Book Review - Unstuff (Hayley & Michael DiMarco)

~ Posted on Tuesday, January 25, 2011 at 8:50 AM ~

I'm so glad I had the opportunity to review this wonderful book called: "UNSTUFF". It took me some time to read it came at some busy  time of my life - rushing to bake Christmas cookies, New Year and so on... So without further ado,

Author: Hayley & Michael DiMarco
Publisher:  Tyndale House Publishers
ISBN: 9781414334783
Paperback: 224 pages
Dimension: 8.25 X 5.50 (inches)

Product description from the publisher's website:

"God . . . and stuff. Everything in the universe falls into one of these two categories. Which is more important to you? (It’s not a trick question.) In Unstuff: Making Room in Your Life for What Really Matters, popular authors Hayley and Michael DiMarco take a close look at what’s in your wallet, your heart, your house, and your mind to reveal the pleasures and perils of stuff—and the joy, peace, and freedom that comes from learning to live with less.

In this real-life look at “how it’s done,” the DiMarcos take an uncomfortably close look at the cost of their love affair with stuff. They start by Unstuffing their house—getting rid of anything they don’t need by giving away, selling, or throwing out items that only add to their love for more. Then, kicking it up a notch, this family of three travels across the country with nothing more than they can fit in a motor home . . . and discovers that the really important stuff goes with them."

I love this book! At first I was a bit skeptical at the title, I mean, "Unstuff"? What do you mean unstuff? What is there to unstuff? But oh boy, am I glad I requested this book! As I read further, I realised the message the authors are trying to point out. Now back to the book, it is categorised into 6 sections (Wallet Stuff, Mind Stuff, Body Stuff, Love Stuff, Worship Stuff and Future Stuff)

In the 1st section, (Wallet Stuff), I love the statement of "When we take on debt, we're saying we want more than what God has allotted for us and we go against his command to "owe nothing to anyone" (Romans 13:8)". Which is why I do my very best to clear off any debts I might have, purchase made using credit cards (to collect and redeem points) will be immediately settled the moment the transaction was reflected in my bank account.

I'm also deeply inspired by the statement "no woman does her faith or her man a service by wanting more stuff. And no man does his God or his wife a service by believing that more stuff is what God wants him to provide". I also like the parable of the Delivery Driver and find it inspiring as well!

What I don't like about this book?

I don't like that some of the important points they are trying to emphasise are not standardised. You can see the points bolded, italized, capitalised or size enlarged and it is kind of a clutter and hard to read. I do have a bit difficulty in trying to understand whether the points are important or worth noting down.

What I think would be better is to just use the same font size and type and just put a different color, red perhaps to emphasise that the statement is worth pondering on or something. Or if colored fonts is not a good idea, then just plain putting the sentence in bold would do, but not mixing it up with other styles! Other than that, this book is just perfect! And I like how the authors included snippets of their diary of their life on the road and some inspiring statements here and there which we can use and share on Twitter as well.

If you think you need to unstuff your life, do consider getting a copy of this book. You will not regret it!

You can purchase this book from Tyndale House Publishers, ChristianBooks.com and many more.

I received no monetary compensation for this review, I was provided with a copy of the book  in order to facilitate my review. All opinions expressed in this post are my own. Please do your own research when purchasing products, as your opinions may differ from mine.

And if you'd like to read my previous book reviews, you can do so by reading this post of mine called "My Book Reviews"