Life Would Be Perfect If I Lived in That House: A Memoir

Sometimes I get a feeling that feels so unique, I think that it would be impossible to ever put it into words, like the compulsion to buy all new "clean" makeup after a successful second date, the need to buy new underwear after getting a promotion, or the desire to clean my car after I get in a fight with a friend. This book explains those feelings, all processed through real estate. I can't count anymore how many times I've rearranged furniture in my life - including heavy dorm furniture. In fact, I went out to dinner with an exceptionally skinny friend the other night, and then promptly went home and ordered all new, white lampshades.But I digress. "Life Would be Perfect if I Live in that House" captures this phenomenon perfectly. The feeling that everything will be okay if there were just some wainscotting around. The notion that everything will never be okay if the furniture is out of proportion. I marvel at the folks who don't have these concerns - are they even out there? But the truth is that for those of us who do, who "break up" with the Restoration Hardware catalog, only to come crawling back when your relationship with the Rose Bowl flea market has tanked, will love this book. And those folks who don't have this obsession/quirk will find it a hilarious anthropological read. Actually, I laughed so hard at a few points that my dog freaked out a little.Buy and keep.

It was a diagnosis for me...I am forever on realtor.com. I am now in a 1938 renovated farmhouse on almost an acre and it has swallowed me whole. When people ask me about his unique and potentially really wonderful house ( and huge land)..I often reply..."Be Careful what you wish for). I love it and I have to remind myself...this is what I wanted. But, it is an unfinished symphony..at least a work in progress. And I can barely find the rest of my life in here because it deserves and demand so much.I like books and I like reading books. I enjoyed the swift moving prose, the colorful and intimate details...the discovery of a porcelain tile in the bathroom, the color changed in the walls, the times of just wanting to be home and on the bed. This could have been such a boring book. It wasn't boring at all. Entertaining and it made me pause snit in my plans for possibly moving again.

At first I was amused, then irritated, then saddened by the author's real estate obsession. I diagnosed manic-depression and fear of commitment, but by the end of this richly satisfying book, Meghan Daum had delivered a perfect reading experience, with an underlying serious message. Her title gives away her intent - "my life would be perfect if" - it's the irony of the book, her recognition that her life's purposes are totally at odds. She wants to be seen as cool and hip, she wants to be personally content - but she does not know how to seek contentment because her true self has been a stranger to her. And she knows it; hence the title.Real estate as metaphor for life. Yes, the many detours and houses viewed, bought, rented, repented of do get to be annoying. But stick with it, the ending is meaningful. The author has been on a journey toward understanding what is important, and that is life itself.Oh, and those puzzling words other reviewers complain of - I learned three new words from Meghan and enjoyed looking them up. This book turned out to be a true pleasure, and not just a light read.

While not rollicking humor, this book will make you chuckle. I wondered at the lengths she went to fulfill her life fantasies about finding and living in a "perfect house." It certainly kept me reading.But it also can lead the reader to examine his or her own fantasies. What would make my life "perfect, " or what did I imagine would create a perfect life for me, only to find out it that really wasn't the issue in the first place. I figured that out before I began reading the book, partly because a dear friend and I had recently had a conversation regarding the fantasies we had each built about marriage and how different the realities can turn out to be.Good read. I recommend it.

I LOV ED THIS BOOK SHE IS SO FUNNY FOR THE PERSON WHO CALLED IT DARK HUMOE I DIDN'T KNOW THAT HUMOR HAS A COLOR. I FOUND IT DELIGHTFUL HILARIOUS BUT NOT DARK AT ALL A BIT SAD TOWARD THE END BUT MOSTLY FUNNY. ASO FOR ALL THE TASTELESS READERS WHO CAN'T EVER FIND ANYTHING TO SAY. ABOUT ANY GOOD HUMOROUS BOOKS THAT YOU READ HERES A TIP STOP READING BOOKS ALL TOGETHER, I WOULD LIKE TO SEE YOU TRY TO WRITE A BOOK. ITS HARD WORK, SO SHUT UP AND TRY TO BE NICE I LOVED THIS HILARIOUS WARM BOOK AND I REALLY AM GLAD I FINALLY READ IT. ITS TRULY FUNNY AND FUN TO READ.

I've just finally finished this book and now I can finally move on with my life. This book took me a month to finish and it was only pure determination that got me to this point.We recently bought our first home after renting and moving for many years so I thought this book would be quite fitting to read. However, it was instead the best cure for insomnia ever. No matter what time of day I picked it up to read, I was asleep in just a few pages because there was nothing to hold my attention. At one point, the author mentions her obsession with real estate and how that was all she could talk about, nothing else. Well, this book seems to have been written because people stopped listening and she still wanted to talk. There is no depth to this book at all and how people found humor in this, I don't know. Plus, even though I have a liberal arts degree, there were still a large number of words I had to look up. Luckily I was reading it on my Kindle otherwise I would've been even more frustrated.To the author, a gentle piece of advice: get some hobbies. Do something other than obsess over your home or others. The world is a big, fun place, go out and explore it!

This book is a testament to those of us whose every move represented the opportunity to live a life that would be perfect - or nearly. Meghan Daum has written a story that is funny, charming and much more than mere surface treatment of the interior walls. I loved hearing her being interviewed on NPR and realized a year later that if I ever wanted to explore this territory - it would need to begin with Amazon!

An amazing book about the obsession of house hunting. Very much relatable for me

A fascinating study of obsession, this gripping book cast HGTV in a whole new light for me.

I really enjoy reading this book.