Simple Gatherings: 50 Ways to Inspire Connection

Inspired Ideas

by Melissa Michaels

With engaging photos, doable tips, and friendly motivation, the author shares how to discover your style - Easy Breezy, Nervous Nester, Perfectionist, or Social Butterfly; create personalized shortcuts, checklists, and sanity-savers. She helps you with hassle-free recipes, housecleaning and decorating tips.

Genres: Nonfiction, Lifestyle

128 pages, Hardcover

First published July 1, 2015

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Melissa Michaels is the author of The Inspired Room (theinspiredroom.net), one of the top decorating blogs on the web for the past eight years. The Inspired Room reaches over 600,000 readers each month and was voted Better Homes and Gardens Readers' Favorite Decorating blog in 2014.

Melissa (along with her home and The Inspired Room) has been featured in top publications and magazines online and in print. Through The Inspired Room blog and her upcoming books (Love the Home You Have, March 2015, The Inspired Room, October 2015), Melissa offers a refreshing perspective on finding contentment in creating an authentically beautiful home, right where you are.

She lives with her husband and family near Seattle, Washington.

Reviews

[Leah Good · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quick read with lots of gorgeous pictures. Kind of feels like flipping through a really nice magazine.

I do think some of the ideas were more (instead of less) complex than your average get-together-for-lunch hospitality, but as long as you don't get hung up in trying to match all the cool ideas, the suggestions are great. I love picking and choosing what appeals to and works for me.

Can't wait to be able to put some of the ideas into practice after our Covid-19 lockdown is over!

[Cathryn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Parties don’t have to be complicated or extravagant to be memorable! I loved this line from the book and appreciated that she reminded us of what hospitality really is about. In this day of comparing and competing we need to remember hospitality isn’t about us, it’s about the guest. I think this book would be great for young newlyweds who are just starting to build their home life and for those like me who need a refresher. I will be reading her other books next year to remind me how much I love using my home for hospitality.

[SK · Rating 3 out of 5]

Having ordered this on Amazon, I didn't realize that it's more of a fleshed-out magazine than a book. There's nothing especially ground-breaking here in terms of the writing or the content, but it does contain a few creative, easy, and inexpensive ideas for adding touches of homemade beauty to gatherings (e.g., filling mason jars with Epson salt and a votive candle for some sparkling ambiance). It's the kind of book you can read on an extended family vacation while floating around in a pool crowded with screaming children, which is exactly what I did!

[Prairie Sky Book Reviews · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve enjoyed several of bestselling author Melissa Michaels’ books in the past, and also love following her regular posts on social media. She truly has an incredible gift to help us “inspire our homes”. When a new book title from this talented lady was released by Harvest House Publishers entitled “Simple Gatherings: 50 Ways to Inspire Connection”, I was excited to read it and hoped I could come away better able to “create memorable gatherings with simplicity and style”... I wasn’t disappointed!

The first thing I noticed after picking up my copy of “Simple Gatherings” is: it is an adorable book filled with appealing designs, lovely color photos, and easy-to-read pages of charts, lists, tips, quotes, and more! It is also small in size, but in an easily-accessible-guidebook sort of way.

The next thing I noticed about this wonderful book is: it is SO extremely practical and helpful! The content (of more than 300 tips) is divided into 5 chapters: Get Ready to Gather, The Atmosphere, The Feast, The Conversation, and The Special Touches. Interspersed between the chapters are sample party ideas, where Melissa walks us through the steps to prepare for and launch a specific type of gathering; my personal favorite is the Backyard BBQ Slider Gathering, (with the Weekend Brunch being a close second!). These sections are chockfull of photos, checklists, recipes, and other specific ideas to help your party-planning skills really take off.

If you have enjoyed Melissa Michaels’ previous books, are a follower of her blog, or are simply looking for a practical way to boost your proficiency at hosting gatherings in your home, I cannot recommend “Simple Gatherings” enough! For me, it is a guide that will undoubtedly help to improve my own skills right away, while also being in-depth enough that I plan to keep it handy and accessible for years to come. Thank you, Melissa, for writing such awesome books to help us “inspire our homes”... I can’t wait to read the next upcoming release, entitled “Simple Organizing: 50 Ways to Clear the Clutter”.

This book was provided courtesy of Harvest House Publishers, in exchange for my honest review.

[Prairie Sky Book Reviews · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve enjoyed several of bestselling author Melissa Michaels’ books in the past, and also love following her regular posts on social media. She truly has an incredible gift to help us “inspire our homes”. When a new book title from this talented lady was released by Harvest House Publishers entitled “Simple Gatherings: 50 Ways to Inspire Connection”, I was excited to read it and hoped I could come away better able to “create memorable gatherings with simplicity and style”... I wasn’t disappointed!

