyle. Beautiful pictures.

Annette Thurman, homesteader and founder of Azure Farm, has written a beautiful book covering everything you need to know about homesteading and finding a deeper connection to the natural.


The photographs are lovely and the information is easy to understand. There are recipes, tips, how-to pages and family activities that focus on no waste, saving money and living a satisfying life.


I saved a few recipes and will be doing more.


Lovely book!

Just a lovely book. Beautiful book on taking things back to a simpler time and ways. Instructions and recipes for everything from cleaner to a veggie pot pie. The pictures are simple and clean.

I want to thank Netgalley and the author for gifting me the ebook.
Beautifully photographed. This book has everything in it. From making your own soap, to laundry soap, food recipes, how to make a garden etc. I loved the authors fashion style and house style. Everything seems very easy to understand and does not seem hard. I cannot wait to try some of these items that were listed.

This book is great for starters like me! I loved the information the book provided and the pictures are to die for. Really makes me want to romanticise my life haha. It's easy to read and the recipes are great! You don't feel like you have to go beyond to get ingrediants as well.

Just phenomenal. The pictures are captivating and the information is applicable. I feel like some books get too wordy about how to get started. This book gets straight to the point. Has easy and doable recipes and uses ingredients that I feel comfortable using. I will definitely be buying a hard copy of this!!

This book is so refreshing and simple to follow, not only with the eyes and images, but also the easy recipes for a variety of items. I found the recipe for bath salts and cleaning spray that used ingredients already in my house. I would recommend this read for those interested in a simpler way of life, and how homtesteading ideas can be brought to everyone's table. A good coffee table piece. I would recommend this title for addition to our collection.