What do you think?
Rate this book
Before Long: Let's Move!
Contentment is a virtue? Why not laugh at the winding road we take to arrive there? This illustrated story is a romantic comedy in the tradition of Alice in Wonderland and Groundhog's Day. A young couple looking for the perfect house seeks romance in a new home, but before long, they discover the myth of contentment. A money saving fable, a parable about human behavior. Description and Praise "Love it or leave it! This is the ultimate tongue-in-cheek gift to bring to a housewarming. Love the surprise ending. You had me going." - Charity Bugge Why do we buy what we buy? The mystery unravels as Before Long, Let's Move! takes us over the bumpy, swerving road to an ideal life. Sighs of longing and ticklish laughter follow as contentment eludes Ernst and Esme. Who knew? Finding an ideal community- a dream house to boot- in a not-so-perfect universe is as simple as laying claim to the pursuit of happiness. Ernst and Esme, our expert tour guides, lead us by our noses into their search, complete with checklists, for a place to belong. For heartwarming #happiness, housewarming gifts, and professional Thanks-to-You gifts. Realtors, homebuyerss, sellers, the discontent, and #mortgage loan agents or financial planners, .why people need insurance. 70 pages, full color, #GraphicNovel #funnybehavior
72 pages, Paperback
Published July 30, 2019
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
Read
January 25, 2019This short, creative story about a young couple's search for the perfect home is entertaining and thought provoking. The story served as an allegory for me about certain situations in my own life.
August 7, 2019
Fictional couple Ernest and Esme are first-time home buyers on the hunt for their dream residence. They search high and low, testing out homes in both urban and rural settings, finding little issues with each spot that leads them to want to move yet again each time. Through it all, readers are asked to go along with them as they navigate through the highs and lows, the numerous and varied joys and pitfalls of the house hunting experience.
Format-wise, though this may initially look like a children's picture book, it is actually meant to be a humorous coffee table-type book for adults to gift to friends and family (or clients, I suppose, if you're a realtor).
Given all the high ratings, I was feeling pretty optimistic about my experience when this was sent to me to review. But I'm stumped as to how so many people found this story a laugh-out-loud riot? Granted, it's not terrible in concept, even cutesy with the potential for charming in the beginning. But it doesn't take long for things to turn a bit boring and repetitive. The writing itself was also pretty clunky and weird in parts --- lines like "Although there was an abundance of pollenating trees, they didn't mind now that the tribe was left behind."; "I think we should gather some courage and just tell our lovely neighbors that we have some education to consider."; "Before long, Ernest and Esme decided to buy a 5000 rpm road bike and waft in the wind."
And are these crazy kids full-on BUYING every house they move into in this story? Budget envy over here! LOL But seriously, I kinda wanted them to just be real grown-ups and accept every house is going to have its quirks and problems. Maybe work it out rather than up and leave over every little inconvenience.
But yeah, I really wasn't feeling the level of humor or satire everyone else seemed to get out of this. It all felt pretty forced IMO.
Maybe it's my past work as a graphic designer rearing up in me, but my biggest problem with this book is the shoddy job the book design / layout crew did on the overall formatting. How did this get the stamp of approval to print? There's one illustration where a checklist is laid over a scroll clip art background. Problem is, rather than sizing the scroll image to fit the page, the bottom of the scroll was just lazily continued onto the following page. All the illustrations have the look of someone just doing a stock image search and then building the story around those images, as perhaps a grade-schooler would. There's just a really noticeable lack of cohesiveness to the lot.
Some of the images are quite lovely... unfortunately, the majority of them all show varying degrees of pixelation, the graininess worsened by the fact that the whole book was printed on very low-quality paper. Again, the graphic designer in me, if you're going to have such a heavily illustrated book, you really do yourself and potential readers a disservice going cheap with the paper.
As always, I appreciate the opportunity to review, but in this case, this is not a book I could honestly see myself ever recommending to others.