The first thing I noticed after picking up my copy of “Simple Gatherings” is: it is an adorable book filled with appealing designs, lovely color photos, and easy-to-read pages of charts, lists, tips, quotes, and more! It is also small in size, but in an easily-accessible-guidebook sort of way.

The next thing I noticed about this wonderful book is: it is SO extremely practical and helpful! The content (of more than 300 tips) is divided into 5 chapters: Get Ready to Gather, The Atmosphere, The Feast, The Conversation, and The Special Touches. Interspersed between the chapters are sample party ideas, where Melissa walks us through the steps to prepare for and launch a specific type of gathering; my personal favorite is the Backyard BBQ Slider Gathering, (with the Weekend Brunch being a close second!). These sections are chockfull of photos, checklists, recipes, and other specific ideas to help your party-planning skills really take off.

If you have enjoyed Melissa Michaels’ previous books, are a follower of her blog, or are simply looking for a practical way to boost your proficiency at hosting gatherings in your home, I cannot recommend “Simple Gatherings” enough! For me, it is a guide that will undoubtedly help to improve my own skills right away, while also being in-depth enough that I plan to keep it handy and accessible for years to come. Thank you, Melissa, for writing such awesome books to help us “inspire our homes”... I can’t wait to read the next upcoming release, entitled “Simple Organizing: 50 Ways to Clear the Clutter”.

This book was provided courtesy of Harvest House Publishers, in exchange for my honest review.

[Leigh Dusek · Rating 5 out of 5]

I truly loved this book. Probably because I need help with creating a good gathering. It's not my specialty.
This book provided so many different simple ideas for different types of gatherings. It made me aware of extra things I'd never thought to make my guests more welcome and the gathering more special.
And most of all, everything is so easy. It's a great book I can grab and refer to in the future as well. Thanks Melissa for helping me provide a more welcoming home!

[Krista · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn’t really find new ideas or ones that inspired me in this book. Some of the hosting tips seemed complex and too time consuming for me to endeavor. I am a very down to earth person. When friends come over they will be offered something to drink and plenty to eat. I live in a small house with very little storage place. Although I want my place to be cozy and attractive I keep it fairly minimalist...like I said, I’m a very down to earth person. 🤭

[Kerry Fountain · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this encouraging and exciting. Melissa's simple steps walk you through the process of hosting a gathering from the most simple to the most elaborate. Her no nonsense approach helps prevent being overwhelmed and her guidance to put your heart into your gathering rather than trying to achieve perfection was inspiring and encouraging. #simplegatherings are possible!

[Elisabeth Ensor · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book starts out nice but then ends up feeling like a really long blog post or something I could have found on Pinterest. I was inspired by the ideas to prep the house in advance, ask the guests to help contribute but none of that is new to me. This might be a book for a new bride who has never hosted etc but not for the gal who already hosts often!

[Deepa T · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very practical book. It addresses all the steps to organising small parties, in a step by step fashion. Lots of tips and tricks in this little volume. An easy to breeze through book - one that can be used as a refresher any time one’s planning a simple gathering. I do feel that the pricing is a little bit too high.

[Laura Haske · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the focus on simplicity and meaningful connection when it comes to hospitality, but overall I wasn't very inspired by the book. There were a few party ideas and photos, but it didn't feel like enough to make a whole book.

[Lesley Looper · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has some good ideas about things to do for gatherings. Some ideas are crafty, others ideas are about ambience and conversations. All in all, some decent tips.

[Simonne Braden · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great quick read about little things to make a gathering more hospitable.

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Biggest warning: tiny font is tiny. It was a nice book full of good ideas if you could get past that one detail though.

[Jessica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love her books! Quick and easy tips and tricks.

I get inspiration from all her lovely pictures too. ❤️

[Shannon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderfully delightful book filled with tips & encouragement for creating memorable gatherings! Melissa helps you see that it is completely doable. And now I want to throw a party.

[Ashley Aeby · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked the book. It has good ideas for gatherings.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice ideas in a short and sweet book. I'll be using some of these during some upcoming get-togethers this summer.

[Katy · Rating 3 out of 5]

These may advertise as simple, but I tend to be even less fussy. There are some nice new ideas for me, and several old ideas to remind to do again. Worth keeping on my shelf.

[Callen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like other reviews have mentioned, this is a pretty quick read that seems more like a magazine than a book. But sometimes basic is better than complicated, and I enjoyed the ideas.

[Anita Hopkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the personal touches she encourages

[Nic · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some great ideas!

[Trish · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a nice book on entertaining.