Wild n Free

The book I just finished is Possum Living: How to Live Well Without a Job and With (Almost) No Money. After offering me all the books in my dad's new survivalist book collection that is representative of his midlife crisis, I chose this one because of the impressive back cover note that it was written by an 18-year-old girl. I thought, "Well I don't have a job and I'm running out of money fast, this will make more sense to me than survival books written by middle aged men".
This book is not "How to Live in Poverty", it's more "How to be a Modern Day Hunter Gatherer in a Relatively Urban Setting Completely Separate from the Economy"
All my hopes were fulfilled, Dolly is frugal and inventive, and I was able to pick up some tips that will hone my saving skills. She's lazy, self sufficient, and enjoys the small things in life, just like myself. There were some parts where she came off as slightly intimidating and aggressive, bashing relatively tolerable things, but it was easy to get over and just accept her as she was: a spunky, cocky, kid. She even apologizes for some of the things she said in the new edition's epilogue.
I love how often she cites Diogenes as her and her father's hero as a reject of materialism. I personally adore St. Francis of Assisi in this respect, and being a non-religious person, it was cool to hear about a more secular St. Francis-like historical figure.
Fortunately, this was the most inspiring read I've had in a couple months (I know, I've only read 3 books this year..). I really want to be entirely self sufficient at some point in my life, and I guess I just have to take baby steps to reach my goal. So instead of going out and buying rabbits to breed and eventually eat (a yearning that surprised my boyfriend, who perceives me as a militant vegetarian), I spent all day researching various methods of gardening in a small space such as an apartment. After some scavenging through my neighbors yards and recycling bins, my new obsession is my frugal windowsill herb garden, which only cost $5 altogether (potting soil and seeds..Dolly probably wouldn't have approved...but, eh.). Wish me good luck though, I get hardly any sunlight.