Not the books I was expecting...

I find it frustrating to buy a book, sight unseen, yet after extensive research, being excited about the book only to be hugely disappointed once it arrives. Last week I ordered Margaret Kim Peterson's book, Keeping House---A Litany of the Everyday, and just don't like it. But, by golly, the reviews online are glowing. I hate it when I'm one of the lone dissenters.

She has a quote at the beginning in reference to housework and she says:

"Where are the books about this [housekeeping]? Where are the books that might describe and unpack and explore the significance---both practical and spiritual---of this kind of work?

I couldn't find many. The more I thought about it, the odder it seemed."

Guess she thought that her book would fill that void. I disagree. It comes across as an intellectual address pointed toward housekeeping, with lots of facts relating to the history of keeping house, but with very little homey content. I felt like I was a student in a class on domestic science in college. I wanted this book to be engaging, and honestly, I didn't find it to be so.

And I think that the title is misleading. In my mind, the subtitle of The Litany of Everyday Life doesn't come close to what she's relating. She makes good use of her chapter headings, but doesn't seem to flesh out more intimate details. There's plenty of research apparent in the book, but not much of an everyday comforting sort of sharing.

My copy is going up for sale tonight. :(

Oh, and by the way, the book Just Think by Nancy J. Nordenson fits into the same non-fulfilling reading category. That book's subtitle is Nourish Your Mind to Feed Your Soul. More details please, and less chatter. I want books related to homemaking that inspire me to do a better job, and yes, to feel snuggly about it, not necessarily to make me feel more educated.

Maybe I'm looking for more of a sensory thrill. Obviously I'm searching in the wrong places.