FTC DISCLAIMER: Bookcrash.com and Capture Books kindly provided me with a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. The opinions above are entirely my own.
Format-wise, though this may initially look like a children's picture book, it is actually meant to be a humorous coffee table-type book for adults to gift to friends and family (or clients, I suppose, if you're a realtor).
Given all the high ratings, I was feeling pretty optimistic about my experience when this was sent to me to review. But I'm stumped as to how so many people found this story a laugh-out-loud riot? Granted, it's not terrible in concept, even cutesy with the potential for charming in the beginning. But it doesn't take long for things to turn a bit boring and repetitive. The writing itself was also pretty clunky and weird in parts --- lines like "Although there was an abundance of pollenating trees, they didn't mind now that the tribe was left behind."; "I think we should gather some courage and just tell our lovely neighbors that we have some education to consider."; "Before long, Ernest and Esme decided to buy a 5000 rpm road bike and waft in the wind."
And are these crazy kids full-on BUYING every house they move into in this story? Budget envy over here! LOL But seriously, I kinda wanted them to just be real grown-ups and accept every house is going to have its quirks and problems. Maybe work it out rather than up and leave over every little inconvenience.
But yeah, I really wasn't feeling the level of humor or satire everyone else seemed to get out of this. It all felt pretty forced IMO.
Maybe it's my past work as a graphic designer rearing up in me, but my biggest problem with this book is the shoddy job the book design / layout crew did on the overall formatting. How did this get the stamp of approval to print? There's one illustration where a checklist is laid over a scroll clip art background. Problem is, rather than sizing the scroll image to fit the page, the bottom of the scroll was just lazily continued onto the following page. All the illustrations have the look of someone just doing a stock image search and then building the story around those images, as perhaps a grade-schooler would. There's just a really noticeable lack of cohesiveness to the lot.
Some of the images are quite lovely... unfortunately, the majority of them all show varying degrees of pixelation, the graininess worsened by the fact that the whole book was printed on very low-quality paper. Again, the graphic designer in me, if you're going to have such a heavily illustrated book, you really do yourself and potential readers a disservice going cheap with the paper.
As always, I appreciate the opportunity to review, but in this case, this is not a book I could honestly see myself ever recommending to others.
FTC DISCLAIMER: Bookcrash.com and Capture Books kindly provided me with a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. The opinions above are entirely my own.
February 5, 2019
Before Long: Sheer Romance of Finding a Home by Auralee Arkinsly relates the house hunting endeavours by a couple, Ernst and Esme, who find their perfect home with all the characteristics that they have dreamed of (a house with an orchard in the country) only to find their dream becomes a nightmare. Undeterred, they move and find a place in the city, but the gritty reality of city life is off-putting. Again, undeterred, they move… and so the story unfolds with each dream home and location turning into disaster, expenses, and disillusionment… Orchards unfortunately do attract fruit flies and roosters think it is their duty to wake the world up at 4 a.m. Will they ever find their perfect dream home? Does a perfect dream home even exist in the real world?
What an absolutely hilarious and charming story. I loved the format of photos of the various houses and settings and captions. Like many readers, I have bought and sold and moved a few times. I nodded and shook my head reading about the couple’s antics, new decisions, bad decisions, hopes and dreams so easily destroyed. The bills and repairs, the things you only find out after living in a place for a while are so true to life. No one tells you about the winters, the bad parts, the potential problems, and even the neighbourhoods themselves that can seem picture perfect at the start.
The beauty of this deceptively simple book is that at the end of their litany of disastrous choices, Ernst and Esme had learned significant lessons about the kind of home that would be right for them, what they needed (such as a stable internet), the kind of ‘tribe’ they would like to socialize with, how to integrate a balance of work and play, and how to budget for those inevitable home ownership expenses. Plus, they learned – as one hopes readers will – that having dreams is great, but not dreams that only exist in movies. They also learned that although the perfect dream home might not exist, with a bit of creative thinking, they could make a ‘nearly there’ home into something that suited them perfectly! Some lovely and relevant lessons for readers who might just be house hunting right now.
