The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying up : : the Japanese art of Decluttering and Organizing

Locations
Call Number: 648 Ko, Adult Book / Nonfiction / Home & Garden / Decorating & Organizing / Kondo, Marie
On Shelf At: Downtown Library, Malletts Creek Branch, Pittsfield Branch

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Translation of: Jinsei ga tokimeku katazuke no mahō.
This translation first published: Great Britain : Ebury, 2014.
Includes index.
This best-selling guide to decluttering your home from Japanese cleaning consultant Marie Kondo takes readers step-by-step through her revolutionary KonMari Method for simplifying, organizing, and storing.

REVIEWS & SUMMARIES

Library Journal Review
Summary / Annotation
Table of Contents
Excerpt
Author Notes

COMMUNITY REVIEWS

hated it submitted by lawrencekl57 on June 18, 2015, 10:02pm I guess that there's some logic to doing everything at once, but it seems like a crazy idea to me.

Interesting Read submitted by candyceh811 on June 27, 2015, 8:24pm The methods described in this book may not work for everyone, but it was a very interesting and enjoyable read. Marie Kondo describes a tidying process that focuses on keeping only those items which "spark joy". She encourages readers to change their mind set and create appreciative relationships with their belongings.

Rather Read than Tidy? submitted by Judeyblu on July 18, 2015, 2:07pm Her words and ideas are simple and clear.
I could not live in as spare a manner as she does, but there is a lot of good things in this book.
Releasing things from your life once they have served their purpose makes sense.

Interesting Concept submitted by purchasingqueen on August 8, 2015, 9:10pm Instead of cleaning one room at a time, Marie instructs you to "gather all like items"from every room into one spot. This will eliminate multiples of the same item. I'm trying this to see if it works for me.

clean submitted by hcf on August 12, 2015, 11:41am Honestly after reading this, I can't say much of it was helpful.

Enticing submitted by lisa on August 24, 2015, 8:11am I'm digging it. Her writing is absorbing and persuasive, and her ideas sure seem to make sense--- she explains the rationale for each unusual part of her method, and says she has great success with people with which to back it up. We'll see how I do with her techniques!

crazy submitted by carl flink on October 15, 2015, 10:16am I read the whole book. I think the ideas are totally crazy. Maybe they are fine in Japan. Good luck.

Long wait! submitted by elliot4321 on October 26, 2015, 5:51am I've been waiting for 2 months and there's 250+ people ahead of me!

Yes, it is. submitted by wintersa on July 2, 2016, 10:48am Life changing. Already a super tidy minimalist, this book inspired me to get rid of tons of stuff and look at the things I own in a whole new way. If your stuff doesn't make you happy, why keep it?

A bit harsh submitted by willow on July 25, 2016, 9:42am There is something rather harsh about the tone of this book that is softened in her sequel (why does she even need a sequel?). The emphasis on this is getting rid of things, and there is a stronger element of Japanese culture as relates to bidding farewell to unwanted/unneeded items and the superiority of the Japanese closet and rectangular-shaped traditional Japanese clothes. She has a hostility towards keeping any paperwork that is incompatible with most Americans' lives, and also thinks owning maybe one shelf of books is the best way. Still, there are things to be learned from her, but I think "Spark Joy" is a gentler read.

on sparking joy ... submitted by betsywil on August 3, 2016, 11:28am Do not miss the considerable entertainment value of this book, starting with the testimonials in the introduction.

Great! But... submitted by zoe.dvh on June 25, 2017, 3:29pm I know this book has been WILDLY popular recently, and it's for good reasons! I found it really inspiring but at the same time found cleaning all my stuff at once really indimidating. I loved the idea, but not so much actually doing it. I never really found myself using this method but I can understand the logic. I would still highly recommend you to read this book, though, as many people react to books differently. Give this one a go yourself and see how it works for you! Again, you might have a completely different reaction. Go for it!

Can't Wait to Try It submitted by carriebank on June 27, 2017, 2:26pm I just finished the book and can't wait to start with my clothing. Of course, with 3 kids at home, who knows when I'll find the time, but here's hoping!

Timing is key submitted by cannonsr on July 19, 2017, 11:39pm Read a month before moving. It's a time when I'm actually looking at everything, so the Mari Kondo pep talk was appreciated.

Disappointing! submitted by ann_arbor on July 8, 2018, 8:23pm An acquaintance highly recommended this. However, I was disappointed. The author doesn't get to her point quick. Reading about storing socks and sorting seasonal Japanese clothing, seemed unnecessary or irrelevant. As well, it was off putting imagining her clients, in Japan, throwing out "treasured" belongings, especially living in such a small, and recycling conscious country.

Changed how I think about "things" submitted by shannonwait on August 3, 2018, 7:54pm This actually helped me part with stuff I didn't want without feeling anxious. It really will make you think about possessions in a new way.

Wonderful ideas submitted by jessNU on August 6, 2018, 11:16am This book has some great suggestions - I love the idea of only keeping things that "spark joy" and letting go of things that don't

Some good ideas submitted by JSabatini on August 10, 2018, 3:46pm There are some really good ideas in this book. My favourite it going through by category not rooms. As a minimalist I like some of her suggestions to put stuff out of sight but as a mom some of it seems impractical. Read it and use what works for you.

