I grew up on a small farm near the Oregon Coast, so when I learned that local author Era Lewis was also a farm kid, and is a Nubian Goat farmer to this day, I was ecstatic to read her book A Woman’s Guide: Cultivating Everyday Personal Magnificence. I looked forward to learning what she had to say after her many years of farming alone in the Willamette Valley.
What I liked
The things I liked most about this book were the farm stories that are scattered throughout the tactical advice that encompasses most of the text. Lewis is a dynamic storyteller, and when she lets herself tell a story, her writing is dynamic and interesting. I enjoyed how she could make a story come alive, and I could see the moment unfolding in front of me.
I also think it was a bold choice to design the book as a textbook. It’s a choice that not many authors would make and while it does limit the audience to those that would appreciate this type of format, I believe it works in the way the author intended it to.
What Was Missing
In my opinion, there were several things missing from this text, the inclusion of which would have had a tremendous impact on the readability and style of the content. The choice to write the book as a textbook, while made confidently, also alienates several groups of audiences and tends to disrupt the flow of reading. By stating an objective at the beginning of each chapter, the reader is forced to decide if they’ve fulfilled the objective or not, and if not, decide whether they should continue to read.
The second thing that I believe would have improved the readability of this book considerably would have been the use of an editor, or barring that, a proofreader would have sufficed. While the concepts and points of the book are solid and well formed, the sheer number of grammatical and spelling errors prevent the reader from fully absorbing the meaning of the text.
Finally, the multiple diagrams and hand drawn graphics, while possibly endearing, are not helpful to the flow of the text. Often, I was drawn to the fact that the book would have been much better without the inclusion of such graphics, as they distract from the sound content within the pages.
Recommendation
I would recommend this book to anyone who is incredibly science minded and who enjoys the design of textbooks. It’s an interesting book, with content that is supported more or less by solid research as well as the personal experience of the author.
As far as a personal development book goes, I found it wanting, especially with the distracting errors throughout the text.
About the Author
Era Lewis lives on a farm previously owned by her parents outside Lebanon, Oregon. She holds a BA in Chemistry from UC San Diego, as well as 20 years experience working in the environmental industry.
A Women’s Guide was published independently in July of 2021. It is available at Grassroots Books.
By Kyra Young
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