So Close to Amazing: Stories of a DIY Life Gone Wrong... and Learning to Find the Beauty in Every Imperfection

In her debut, Wood, creator of the Thistlewood Farms lifestyle blog, inspires readers by reclaiming other people’s junk and transforming her finds into treasures, all while providing lots of inspiration. This lighthearted memoir begins with Woods’s life in Texas, where she worked as a preschool teacher. She envisioned great successes in many areas—choosing an outfit, applying a parenting technique—but the results fell short of her expectations, and sometimes she undermined herself by aiming for perfection. To help readers overcome similar self-destructive thinking, she explains her discovery that beauty is found in imperfection, which, she writes, is actually a true representation of grace. Woods also felt God’s impulse for her to seek change, or “the jump.” Although she realized life would never reach perfection, it was still necessary to strive to achieve her latent, deepest desires. For her, this meant transplanting the Greer family to more rural environs, a move that included her husband buying a pharmacy in Tennessee. Included are directions for a few of Wood’s favorite DIY projects, including useful home products such as mirrors, curtains, and calendars made from reclaimed materials. Agent: Ruth Samson, William K. Jensen Literary. (Sept.)