Yurts: Living in the Round,   ISBN:9781586858919

Customer Rating: 

I was not too impressed with this book. No real substance about contructing your own yurt. Very much aimed at the commercially bought yurt and not the home builder. Nice stories from yurt dwellers but of no real use apart from general interest. Pretty pictures but again, no real substance.
I would like to have seen some more info on construction of yurts.

Customer Rating: 

Honestly, I researched small sustainable home building options for three years and was not sold on a yurt until I realized the fabric kits are the least expensive and fastest way to build a home. That was 2008 August. Architectural plans, finances, property construction, etc. caused me to store the yurt until I moved in 2009 April. My new home was erected in three days. This is 2010 February (almost a year of yurt dwelling) and I just recently completed this fabulous book.

Read rave reviews on Amazon from people who may have never stepped into a yurt. They express how wonderfully written this book is. I'm here to tell you it is also excellent from a yurt dweller's perspective.

Of course it would be wise to read this book before constructing a yurt, but my point is that this is priceless information either way. Author Becky's thoroughness with excellent photographs is amazing. Hard to believe anyone knows more about yurt living than she does and I can't think of a detail she's omitted. In fact, I am surprised building codes are addressed because it is such a complex issue, but the fearless author does. Yurt living does attract off-grid and nomad types, who aren't so unique these days.

As author Becky emphasizes, round living creates a magical connection to nature. Some may interpret her comments and inserted poems in the book as religious, but it is spiritual, and there is a difference. Due to the unique round living positive energy, I can't imagine returning to a rectangular or conventional home for the rest of my years on Earth.

Customer Rating: 

The book weaved through the history and modern applications of yurts, or round tent-like homes. Yurts have been used in many parts of Asia for millennia and the author even gave yurts credit for much of Genghis Kahn's conquests. Now, in America, they are popping up as anything between a portable dwelling, as they were in Asia, made of modern materials, to an inspiration for modern architecture.

This book got me thinking about a lot of things. As someone interested in portable housing, yurts have an appeal to me. Modern fabric yurts can be built in a day, and taken down to be moved in a day. They can have all of the amenities of a modern home and can be heated more efficiently than a house with corners.

One thing I was most interested in was how round living impacted one's social life. The book told about how, for many people, being in a round space allows a group to have a closeness, opening up to one another. The book took it in a spiritual direction about being in touch with the earth that didn't suit me, but everything that it said about group gatherings in yurts seemed most applicable to my life and seemed like a setting that would be desirable to our family.

The book was well written and sucked me in an unexpected way. Most books about architectural structures don't have you dreaming about warriors one minute and sleeping under the stars the next. The pictures were phenomenal as well.

I would recommend this book for people that are interested in energy-efficient housing, small homes (although yurt-homes can be made to be quite large), portable housing and affordable housing. This book has a lot of info and resources to look into. Even though I'm not sure we'll go the yurt route, there was a lot of info that has inspired some new ideas in me.

Customer Rating: 

Great book. Exactly what I was hoping it would be and received it quicker than expected!

Customer Rating: 

I found this book so interesting that I read it straight through. It satisfied all of my yurt curiosity. Definately would recommend it to those with a fascination of the yurt.