Summer Reading List – Bricking It

I bought and read (or rather listened to) this book because it was a daily deal from Audible. I used to be a member of Audible because I adore audiobooks and I have earbuds in my ears roughly 40 hours a week. I am not a member anymore because I am pinching pennies but I still get their daily deals in my email inbox. Everyday they offer a new audiobook for a super low price…usually $2.95 to $4.95.

Bricking It Book Review

I look at the daily deals, read the reviews, and 9 times out of 10 I pass. Bricking It though just sounded like a winner based upon the reviews and oh it was.  It was pure joy from start to finish.

The story is basically about a brother and sister who inherit a very old, very neglected victorian farmhouse from their grandmother. When they find out what it can bring on the market if they renovate it, they decide to do just that. The sister is still shell shocked after a bad divorce to a verbally abusive man. The brother is really just a slacker with no real motivation in life. But they come together to do this crazy renovation and this brings into their lives an equally crazy cast of characters as they try to find the cheapest contractors they can.

To add a fun twist, the architect they hire is personal friends with a television celebrity who does reality TV renovations. So imagine that you buy a house, hire the help, and then one day you show up to see The Property Brothers at your new home. It would be my dream!

A slew of rich characters enter their lives while fixing the home (including a cow). They manage to identify a pot growing operation in their back garden. And they find clue after clue inside the house that ultimately leads them to a shocking revelation about their grandmother. The home’s history, the scandal surrounding it, and the fact that they had no idea who their grandmother was in her younger days, make for a delightful read. Once all is revealed, the siblings cannot help but think their grandmother knew they were directionless and flailing in their lives. She perhaps knew that her “secret” might help them discover that everyone can reinvent themselves when they find themselves hitting rock bottom and overcome any obstacle.

What I loved most about this book is that I was laughing and crying while listening to it. I am sure I looked like a loon but I could not help it. The adventures with Pat the Cow, the discovery of vintage sex toys on live TV, the no working bathroom situation, had me rolling. The end had me furiously wiping tears away…in a good way though because the book is not sad, just beautiful and inspiring.

I highly recommend it and if you like audiobooks definitely go with the audio version. The narrator for the brother has one of those phone book voices…as in I would happily listen to this guy read the phone book. Just click the link above and then click again on the “sample” icon below the image of the audiobook to hear a sound byte of that deliciousness. Hello!

Enjoy!