Rethink: The Way You Live

by Amanda Talbot

Rethink: The Way You Live inspires and challenges. Filled with evocative images of homes around the globe, the book illustrates how design game-changers are weaving age-old resourcefulness with new technology, creativity with sustainability to construct a more meaningful existence. We can think small (bringing more nature inside) or big (installing moving walls for multifunctional spaces), but the point is to rethink our design choices today for a more sustainable tomorrow. Beautiful and informative, Rethink reveals how to build a better world from the inside out.

Genres: Nonfiction, Design, Interior Design, Self Help

311 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 2012

Reviews

[Diana · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've lived a fairly sustainable lifestyle for over 30 years and live in a town where we're allowed to have a chickens, goats and beehives. I buy a lot of my furniture from a local store that refurbishes and builds new furniture from salvaged materials. My nephew played basketball on the floor that our coffee table is made from. I say this so you know I had high expectations for this book.

The book has lots of nice photos, but it's really more a coffee table book than a source of information. In fact, some of the information is incorrect. There's a graphic showing the average size of homes across the globe, the conversion from square meter (I'm guessing that was the original) to square feet was incorrect. When I saw that the average new home in the US was 661 square feet I knew there was a problem.

I recommend checking it out from the library, it wasn't a keeper for me but it might be for you.

[Haylee · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book and hated it all at once. The page layouts, typography, photographs, texture of the pages and the cover are what drew me into the book. As I was reading, these words seemed thematic of the content: bleak overpopulated urban apocolypse; resourceful self-sustaining hippie in harmony with nature; ultimately "rethinking" the purpose of home and how we achieve our authentic goal in the current world state of political and environmental turmoil.

[Audrey · Rating 2 out of 5]

This grabbed my attention on the shelf because of the photos, the color palette, the overall design. But when I took it home and actually opened it up, I found that it wasn't to my liking at all. It was difficult to read (tiny type in white ink) and I just didn't find any of the content to be applicable. It's just a coffee-table book in the end, but with too many words and not enough images.

[Irene Adler · Rating 2 out of 5]

I ended up just flicking through the pictures, which were okay, but didn't particularly illustrate sustainability one way or the other.

A poor choice of lime green / white / small font meant much of the text was unreadable. Should have used all that white space on the page more effectively to convey information.

[Megan Hartley · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was just...ok. I really liked the first couple of chapters, especially the one about bringing the outdoors inside and the importance of greenery in your living space. I didn't like the fact that some of these ideas to rethink the way we live are impossible or unobtainable for someone poor or middle class or living in a rural area. Even though I don't live in a city, there's no way I could put a fish farm on my property. I also don't have a flat roof and can't imagine many people who do in this area of the United States. I know the crippling weight of tons of dirt for substainable farming on your roof would knock down the only flat roofed house ive seen.The book did a really good job of looking into the lives of others though and it was entertaining enough for me to keep reading until the end.

[Bridgette Guerzon Mills · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved the layout of this book and how it was designed. Really great photos too. The writing is very relevant to where we find ourselves now with facing climate change and how we really do need to rethink the way we live and how we live. The author seems more optimistic than I am though. Maybe it’s because it was published in 2015, which isn’t that long ago...but long enough. Or maybe it’s because I live in the suburbs on the east coast and I don’t see any evidence of people rethinking the way they live. But I suppose at least this book should give me some hope that some people out there in the world are changing their homes and lives to be more sustainable.

[Penny · Rating 4 out of 5]

The design of this book is what drew me in. It just feels good to hold and read. The lives that are profiled and the living spaces captured in the photos are interesting and inspirational. I think it's a book for those more at the beginning of their decision making about dwellings rather than those who have their homes pretty well sorted, but even for those of us who aren't likely to be moving or redecorating any time soon, it's still a fun read. It gets you to thinking how your might reuse older things more creatively, or use space more effectively, or downsize. A nice gift book.

[merlin513 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gorgeously put together, massive book. I personally didn’t get anything new out of it, but it gathers together sustainable ideas and ways of thinking into one hefty place. Lovely photography and design thru out. I’m going to follow the tenets within and re-release it to another person to enjoy.

[K. 🦉 · Rating 2 out of 5]

This didn’t make me rethink the way I live. As others have stated, it resembled a coffee table book more than anything, and there was just bits and pieces about sustainability. I felt like I was reading more about wealthy homeowners and looking at miscellaneous photos from their homes.

[Maria · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting book that gave me lots to think about.

[James · Rating 1 out of 5]

The author was a writer for Elle magazine before having a sudden change of heart in 2010 and cranking out this book in a year or so. It shows.

First she opens the book with all these fears that everyone is experiencing, like terrorism? 9/11 was just a blip in the murder rates for most non-East Coast Americans and not something like a daily fear like, holding a job, paying the rent, etc. Also I don't see the sudden, broad revolution the author envisions, instead I see the continual small steps that have been going on for a long time and that others have written about in a useful, positive fashion. After the brief attempt at scaring the customer, err... reader, a classic marketing/political tactic, the typical modern design of white walls and little furniture for people with large living spaces is heavily showcased along with some other styles, at least one I've seen in another book.

So what is this book? It's the pretentious, eco-chic design, coffee table book for those who want to stay trendy. It's not meant to be read, much of it's printed in a tiny sans-serif font that's close to unreadable, I started skimming about halfway through. Full disclosure, I find most modern designers and architects are worthless, concentrating more on appearance and being unique than on frugality, usefulness and comfort.

[Rita]

This is a weird book in that, is it a revolutionary call to rethink the way you live? Is it a documentation of how people get creative adjusting to small spaces and budgets? Is it something else? The world will never know.
I do appreciate the sentiment behind the book, though. If one is to take the title seriously, then this book is meant as more than pretty pictures. I agree that we must rethink (or continue rethinking) the sustainability and efficiency of our lifestyle. That being said, the first chapter of the book, where she outlines why this is the case, reads a lot like a freshman political science paper: not necessarily wrong, just woefully insufficient.
One last thing: for an interior designer who is "disillusioned" by the lifestyles advertised in magazines and who wants to reconnect with real life, she still has a long way to go. Much of the book was aimed at homeowners while the majority of people simply don't own their homes, and therefore the kind of creativity that she advocates for is apparently not for everybody.
I feel like this is one of these books that mean well, just don't know where to go from there.
The pictures are nice, though.

[Nola · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book made me 'rethink' my lifestyle, I loaned this book to a few of my friends who went out and bought it. Amanda, coming from the world of high fashion, knowing that not all of us can afford high end furniture and clothes, pointed out that we can be creative enough to mix the low end up with the high end. This book recharged me.

[White House Public Library · Rating 4 out of 5]

A global perspective on sustainability and our footprint on the world. In Rethink: The Way You Live Ms Talbot ask us, as readers; to assess ourselves and our impact on our surroundings. In doing so we might find ways that a change could improve our environment from the inside out.

[Louise Omer · Rating 3 out of 5]

gorgeous visuals. a little repetitive at time but full of inspiration if you want to flip through this coffee table book like a magazine.

[Carol · Rating 4 out of 5]

A less-is-more type of design book, looking at how people around the world live in alternative spaces.

[Romany · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very pretty book, but not very clear about its purpose or audience.

[Susan T · Rating 3 out of 5]

more of a magazine
simple ideas
nature into the home