Elaine St. JamesRezensionen

This book is interesting since many of the items mentioned in this book are ways to avoid doing things for the holidays. Some of these items could help reduce some of the stress on the holidays. This book wants to go back to the good old days but, those days are long gone. There are many stops, cuts and quits in the book. If you are looking to cut out some of what you do during the holidays and need a few ideas this book would help.½

Really, St. James had all the ideas a person ever needed to simplify things.

One good book on forging a simple life is all we should ever want to own, and for me this is probably the one.

La mejor guía para moderar la marca y disfrutar de las cosas importantes

Librería 4. Estante 1

Written by someone without children this offered little practical advice and was generally quite annoying. I suspect the author really thinks you ought not to have kids in the first place if you truly want to simplify your life. This view has some validity but is not so helpful to those of us who,you know,already went and had kids and have grown quite fond of them ;)

This book needs a new title. I was thinking/hoping it would give suggestions & ideas on how to "simplify" things in order to have more time to enjoy the holiday season (e.g. buy pre-made cookie dough instead of making from scratch, etc.) Instead this book is giving ideas on how not to celebrate the season at all! No tree??? Come on!

I can understand how others might like this if you're sick of the commercialization of the season, or are elderly and too tired, etc. but I still have young ones at home and I want to make fun memories for them w/out showering them with gifts (some presents are their fave foods that I often say no to throughout the year).

It does have some good examples that helped me convince my hubby not to spend time with his extended family (the s-i-l is a you-know-what and it's not fun to be around her), so that came in handy! But a lot of the book is too "scrooge-ish" for me.

Well life may be simpler, eventually..... But what you have to do to get it to be simple is a WHOLE HECK of A LOT of WORK!

Examples:

1. Cut your exercise time in half?
2. Stop listening to music while you clean, exercise, etc.
3. Don't schedule lunch or dinner dates?
4. 5. & 6. If your job allows: start work an hour later; quit work an hour earlier; stay at work an hour longer & use the quiet time at home to think about your life?
7. Get up an hour earlier (oh yeah I'm all on that one)!
8. Oh and here's a great one: Simplify your family meals as much as possible: Plan to prepare Batches of soups or casseroles ahead of time and Freeze them.....
9. Never touch a piece of mail more than once.... so that means as soon as you get a bill out of the box that you have to sit down open it immediately & pay it there & then & take it to the post office directly afterwards?
10. Don't even think about saving that piece of foil, plastic bag, envelope, gift bag to use again. Is this wasteful or not?

Personally I think she's obsessive & a tad bit Nuts!!!

Very dated in certain respects. The author has a bad habit of telling you what you MUST do, instead of simply offering suggestions. Did not enjoy.

Simplify Your Life is stuck firmly in the (very) early nineties, but it remains charming and often useful despite that. While the admonition to get rid of your "car phone" because of the "as-yet-unperfected technology" sounds awfully quaint, the fundamental question about the wisdom of multitasking and the necessity of being perpetually available remains worth examining.

I reread this every few years - it's basically a collection of very short admonitions about a wide variety of topics, and it goes quickly. It's always a good reminder to re-examine my priorities and find the complexity in my life that isn't adding enough value to be worth the hassle.

There are more modern books on the same topic that are probably more helpful today, but I'm still fond of this one and it's particularly entertaining as an immediate reaction against the "greed is good" eighties.

This was a good book, short, quick read, but definitely something that I would keep on the shelf as a go-to reference guide. Inspiration for a simpler life.

This book is very relaxing!! I felt the stress release as I read about how to simplify my life and take care of myself. Many good ideas and interesting suggestions.

Exciting be the reading og the book of Talane Miedaner, I decided to read the book of Elaine St James (adviced by Talane): What a disappointment! Elaine seems to be an average middle-class american housewive (see chapters on cars, walking, credit cards,...). Her tipps were of no interest for me and I am just struggling with the idea that this book can be a best-seller!½

I thought this book was chock-full of great ideas and tips to not only to help simplify a hectic life, but also to learn to enjoy life more and make more time for yourself and your family. I wrote down 25 things that I plan to start doing immediately and I'm already excited about the changes I know will happen. Plus, it was consoling and confirming to read #98: Stop Making the Bed (which I found funny that it was in the "hard-core simplicity" section).

Reading this book will give you a new sense of freedom and will help you realize that many things you think are important today (television shows, tons of accessories and makeup, minute-by-minute scheduled work tasks, etc.) really aren't necessary for a fulfilling life, career, or relationship.

Michael Comments:
Good book on tips on how to simplify your lives and enjoy your children more.

I always refer friends to this book when they want to make changes in their life. It is an amazing book to read throughout your life to see what you can do to help manage the sometimes overwhelming task of running a household, designing a wardrobe, or communicating with your family. One of the few books I read every three to four months.

Anyone who knows me will think it hilarious that I own this book :-)½

NF

Simplify your life with kids : a little treasury was ompiled and adapted from the international bestseller Simplify your life with kids: 100 ways to make family life easier and more fun. The book lists at $4.95 [kbb/06@bkcloseouts]

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