Lew just discovered an interesting website called Goodreads, with reader book ratings and reviews; it’s tied in to Facebook. For one thing, it’s a way to cross-check Amazon customer reviews. Here’s a comment on our last major building book, Builders of the Pacific Coast:
“In a time when more people are thinking “green” and “sustainable,” this book is even more fascinating. “Sustainable” is not a slick, well-marketed, over-packaged solution you can buy at a local big box store and get delivered – it is noticing and respecting the woodgrain, the type of stone, and the stories of the place. There is so much room for quiet reflection in this book, it took much longer to read it than I expected from a large format, photo-heavy “coffee table” book.”
-Jess
–https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1661976.Builders_of_the_Pacific_Coast
I looked up The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, and there were 28,000 reader ratings.
Lloyd, I hope one day you see the house I'm going to build, thanks to stumbling across your work. I'm a 29-year-old single mom, and Shelter, Home Work, and Builders have deeply, deeply affected me. Do you have any tips on how someone like me can get started, having no background in building? I might add that I do have some experience in wood-carving; my mother's family is Yup'ik Eskimo and we like to consider ourselves artists. The homes that I saw in your publications resonate in the same way the masks do that my mother and her family make.
I am planning to soon move to the Pacific Northwest, and will avidly seek out a place I can begin to build upon. I am curious as to what kind of regional apprenticeship, if any, might be the most beneficial? By nature I prefer to be self-taught, but if is there a community you could recommend that would be the most conducive to learning this trade, I'd love to visit. I know I'm leaving out a lot of necessary info, but basically, I'm interested in building structures from found wood, and roofing with cedar shakes, in the vein of Bruno Atkey. I know that I can do this; it really, truly speaks to me, and I am thrilled to have discovered a new course in life. Any response will be enormously appreciated!
Have a glorious day–
Sorry, in my wee-hours-of-the-morn enthusiasm, it appears I wrote you less a comment than an entire email…
Well, I've told everyone important to me about your books. And I'm sure they will pass them on accordingly!
Thanks again.
Beak,
It's wonderful to hear things like this. I love the connection between masks and houses, since First Nations people influenced a lot of the builders in the book.
Send me yr. email address and I'll reply directly.
lloyd@shelterpub.com
Small world!! I'm the Jess that wrote that feedback on Goodreads, and I also subscribe to your blog. Thanks for all the great inspiration!