What an absolutely hilarious and charming story. I loved the format of photos of the various houses and settings and captions. Like many readers, I have bought and sold and moved a few times. I nodded and shook my head reading about the couple’s antics, new decisions, bad decisions, hopes and dreams so easily destroyed. The bills and repairs, the things you only find out after living in a place for a while are so true to life. No one tells you about the winters, the bad parts, the potential problems, and even the neighbourhoods themselves that can seem picture perfect at the start.
The beauty of this deceptively simple book is that at the end of their litany of disastrous choices, Ernst and Esme had learned significant lessons about the kind of home that would be right for them, what they needed (such as a stable internet), the kind of ‘tribe’ they would like to socialize with, how to integrate a balance of work and play, and how to budget for those inevitable home ownership expenses. Plus, they learned – as one hopes readers will – that having dreams is great, but not dreams that only exist in movies. They also learned that although the perfect dream home might not exist, with a bit of creative thinking, they could make a ‘nearly there’ home into something that suited them perfectly! Some lovely and relevant lessons for readers who might just be house hunting right now.
May 26, 2019
Before Long: Sheer Romanceof Finding a Perfect Home is an illustrated story of a couple's search for a house. Like most people searching for a home, Ernst and Esme have a a vision of their dream home. They quickly find a "gable-house perched on a hill". Realizing that it was unsuitable for them they begin their search again in and find a home in an entirely different environment.
The next home doesn't meet all of their requirements either, lacking in the quietness of the gable-house. Though they have a grand time with their friends who are nearby.
At some point in the story Ernst and Esme learn to compromise and appreciate their new home. They get settled in with solutions to what they are lacking and decide to stay where they are planted.
The illustrations are colorful and highlight the details of the story. This is a nice coffee table book and conversation starter. Anyone who has ever searched for a home will find some delight in this short, but relatable story.
The next home doesn't meet all of their requirements either, lacking in the quietness of the gable-house. Though they have a grand time with their friends who are nearby.
At some point in the story Ernst and Esme learn to compromise and appreciate their new home. They get settled in with solutions to what they are lacking and decide to stay where they are planted.
The illustrations are colorful and highlight the details of the story. This is a nice coffee table book and conversation starter. Anyone who has ever searched for a home will find some delight in this short, but relatable story.
March 16, 2019
Ouch! I've lived through too many of the scenarios the author lays out in this short, quirky book. I was not convinced I would bother to review the book when it came into my inbox, but in a rare break between projects, I decided to check it out. And I laughed out loud. House buying is the most expensive decision most of us will ever make, but it is not always - perhaps not even often - made based on solid, rational factors. Share this with your home-seeking friends, with your about-to-experience-buyers-remorse friends, and with anyone who has ever contemplated buying a home for reasons that might not seem totally rational. Expect to wince. Expect to nod your head. Expect to laugh.
October 9, 2019
This was a funny over-the-top story for me and my husband because we've experienced some home-buying nightmares and neighborhood surprises, and buying a place for one reason, but then discovering the floorboards are rotted. Before Long is a tale about how difficult it is for Americans to find contentment as long as we have a credit card to help us keep chasing after it. :)
I would think it could be a house-warming party gift-for sure.
I would think it could be a house-warming party gift-for sure.
March 7, 2019
I was given a copy of this and the review is my own, freely given.
This is a cute story about moving. It was also kind of insightful to the changing needs of people and why they choose to move. It was light-hearted and fun. If you want an easy, fun read, I recommend this book.
This is a cute story about moving. It was also kind of insightful to the changing needs of people and why they choose to move. It was light-hearted and fun. If you want an easy, fun read, I recommend this book.
March 21, 2019
Entertaining short story and picture book. I had to smile as I found myself doing this with car purchases.. I was gifted a copy. My review is voluntary.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews