white elephants

Recently I was lucky enough to win a copy of White Elephants by Katie Haegele in a giveaway over at Helen's blog, Memo.  (Helen is responsible for the fantastic illustrations in the book and on the cover.)  I'm never very comfortable with reviewing/recommending things here, but I read this book a week or two ago, really enjoyed it and thought it was the type of book that quite a lot of this blog's readers would enjoy but might not necessarily hear about so I wanted to share it.  The book is a non-fiction account of Katie's trips to yard sales and jumble sales with her mum over a period of about four years (I think) and I can honestly say that reading it was like having a first-rate day of charity shopping without having to leave the house/come home with lots of stuff to clutter up the place.  One of the reasons I love charity shopping (aside from finding great stuff) is all the random people you see in charity shops and the funny little experiences you have.  This book was full of little stories like that as well as really nice insights into Katie's life and her relationship with her mum.  It was also reassuring to hear first-hand from someone else who wants to buy every dolls' house and typewriter she sees!

I think this book is published in about a month's time in the UK and I'm pretty sure you'd enjoy it if you enjoy charity shopping, maybe even if you don't.  It's only a slim volume too, so you're bound to be able to find space for it amongst all your second-hand clutter.

And there ends my primary-school style book review.  Thank you for reading.