A Year Of Living Simply by Kate Humble

Book Review Jan 20, 2025

My review

3/5 stars

Kate explores the concepts that are being utilised all over the world to help people reclaim the simplicity of human life in a world that is biased towards noise, clutter and overwhelm.

This felt like a very warm and cosy read. The main reason for this is the author's clear passion for her subject matter - it REALLY matters to her to find a way to bring life back to it's simplest form and enjoy the little pleasures. She shares that passion very clearly with her words, and envelops the reader in her view of the world quite lovingly.

I really liked her descriptions of her home life in Wales. She is walking the walk of her simple life, with a slow pace, lots of time in nature, working her own land and enjoying the little moments. For the most part, it made me envious of the freedom she apparently has over her own time, and the satisfaction she finds in how she spends her time. I will say, however, and this may just be a personal thing for me, that at times her tone felt ever so slightly judgy. Almost like there was a disbelief and an incredulity that anything other than this type of life can bring happiness and satisfaction.

I also wasn't expecting the book to be a series of case studies. Both the blurb and the book's title gave me the impression that the author would be exploring life on a personal level and giving her own insights into how she has made her life simpler. While I got some of that, a vast portion of the book was her travelling around the globe to visit projects that have helped people go off-grid or some such other gran idea that feels unattainable. For me, this made the book less relatable (because not many people could afford the time or the money to go researching these situations in the way she has) and left me feeling a little disappointed that it was not more focused on the every day human experience that most of her target audience will have.

For me, the general sentiment of this book was admirable, but the execution left me feeling a little disappointed.

Book blurb

If there is one thing that most of us aspire to, it is, simply, to be happy. And yet attaining happiness has become, it appears, anything but simple. Having stuff - The Latest, The Newest, The Best Yet - is all too often peddled as the sure fire route to happiness. So why then, in our consumer-driven society, is depression, stress and anxiety ever more common, affecting every strata of society and every age, even, worryingly, the very young? Why is it, when we have so much, that many of us still feel we are missing something and the rush of pleasure when we buy something new turns so quickly into a feeling of emptiness, or purposelessness, or guilt?

So what is the route to real, deep, long lasting happiness? Could it be that our lives have just become overly crowded, that we've lost sight of the things - the simple things - that give a sense of achievement, a feeling of joy or excitement? That make us happy. Do we need to take a step back, reprioritise? Do we need to make our lives more simple?

Kate Humble's fresh and frank exploration of a stripped-back approach to life is uplifting, engaging and inspiring - and will help us all find balance and happiness every day.