Last week, I shared my little stack of books that I plan to read during Spring. I do plan on reading more than those five books. They are just a starting point to get me out of a reading slump!
I think I’ve found another tip for getting out of a slump — read a book that you’ve been looking forward to for a long time. This book, The Magnolia Story by Chip and Joanna Gaines, has been on my to-be-read list every since it was released last October. I am a huge fan of their show Fixer Upper. Their banter back and forth reminds me of my husband and myself. They are always teasing each other, but you can really tell that they’re close and very much in love.
Joanna’s design aesthetic is completely my interior design style. I love how relaxed she is when she approaches a design project. She likes what she likes, and it all works together.
On their show, they’ve shared the story of how they met and got married. I was expecting the book to be more of that, plus how they started their business and how they were discovered for the show. In that aspect, this book did not disappoint. They are definitely a lot more details about their story that you’ve never heard about in the show.
This book is also told in dual perspective. Jo’s voice is dominant throughout the book, and Chip interjects throughout with his perspective. Chip’s perspective is set apart by being italicized text. The dual perspectives were interesting, but it definitely wasn’t my favorite part. It felt like I was reading a transcript from their show. Not to say that their show is scripted, but if you were to transcribe their conversations in the show, that’s what it felt like.
Now, controversy! I did not finish this book. I just couldn’t. The writing style was too conversational to me, along with the fact that I don’t read non-fiction all too much. In my opinion, there were issues with continuity. For example, the first chapter is the very basic, bare-bones story of how they acquired their show with HGTV. To me, that should have been at the end, or near the end, of the book. That is kind of the ‘end’ of the story, since we all already know that they have the show. Does that make sense? Their whole story felt kind of chopped up and out of order. I made it halfway through and had to put it down.
Now, this could be due to the fact that I don’t read a lot of non-fiction or because I was expecting it to be in more of a story form (again, back to the reading of the fiction :P). Nevertheless, I think their story is very interesting. The actual stories within the book were funny and witty and light-hearted. I truly believe any fan of their show will enjoy their story. This book just wasn’t for me, and I will just stick to watching their show!
Have you read this? What did you think?
Rebecca has been writing about style, beauty, and lifestyle topics since 2011. Thank you so much for reading this post! Feel free to leave any questions or comments below. I love hearing from you!
