
Even if you don’t get HGTV on your cable television package, you may have heard of the people behind this week’s Port Pick. The Magnolia Story by Chip and Joanna Gaines is a sort of biography so far of life with the stars of the home renovation reality TV couple based out of Waco, TX. The couple are popular for their light and breezy style and humorous interaction as a duo, along with their four young children.
The book is arranged in a loose chronological order, with different typeface indicating who is telling the story at the time, with Joanna doing most of the narrating. There is a color photograph section in the middle of the book that fleshes out some of the narrating more completely.
Chip met Joanna at an tire store while the two were both attending Baylor University. After college Chip, a self-described “serial entrepreneur” started buying and renovating houses with Joanna’s design help. The two decided to buy an additional farmhouse to renovate for themselves and their growing family in 2012. Cash was tight and then Chip did something impulsive: he bought a houseboat, sight unseen, for temporary housing for his family. At the same time Joanna’s home designs had been recently featured on a national design blog and had caught the eye of TV producers. The same day Chip revealed his surprise houseboat to Joanna was the last day of test filming for the television series. The very real and unwelcome surprise to Joanna was all caught on tape, which interested television executives.
The couple is obviously still married after tackling that project and the fourth season of their show called “Fixer Upper” is currently airing on HGTV. Outside of the TV series the duo owns a design studio and tourist destination called Magnolia Market at the Silos in Waco, TX.
You can get the book reviewed here, which was The Magnolia Story by Chip and Joanna Gaines with Mark Dagostino, and more great titles to watch, read, listen to, or play with at the Port Library. This is director Rachel Malay, saying “Thanks for checking us out!”