Make do and mend – Book Review

Review by Michael Smith (Veshengro)

Make do and mend
Updated for the modern home
By the John Lewis Partnership
Published by the John Lewis Foundation
36 pages paperback
Available from John Lewis stores and the website
Price although marked as £4.99 for the printed book is actually £3 in stores and online

I finally managed to lay my hands on a copy of this updated booklet of the old WWII classic, as a PDF file via the PR Agency responsible for this.

The PDF is also the greenest way to obtain the book, though I must say and confess that I printed it out (on the back of pages that were once press releases) and then bound it into an A5-size book by means of a thermal binder. This gives me a physical book to refer to – for the purpose of this review and also in general.

This small but extremely useful book is divided into six chapters: Home truths; Energy efficient know-how; Fashion fixes; Laundry day; Rescue, repair and reinvent; and, Pins and needles; and it is packed full of great information on those subjects. So of the information is old, such as some of the natural cleaning methods that probably were already in the wartime tome; other information is new for today's modern world and its gadgets.

The booklet is now on sale in John Lewis stores and via the website (as physical books) and the price, as said, above, despite the copy that I have got has a cover price of £4.99, is £3 for the book and all profits from the sale of the booklet go to the John Lewis Foundation.

There had been talk about an E-book version of this book downloadable from the website but so far all I see there is the ability to buy the printed book.

An E-book version would, however, be good for those that wish to be green and do not wish to have books in the dead tree format.

But, aside from that, well-done John Lewis.

© 2009
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