Book review: The Useful Book: 201 Life Skills They Used to Teach in Home Ec and Shop by David and Sharon Bowers

This book is great.

Simply written guide to just about everything.

Divided on five sections:

1. Cooking
2. Sewing
3. Laundry and clothing
4. Domestic Arts
5. Life Skills

This book is a simple how-to on life’s general needs. A simple starting point of boiling water in the cooking section, yes that basic. The Useful Book is thorough it goes on to more hands on mechanical lessons, this book is great keepsake.

Goodreads Summary

 A modern and energetically designed encyclopedia of DIY with everything you need to know to roll up your sleeves and cook it, build it, sew it, clean it, or repair it yourself. In other words, everything you would have learned from your shop and home-economics teachers, if you’d had them.

The Useful Book features 138 practical projects and how-tos, with step-by-step instructions and illustrations, relevant charts, sidebars, lists, and handy toolboxes. There’s a kitchen crash course, including the must-haves for a well-stocked pantry; how to boil an egg (and peel it frustration-free); how to grill, steam, sauté, and roast vegetables. There’s Sewing 101, plus how to fold a fitted sheet, tie a tie, mop a floor, make a bed, and set the table for a formal dinner.

Next up: a 21st-century shop class. The tools that everyone should have, and dozens of cool projects that teach fundamental techniques. Practice measuring, cutting, and nailing by building a birdhouse. Make a bookshelf or a riveted metal picture frame. Plus: do-it-yourself plumbing; car repair basics; and home maintenance, from priming and painting to refinishing wood floors.

Thank You to the Publishers’

I got this as a NetGalley ARC and I am thankful. Thanks to NetGalley and Workman Publishing Company for sharing this book in exchange for my review.

The book is scheduled to be published in June 2016. Once the book is available for general release I’d love to get a hardcover copy.

Book 17 in my 2016 reading challenge.