While I'll agree that some of the book is nothing more than a catalog I will say it is more than that. They give a walk through, starting with how to cut down a tree. Why? How many people do you know that have EVER cut down a tree? The idea is to expand the minds (and the market) of tiny houses and I appreciate that Jay Shafer didn't leave anything to chance.
What I didn't like was that the instructions, on the last page of the book, were for two great offers. One was the ability to purchase a set of six bungalow plans for only $49.95 (a roughly $500 savings) and the other was a code (found in a well sealed flap of the last page) to be used to download the Zinn bungalow plans for free. However, when this reviewer went online to take advantage of both of these, neither link was available on the Tumbleweed site. I emailed the company but didn't get an answer so I messaged them through Facebook and got a prompt response that I want all of you to know.
They did email me the plans for the Zinn bungalow (nowhere near as convenient as the book alludes to). The offer for the six bungalow plans for only $49.95? I'll quote them here, "That offer is no longer available." Where I live that is called false advertising, but I understand laws vary from state to state.
At any rate, if you get joy from looking at tiny houses - get the book. I'm keeping mine, despite the misrepresentation.