Using HOUSE LUST for Book Groups

The vast majority of book groups limit their picks to paperback fiction. HOUSE LUST–a nonfiction title in hardcover –wouldn’t seem to qualify. But several early readers have insisted the topics in HOUSE LUST lend themselves to spirited discussion far better than most novels–and once you factor in the discounts available at many booksellers, this title is only slightly more expensive than an average trade paperback. So if you belong to a book group in a region where home values soared in the early 2000s, or if your group has members who’ve lived through large-scale renovations, have traded up to new or larger homes, who watch HGTV shows like “House Hunters” or dream about owning a vacation home, HOUSE LUST may be an ideal book for your group to consider.

Below are some questions to aid your discussion. If your group would like to discuss HOUSE LUST directly with the author, Dan is willing to call in to book groups, subject to scheduling. If you’d like to be put in touch with books groups that have already used HOUSE LUST to hear how it worked for them, please email Dan to be put in touch with them. To reach Dan, see the CONTACTS page on this website.

Thanks for considering HOUSE LUST for your book group.

Discussion Questions

Chapter One: How does the size of the house you grew up in compare to the size of the house you live in now? Why do you think the size requirements have changed over the years? If you live in a larger home now, is there anything about the smaller home that you miss?

Chapter Two: If you live in a “pre-owned” home, do you ever think about how the previous owners’ lives unfolded between these walls? Whether you live in an old or new house, what do you like least about it-and do you think that in the same way the thin models in fashion magazines are thought to drive women to anorexia, the images in shelter magazines and on HGTV tend to make us feel badly about our homes? Is our generation too focused on “trading up”?

Chapter Three: When you see friends doing a large-scale renovation, do you think they’re doing it mostly to impress other people, for their own comfort, or as an investment? Given the stress and budget over-runs that typify renovations, isn’t it usually smarter just to move? Do you think the main couple in Chapter Three, Paula and Mark Ito, made smart decisions on their remodel?

Chapter Four: Why do we get such a thrill out of seeing the insides of other people’s homes, whether we’re visiting Open Houses just to be nosy or watching shows like MTV Cribs or House Hunters? Is it unethical to look up what a friend paid for their house, or what their mortgage balance is? If you had a chance to pitch a new show idea to HGTV, what would it be?

Chapter Five: During the boom, were you ever tempted to buy real estate (other than your home) as an investment? Why do you think some people find property investing more alluring than stocks? Do you think you have the appetite for risk to “flip” a house-or the emotional attributes it takes to be a hard-nosed landlord?

Chapter Six: Do you agree that as a profession, real estate agents have a bit of a PR problem, or does HOUSE LUST treat this profession unfairly? Do you think the housing bust is a good thing for realtors, since the harder it is to sell a house, the more valuable their skills? Does anyone in your group sell real estate for a living-and if they don’t, will anyone admit to having seriously considered this career shift?

Chapter Seven: Do you consider a vacation home to be a better investment than HOUSE LUST makes it out to be-and if it’s not, why do so many people desire one? Are vacation homes mostly about status nowadays? Given the choice, would you prefer to live as a “splitter” who migrates between different homes?