Joy of Less
By Francine Jay
(nonfiction/286 pages/2010)
This is by far the best cleaning, organizing, and downsizing book I have ever read. And yes, that includes Marie Kondo’s The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up. This book is practical. It is easy to digest. It has direct action you can take, like making 3 piles — one for trash, one for treasure, and one for transfer. It even goes room by room telling you exactly how to attack the clutter.
If you’re one of those people who likes the philosophical size of cleaning up, this book has that too. It will help you not only sort your stuff, but also detach from it. