The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing in Book Riot's Read Harder Challenge

Feb 13, 2015 Crowinator rated it liked it

Shelves: genre-nonfiction, adult, ra-those-bookclub-people, 2015-reads

I didn't read this self-help book because I need help with tidying. (It's my wife that has this problem, and this book hasn't given me any strategies to force her to put her clothes in the laundry basket instead of on the floor in front of the laundry basket or to put her keys on the key hook by the front door instead of wherever she happens to set them down first.) I read it because it suddenly shot up the holds list at my library, causing my co-worker to purchase more copies and both of us to I didn't read this self-help book because I need help with tidying. (It's my wife that has this problem, and this book hasn't given me any strategies to force her to put her clothes in the laundry basket instead of on the floor in front of the laundry basket or to put her keys on the key hook by the front door instead of wherever she happens to set them down first.) I read it because it suddenly shot up the holds list at my library, causing my co-worker to purchase more copies and both of us to wonder what everybody was getting out of this serene-looking little book.

Maybe it is the almost hypnotic calm of the author that makes it so appealing. Certainly a lot of the advice she gives on keeping your spaces clutter-free and keeping only objects that bring you joy is both practical and uplifting, though I take issue with her coy claim that tidying your space will clear up your skin or help you lose weight or get you a date. (Well, maybe that last one if your space is filthy right now.) I can see how living in a space that makes you happy and not stressed out can improve how you feel and therefore, how you act, especially if you are one of those people stressed out by a spouse who accumulates, over a couple days, six pairs of shoes in the entryway directly in the path of anyone who has to enter or leave your home.

Yes, I could step over them, and yes, I could remember that after tripping over them every day.

There is a process you will have to go through to get the people you live with on board with the idea of a massive purge over several days, followed by always putting things in their place after use. Should you make them read this book? Should you just give them the highlights (i.e., marching orders)? Should you just tidy your own stuff and hope they are inspired by you? (This is the author's recommendation.) The idea that going through this process will make everyone magically tidy for life is hard to swallow, though I like the author's assurances that this will happen once they see and feel what their home could be like.

Really, this book could work wonders for those who live alone or who are the unchallenged dictators of their household. It could work for me and my wife, too, if we were ready to commit to a big change, and if we weren't having too much fun mocking the idea of anthropomorphizing our possessions by imaging their sadness at being passed over for that cuter thing, or angry at being left in a pile all over the floor, or happy to be given a place to belong when they're not "in service". (I will admit that when I was a child, I used to believe that the portable fans we used in summer would come alive and shred my face at night. This book makes me wonder: Why were they so murderous? Were they too dusty?)

I don't think the book is useless. One of my co-workers was just telling me about her son, who lives with a room-mate in a tiny apartment, and how he used this book to simplify his life and clear up his space and loved it. I like that the book made me look around at where I live and really think about all my stuff (and our stuff) and how I feel about it. It did inspire me to go through some areas of my home that have been stressing me out for a while. And it gave me some strategies to think about objects that I always have trouble with, like my clothes and book collection.

So, it was worth it to read and think about, even if I won't be adopting the method at this moment in life.

And oh yeah, by the way, I still don't own a portable fan.

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Aug 08, 2016 Mycala rated it really liked it

Shelves: inspiration

I think that cleaning and organizing systems are personal. While I like parts of this book, the very idea that I should pull every item of clothing out and dump it on the floor and go through each item all in one shot absolutely sucks the life right out of me. It's just not what works for me and frankly, I can't understand how she doesn't grasp that there are billions of people on the planet and they all have different systems and that's okay.

So why four stars? Because vertical folding changed m ...more

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Aug 29, 2015 Shrop rated it really liked it

A little repetitive, but I theoretically love the approach. Spark joy! I'm looking forward to trying it out. Wait until you see my new digs (and my calm, gloriously tidy self) in a few months, people. Ha! ...more

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Feb 11, 2015 molly rated it liked it

oh, is that kool-aid? gimme.

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Mar 15, 2015 Samantha rated it liked it

Shelves: read-harder-2015, poc-author-2015

This was at once just as strange and not nearly as strange as I thought it would be. To do all of the things she suggests would absolutely be a challenge, but that's not a bad thing! Her recommendations for why other popular styles of organization also make sense, but I'm not sure that I could part with them. Perhaps if I hired her to go through my house with me, I'd be able to do this. But the KonMari method takes such incredible will power upfront that it'd be a significant life change. And th ...more

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Aug 26, 2016 Kate rated it really liked it

Shelves: nonfiction, self-help, readwomen, bipoc_authors, audiobooks

Loved the narration on the audiobook, it was just as soothing as having a clean house, haha!

While I didn't agree with everything here, most of what she says makes a lot of sense, and I'm excited to apply her methods to my own house. ...more

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Nov 21, 2015 Emily rated it liked it

Shelves: ebook

I get it, and there was some really good ideas/premises but she's a touch- i really don't want to say nutty I am working on being more gracious and calling someone crazy is certainly not graceful and also her and her mixed bag of nuts are laughing all the way to the bank... but that aside, I certainly want to start "greeting my home" and doing a better job of only keeping things that spark joy but I will not worry about my socks resting peacefully in their drawer... ...more

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