Blog Money Book Saving Spending Deprivation Recent Living

In the world of book publishing, "trends" (what is popular) come and go. In recent years, one trend has been to publish books about "deprivation," living without basic needs or at least living with far less than a person had before.

Could you live on $1 a day for food? Two California high school teachers decided to try spending just $1 a day, and they wrote a blog about their experience. The blog "took off," or became very popular, and they wrote a book based on their experience called On a Dollar a Day.

Another recent book called No Impact Man "grew out of" (resulted from) another blog by a New York man who spent one year trying to live without any "negative impact" or effect on the environment. Another blog is "devoted to" (with most of its time and energy spent on) not riding in an automobile. Yet another blog is written by a a Seattle woman who describes herself as a "fashionista" (a close follower of fashion) and is about not buying any new clothes, other than underwear, for one year.

What is the motivation behind these deprivation experiments? Some of them are being done to "raise awareness" (make more people aware of) important issues, such as saving the environment. Others are trying to save money in a bad economy. Still others are trying to make a change in their lives for the good. And, of course, some are gathering material for a book.