Gimme Shelter by Mary Elizabeth Williams (2009)

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Subtitled: Ugly Houses, Cruddy Neighborhoods, Fast-talking Brokers, and Toxic Mortgages: My Three Years Searching for the American Dream, this is a personal story of the author's search for a home in New York City. Williams has an engaging, endearing, self-deprecating tone that makes the whole book a pleasure to read. Plus, she has a wide circle of friends with different experiences in the housing market all across the country, so it helps broaden the focus. She pops in facts here and there, but they're well woven into the narrative and she has lovely turns of phrase. Just a great book that goes through all of the many dramas and joys involved in becoming a homeowner.