{"product_id":"house-lessons-isbn-9781632172440","title":"House Lessons","description":"\u003cb\u003eFrom \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e bestselling author Erica Bauermeister comes a memoir about the power of home—and the transformative act of restoring one house in particular.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e“I think anyone who saves an old house has to be a caretaker at heart, a believer in underdogs, someone whose imagination is inspired by limitations, not endless options.”\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eIn this mesmerizing memoir-in-essays, Erica Bauermeister renovates a trash-filled house in eccentric Port Townsend, Washington, and in the process takes readers on a journey to discover the ways our spaces subliminally affect us. A personal, accessible, and literary exploration of the psychology of architecture, as well as a loving tribute to the connections we forge with the homes we care for and live in, this book is designed for anyone who’s ever fallen head over heels for a house. It is also a story of a marriage, of family, and of the kind of roots that settle deep into your heart. Discover what happens when a house has its own lessons to teach in this moving and insightful memoir that ultimately shows us how to make our own homes (and lives) better.\u003cb\u003eNamed a \"Best Book of 2020\" by \u003ci\u003eReal Simple\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWashington State Book Award Finalist\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePacific Northwest Booksellers Association Bestseller\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“One part investigation of architecture and design, one part exploration of identity, \u003ci\u003eHouse Lessons\u003c\/i\u003e is a meditation on space and home, and Bauermeister is a Zen master of the self.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e—Adrienne Brodeur, author of\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eWild Game\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Almost anyone who’s ever let heart rule head will nod, at the very least, at the stories that a 100-year-old house in Port Townsend, Washington, evokes. In her memoir of falling in love with a house, novelist Bauermeister details every cranny, cove, and piece of plaster...This will resonate with any readers who love words and old houses.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e—\u003ci\u003eBooklist\u003c\/i\u003e, starred review\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e“...a family memoir, a primer of architectural theories and a study of how people relate to their spaces. Fans of [Bauermeister's] four novels know [she] has a keen appreciation of the senses—savoring food in \u003ci\u003eThe School of Essential Ingredients\u003c\/i\u003e, the art of fragrance in \u003ci\u003eThe Scent Keeper\u003c\/i\u003e. She demonstrates that same respect for the renovation.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003e—Shelf Awareness\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Erica Bauermeister’s latest book is a thoughtful, entertaining memoir of the time she and her family spent renovating the mother of all fixer-uppers...Bauermeister has given us a skeleton key to unlock ideas about self and space and place...” \u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003e—Christian Science Monitor\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cbr\u003e“This beautifully written memoir is for anyone who has wondered where home is and how to find it, fix it, love it, and leave it for later as well. We are lucky to be along for the ride.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e—Laurie Frankel,\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e bestselling author of\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eThis Is How It Always Is\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“This deeply moving story of an epic home renovation pulls essential life lessons from the logistics of plaster removal and pipe fitting and moves effortlessly across time and topic to find moments of reflection, optimism, and love in the most unlikely of places.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e—Tara Conklin, \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e bestselling author of \u003ci\u003eThe Last Romantics\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eThe House Girl\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e“Intimate and gracefully told, here is the irresistible story of a house and a family in transmutation.”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e—Rikki Ducornet, author of\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Deep Zoo\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e“Reading \u003ci\u003eHouse Lessons\u003c\/i\u003e is itself like walking through a beloved old home, where strange treasures and beautiful eccentricities reveal themselves around every corner. Generous and artful, this is a hard-won story of the work that goes into building a life.” \u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e—Molly Wizenberg, bestselling author of\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eA Homemade Life\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003eERICA BAUERMEISTER is the bestselling author of four novel\u003ci\u003es: The School of Essential Ingredients\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eJoy for Beginners\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eThe Lost Art of Mixing\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eThe Scent Keeper.\u003c\/i\u003e She is also the coauthor of \u003ci\u003e500 Great Books by Women: A Reader's Guide\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eLet's Hear It For the Girls: 375 Great Books for Readers 2-14\u003c\/i\u003e. She has a PhD in literature from the University of Washington, and has taught there and at Antioch University. With the exception of two years in Italy, Bauermeister has lived in the Pacific Northwest for nearly four decades, and her children proudly say rainwater runs in their veins. She is a founding member of the Seattle7Writers and currently lives in Port Townsend, Washington, in the house she renovated with her family.The house stood at the top of a hill, ensnarled in vegetation, looking out over the Victorian roofs of Port Townsend and beyond, to water and islands and clouds. It seemed to lean toward the view as if enchanted, although we later learned that had far more to do with neglect than magic. The once-elegant slopes of its hipped roof rolled and curled, green with moss. The tall, straight walls of its Foursquare design were camouflaged in salmon-pink asbestos shingles, the windows covered in grimy curtains or cardboard. Three discarded furnaces, four neon yellow oil drums, an ancient camper shell, and a pair of rusted wheelbarrows lay scattered at odd angles across the overgrown grass as if caught in a game of large-appliance freeze tag. The yard was Darwinian in its landscaping—an agglomeration of plants and trees, stuck in the ground and left to survive. Below the house, I could just see the tips of a possible orchard poking up through a roiling sea of ivy. In front, two weather-stunted palm trees flanked the walkway like a pair of tropical lawn jockeys gone lost, while a feral camellia bush had covered the porch and was heading for the second story. Someone had hacked away a rough opening for the front stairs, down which an assortment of rusted rakes and car mufflers and bags of fertilizer sprawled in lazy abandon. In their midst, seemingly oblivious to its setting, sat a rotting fruit basket, gift card still attached. \"That one,\" my husband, Ben, said as he pointed to the house. \"It's not for sale,\" I noted. “I know. But it should be, don’t you think?” Our son and daughter, ten and thirteen, stared out the car windows slack-jawed. “You’re kidding, right?” the kids asked. But I think they already knew the question was rhetorical.","brand":"Sasquatch Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46300708405477,"sku":"NP9781632172440","price":24.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9781632172440.jpg?v=1742921123","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/products\/house-lessons-isbn-9781632172440","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}