The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing in Ultimate Popsugar Reading Challenge

Oct 14, 2015 CrystalIsReading on StoryGraph rated it really liked it

Shelves: non-fiction, audio, library-audio, asian

When I first saw this book at the library, I knew I wanted it. But first I read some reviews, because that's how I do it. Reviews for this book are all over the place, loathing and/or scathing to ecstatic raving or solid recommendations. When reviews are so scattered, my curiousity is usually piqued, so now I had to read it.
I am really glad I picked this up. I often get distracted when attempting to listen to (non-biographical) nonfiction in the car, but this book held my attention the whole ti When I first saw this book at the library, I knew I wanted it. But first I read some reviews, because that's how I do it. Reviews for this book are all over the place, loathing and/or scathing to ecstatic raving or solid recommendations. When reviews are so scattered, my curiousity is usually piqued, so now I had to read it.
I am really glad I picked this up. I often get distracted when attempting to listen to (non-biographical) nonfiction in the car, but this book held my attention the whole time. I did stop the recording frequently during my drive to ponder steps and techniques the author was recommending/ explaning/ discussing and/or to ponder how best to enact such a step. But overall I was charmed by the eccentric organizing lady. I was not, as many American readers seem to be, put off by her strongly Japanese and Shinto world views. I didn't stress about her speaking to homes and pieces of clothing, mementos, etc. While I won't run out and acquire talismans to hang at a shrine--it's against my own particular religious beliefs, anyway--I don't find her tips any less practical because of her practices and beliefs. Does the author seem a tad bit eccentric? yes. She's lived a long and seemingly lonely life, focused mainly on tidying and organization. But that lifestyle seems to bring her joy, and who am I to criticize her for it? Especially since she seems able to help so many other people find peace by teaching them her methods.
In fact, I found Marie Kondo's method of tidying up, as described in her book, to truly be life-changing. I know that if I can follow through properly on her instructions, internalize the lesson on only retaining items that truly make me happy/ serve a purpose, and assign a specific place for all the remaining items to be in at all times, then I too can become neat and tidy. Not perfectly clean. I'll never manage that. But not surrounded by the clutter that threatens to choke so many of us. I've had success in one bathroom in our house so far--the organization has remained for several months now. I'd love to apply this to every area of my life, successfully, and become one less of those cluttered Americans owned by their possessions instead of the other way around.
The only caveat I had with this book was the author's constant refrain of throwing things in the garbage. Just because you don't want a box of books or a bag of clothing does not mean that they need to go into a landfill. Some items can be recycled. Most can be donated, to libraries or thrift stores or charities. No need to make your peace by cluttering the earth with more garbage that won't decompose for hundreds of years. So, if you would like, read this book, and learn from the Kon-Mari method. Just find a different way to dispose of items without being so wasteful (and without dumping it on your mom or younger sibling. If you've read this book, you know what I mean.)
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Feb 23, 2019 Jasmine rated it liked it

OK, so really I just skimmed this book. It really takes her a lot of words to get down to the facts... Get rid of all the things you don't really like. I appreciate her order of getting rid of things and some of her methods, but I'm not going to stay thanking my inanimate objects or texting them goodbye. But perhaps some people need that kind of closure... ...more

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Jan 06, 2015 Shasta rated it liked it

Shelves: non-fiction

PRO: The philosophy of only keeping things that bring you joy, and the detailed advice for how to go through each category of possessions (and in what order), helped me to further pare down my belongings and gave me a real sense of freedom and release as each bag of unnecessary items went out the door.
CON: I found many of her anecdotes to be unrelatable and/or unbelievable, and some of her organizational ideas are just plain wacky, or simply impractical for me. As many have said before, this boo ...more

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Jul 25, 2016 Leanne rated it liked it

Shelves: audiobooks, 2016

There are definitely some useful tips in here that helped me think about the way my house is organized. She has good insight for the reasons we hold onto things that are no longer useful to us so I think I'll modify my approach to decluttering.

On the other hand, it's very repetitive and some of her techniques don't seem to be relevant to my life. I'm not a skimmer, but the last 20 pages or so of this book were definitely skimmed over/flipped through. ...more

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Dec 30, 2015 Cassandra Moore rated it really liked it

I learned a lot from this book and have put much of it into practice. I will say I had to basically skip the whole thing on books though! When you have around 1500 books, the idea of narrowing it down to 20 is crazy talk and ripping pages out is just sacrilegious.

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