COTTAGE FOR SALE, MUST BE MOVED: A Woman Moves a House to Make a Home

Whouley, a single, 40-something business planning consultant to booksellers and a self-described frugal New Englander, takes on the challenge of moving a vacation cottage a distance of 20 miles so she can attach it to her tiny three-room house at the edge of a bog on Cape Cod to create more personal and professional space. But given the amount of detail she presents on everything from obtaining a permit to selecting decking materials to waiting for the plumber to arrive, it appears she may have been thinking of getting a book out of the experience, too. Her meticulous account chronicles the joys and frustrations of the yearlong project that began in December 1999, when Whouley saw a classified ad in the local paper announcing, "Cottages for Sale. $3,000 each. Must be moved." By book's end, a year later, she hosts a Christmas dinner "in the newly arranged living-dining room, at the big round table that is now by the windows... with the view of the birds at the feeder"—a huge improvement over having to consume meals "hunched over the kitchen counter" in her old digs. Do-it-yourselfers will enjoy the exhaustive information regarding budget home construction, including how the lumber at the independent Mid-Cape Home Center stacks up against Home Depot's (Whouley likes "old friend" Mid-Cape better, but grudgingly admires Home Depot's service). Other readers might skim the construction details and focus on Whouley's descriptions of the workers, friends and neighbors who help create her new home. Photos not seen by PW . Agent, Julia Lord. (May 12)

Forecast: Whouley's name may be familiar to booksellers; she wrote Manual on Bookselling and Bookselling for Dummies. The book will be number two on Book Sense's May list, and has been selected as a featured alternate by the Book-of-the-Month Club and by their Homestyle Club.