The Weekend Homestead by Anna Hess is a compendium of a variety of homesteading tips, tricks, and tasks. It is arranged, in a relatively unique fashion, by month of the year. Though obviously some tasks can be done at times other than where they’re listed, and it isn’t applicable for all climates.

Ms. Hess is a blogger and I congratulate her on a book deal but ultimately I feel as though the book feels like a blog given physical form. She touches on a wide variety of topics, and if you were a complete neophyte to self sufficiency or homesteading I might recommend it, but the book tends to be a jack of all trades and a master of none. On most topics it goes into little depth. I found it about as fulfilling as an article at eHow. Chances are, if you pick up the book, you already know the shallow information about all these topics and what you really need is depth, but depth is not provided.

Sometimes she goes off on tangents about budgeting or finances, and while the advice might work for her, it isn’t as universal as she may have made it seem. She blurs the line between fact and opinion on those topics somewhat, and comes off as less of an expert. When she sticks to her knitting, homesteading, she does better.

All told, the book feels like a bunch of blog posts printed out and stapled together. Rather than buy a book one could just read a blog or participate in a forum community. Beginners looking for a simple read to familiarize themselves with a wide variety of topics quicky would do well to get the book, most others I think can pass.