SOME good ideas submitted by rachelmcglash on August 15, 2018, 3:03pm The author clearly does not have children. Also, the part where she really lost me was when she suggested keeping your dish sponge outside. Clearly this was not translated for Michigan winters.

Mostly Enjoyable submitted by globesky on September 1, 2018, 4:03am I was interested in how to break down big organizing tasks into more manageable ones and Marie Kondo succeeds in describing how to go about that..

Like another reviewer mentioned, I found the bit about books and paper documents just not well thought out. Like, she makes the argument that if you have any educational papers from a workshop, it's better to get rid of it. If you find yourself needing to refer to it - you probably didn't pay attention during the workshop and the solution is to retake the workshop until you absorb the information. I couldn't help but roll my eyes during that part.

Novel ideas, writing could use some improvement submitted by shoelaces on July 18, 2019, 9:29pm I found that the actual ideas presented in this book were really novel and interesting, and I think it's fascinating that Kondo has acknowledged how important it can be to genuinely care and want all of the belongings you have (and, similarly, discard belongings that you don't care for as much). That said, I found the writing style of this book to be a bit tedious and quite circular, it's like a bit of her autobiography as well as tidying techniques. I would recommend just reading "Spark Joy" for a more concise version of tips and advice, that book also contains diagrams and cute illustrations for those who had trouble following along with this book (especially in the chapters about how to fold clothing)

Amazing! submitted by gracekil on August 21, 2019, 12:18pm Other than being helpful and informative, I found the book to be funny and entertaining as well. Mari Kondo is such a cute and funny personality. Enjoyed this amazing life-changing book.

A good start submitted by dntanzer on August 29, 2019, 8:01am I like the ideas in this book a lot. The book itself is a little repetitive and can be skimmed instead of read deeply.

Picturing tidyness submitted by ccrose on August 30, 2019, 11:52am If you can picture a goal met, you can better get there. It is very hard for me to picture so much stuff gone. Never lived that way before. But one little book, a bookcase emptied, cleaned, purged and put back together with only things that bring me joy was an eye opener (sorry, pun intended).

Useful re-framing submitted by terpsichore17 on June 14, 2020, 12:04pm Much has been said about this book, so I basically knew what I was in for: sorting through my possessions category by category, one by one; touching each object to elect what to keep; thanking and parting with anything not kept.
The most interesting part of the premise, to my mind, is the idea that making these material changes will change one’s approach to future objects, preventing future clutter.

Also potentially useful: re-framing an object (e.g., “This book’s purpose in my life was for me to read half of it; now that it’s done that, it can go” or “This greeting card was to greet me on my 18th birthday, and now it has fulfilled that purpose”) so as to ease the parting with items not serving a current use.

The Joy of Less is probably more useful for adopting a minimalist mindset, but I think this book will also prove useful to me in streamlining my possessions.

It works submitted by susieliz on June 22, 2020, 6:50pm It works but it is hard to maintain. It makes my life calm but now I feel more unsettled when my home gets normally used. I have six kids. My life cannot be totally kondified but I wish it could.

wq submitted by kscapellie on July 12, 2020, 7:01pm the words and clear

Life-changing submitted by Harlowamy on August 28, 2021, 5:14pm Life-changing Amazing

Great ideas for tidying, a little out of touch submitted by umich.reader on June 12, 2022, 4:33pm Kondo has a lot of great ideas for ethical consumption, but it seems a little unrealistic and wasteful to get rid of so much stuff.

Still comes to mind while cleaning... submitted by journeyhawthorne on August 6, 2022, 4:44pm There's a lot of stuff that I didn't take from this book, but Kondo's method of thanking an item for its use before removing it from the home is something I still do every time I'm cleaning. My mom and I both tend to hoard objects for their sentimental value, and I've found that this process helps make it easier to get rid of older objects that can no longer serve their purpose. I think there's at least one thing to be gleamed for anyone reading this book, even though not everything in Kondo's practice is for everyone.

Life Changing! submitted by maggotnico on August 11, 2022, 10:45am Good book

I don't usually like self-help books, but THIS one actually helped! submitted by emarshall89 on July 8, 2023, 2:58am I have always struggled with decluttering, and I've never understood how to simply get rid of things that once meant a lot to me. This book finally helped give me that understanding. If you've never read this book, forget what you think you know about it and what you've heard—it's not preachy or harsh, like some people claim. Instead it's a compassionate approach to the emotional side of decluttering. I've struggled with letting go of things (like gifts I don't need or use, for example), and this book helped me reframe my thinking. This book finally allowed me to give myself "permission" to let go of things that I no longer needed. And it also allowed me to be intentional about keeping the things that I love!

I do want to specifically call attention to a part of her book that is frequently misunderstood: Marie Kondo never says that you should limit yourself to a certain amount of books. What she ACTUALLY says is that keeping a limited number of books is simply what works for HER personally. But she enthusiastically encourages her readers to keep collections that make them happy—and that includes books!—as long as you have the space to display the collection, and not just keep it in a box somewhere.

This book is a quick and easy read, and it genuinely helped change my life for the better. I think almost everyone can learn at least a little something from reading it.

Really helpful book submitted by rtracy on July 18, 2023, 10:01am This is the one thing that finally helped me get a handle on the neverending clutter!

Good ideas submitted by Bookathoner on August 27, 2023, 2:00pm It is an interesting book with lots of good ideas. Some of it truly is common-sense but it is a helpful guide. Worth reading!