From the acclaimed author and columnist: a laugh-out-loud journey into the world of real estate—the true story of one woman’s “imperfect life lived among imperfect houses” and her quest for the four perfect walls to call home. After an itinerant suburban childhood and countless moves as a grown-up—from New York City to Lincoln, Nebraska; from the Midwest to the West Coast and back—Meghan Daum was living in Los Angeles, single and in her mid-thirties, and devoting obscene amounts of time not to her writing career or her dating life but to the pursuit of property: scouring Craigslist, visiting open houses, fantasizing about finding the right place for the right price. Finally, near the height of the real estate bubble, she succumbed, depleting her life’s savings to buy a 900-square-foot bungalow, with a garage that “bore a close resemblance to the ruins of Pompeii” and plumbing that “dated back to the Coolidge administration.” From her mother’s decorating manias to her own “hidden room” dreams, Daum explores the perils and pleasures of believing that only a house can make you whole. With delicious wit and a keen eye for the absurd, she has given us a pitch-perfect, irresistible tale of playing a lifelong game of house.

The “funny, charming, and shocking” true story (The New York Times Book Review) of one woman’s quest for the four perfect walls to call home. In this laugh-out-loud personal journey, acclaimed author Meghan Daum explores the perils and pleasures of believing that only a house can make you whole. From her teenage apartment fantasies and her mother’s decorating manias to her own “hidden room” dreams and the bungalow she eventually buys on her own, Life Would Be Perfect If I Lived in That House “[chronicles] an obsession that threatens to upend sanity and bank accounts…. Daum has a rare gift in her ability to keep readers laughing through her own tears” (The New York Times Book Review).

A master of the personal essay candidly explores love, death, and the counterfeit rituals of American life in this "brave, funny compendium" (Slate) Nearly fifteen years after her debut collection, My Misspent Youth, captured the ambitions and anxieties of a generation, Meghan Daum returns to the personal essay with The Unspeakable, a powerful collection of ten new works. Where her previous collection explores what it is to be a struggling twenty-something urban dweller with an overdrawn bank account and oversized ambition, The Unspeakable contends with parental death, the decision not to have children, and more-a new set of challenges tackled by a writer at her best, investigated in the same uncompromising voice that made Daum one of the most engaging thinkers writing today. In The Unspeakable, Daum pushes back against the false sentimentality and shrink-wrapped platitudes that surround so much of the contemporary American experience. But Daum also operates in a comic register. With perfect precision, she reveals the absurdities of the New Age search for the "Best Possible Experience," champions the merits of cream-of-mushroom-soup casserole, and gleefully recounts a quintessential "only-in-L.A." story of playing charades at a famous person's home. Combining the piercing insight of Joan Didion with humor reminiscent of Nora Ephron's, Daum dissects our culture's most dangerous illusions while retaining her own joy and compassion. Through it all, she dramatizes the search for an authentic self in a world where achieving an identity is never simple and never complete.

Create the home--and life--you've always wanted with the help of popular blogger and author of Cozy Minimalist Home Myquillyn Smith (The Nester) as she helps you free yourself to take risks and find beauty in imperfection. Myquillyn Smith is all about embracing reality--especially when it comes to decorating a home bursting with kids, pets, and all the unpredictable messes of life. In The Nesting Place, Myquillyn shares the secrets of decorating for real people--and it has nothing to do with creating a flawless look to wow your guests and everything to do with making peace with the natural imperfection and joy of daily living. Drawing on her years of experience creating beauty in her 13 different homes and countless seasons of life, Myquillyn will show you how to think differently about the true purpose of your home, and simply and creatively tailor it to reflect you and your unique style--without breaking the bank. Full of simple steps, practical advice, and beautiful, full-color photos, The Nesting Place gives you the tools you need to: Cultivate a home that works for you and your family Transform your home into a place that's inviting and warm for family and friends Discover your own personal style There is beauty in embracing the lived-in, loved-on, and just-about-used-up aspects of our homes and our daily lives--let Myquillyn show you how. Praise for The Nesting Place: "This book made me look at every room in my house differently, with a new lens of creativity and beauty and possibility. It inspired me to reclaim my home as sacred space, ripe with opportunities to celebrate and create memories and moments." --Shauna Niequist, New York Times bestselling author of Present Over Perfect and I Guess I Haven't Learned That Yet "This highly personal account about embracing imperfection and finding contentment in your home is like sitting down with a good friend and talking about the stuff that really matters. The Nesting Place is full of approachable ideas, encouragement, and a whole lot of heart." --Sherry Petersik, home blogger; bestselling author of Young House Love

Sixteen literary luminaries on the controversial subject of being childless by choice, in this critically acclaimed, bestselling anthology One of the most provocative and talked-about books of the year, Selfish, Shallow, and Self-Absorbed is the stunning collection exploring one of society’s most vexing taboos. One of the main topics of cultural conversation during the last decade was the supposed “fertility crisis,” and whether modern women could figure out a way to have it all—a successful career and the required 2.3 children—before their biological clocks stopped ticking. Now, however, the conversation has turned to whether it’s necessary to have it all (see Anne-Marie Slaughter) or, perhaps more controversial, whether children are really a requirement for a fulfilling life. In this exciting and controversial collection of essays, curated by writer Meghan Daum, thirteen acclaimed female writers explain why they have chosen to eschew motherhood. Contributors include Lionel Shriver, Sigrid Nunez, Kate Christensen, Elliott Holt, Geoff Dyer, and Tim Kreider, among others, who will give a unique perspective on the overwhelming cultural pressure of parenthood. This collection makes a smart and passionate case for why parenthood is not the only path to a happy, productive life, and takes our parent-centric, kid-fixated, baby-bump-patrolling culture to task in the process. In this book, that shadowy faction known as the childless-by-choice comes out into the light.

Master of the cut and paste art technique, Giles Laroche takes readers on a storytelling journey around the world that celebrates the diversity of homes and the people who are shaped by them. Step into unique homes from around the world and discover the many fascinating ways in which people live and have lived. If you lived in the mountains of southern Spain, your bedroom might be carved out of a mountain. If you lived in a village in South Africa, the outside of your house might tell the story of your family. And if you lived in a floating green house in the Netherlands, you could rotate your house to watch both the sunrise and sunset. With intricate bas-relief collages, Giles Laroche uncovers the reason why each home was constructed the way in which it was, then lets us imagine what it would be like to live in homes so different from our own. Showing the tremendous variety of dwellings worldwide—log cabins, houses on stilts, cave dwellings, boathouses, and yurts—this book addresses why each house is build the way that it is. Reasons—such as blending into the landscape, confusing invaders, being able to travel with one's home, using whatever materials are at hand—are as varied as the homes themselves. List of Houses included: Dogtrot log house, based on dogtrots built in the southern U.S. Chalet, based on chalets built in the Austrian Alps. Pueblo, Taos, New Mexico Connected barn, based on connected barns common in northern New England. Cave dwelling, Guadix, Andalucia, Spain Palafitos (house on stilts), Chiloe Island, Chile Palazzo Dario, Venice, Italy Chateau La Brede, Bordeaux, France Tulou, Hangkeng village, Yongding, China Half-timbered houses, Miltenberg am Main, Germany Greek island village houses, Astipalaia Island, Greece Decorated houses of Ndebele, Pretoria, Transvaal, South Africa Yurt, based on yurts in Mongolia and other parts of central Asia. Airstream trailer, USA Floating house, Middleburg, the Netherlands Tree house, USA

Pulitzer Prize Finalist | New York Times Bestseller | A Read with Jenna Today Show Book Club Pick | A New York Times Book Review Notable Book | TIME Magazine's 100 Must-Read Books of the Year Named one of the Best Books of the Year by NPR, The Washington Post; O: The Oprah Magazine, Real Simple, Good Housekeeping, Vogue, Refinery29, and Buzzfeed From Ann Patchett, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Commonwealth, comes a powerful, richly moving story that explores the indelible bond between two siblings, the house of their childhood, and a past that will not let them go. The Dutch House is the story of a paradise lost, a tour de force that digs deeply into questions of inheritance, love and forgiveness, of how we want to see ourselves and of who we really are. At the end of the Second World War, Cyril Conroy combines luck and a single canny investment to begin an enormous real estate empire, propelling his family from poverty to enormous wealth. His first order of business is to buy the Dutch House, a lavish estate in the suburbs outside of Philadelphia. Meant as a surprise for his wife, the house sets in motion the undoing of everyone he loves. The story is told by Cyril’s son Danny, as he and his older sister, the brilliantly acerbic and self-assured Maeve, are exiled from the house where they grew up by their stepmother. The two wealthy siblings are thrown back into the poverty their parents had escaped from and find that all they have to count on is one another. It is this unshakeable bond between them that both saves their lives and thwarts their futures. Set over the course of five decades, The Dutch House is a dark fairy tale about two smart people who cannot overcome their past. Despite every outward sign of success, Danny and Maeve are only truly comfortable when they’re together. Throughout their lives they return to the well-worn story of what they’ve lost with humor and rage. But when at last they’re forced to confront the people who left them behind, the relationship between an indulged brother and his ever-protective sister is finally tested.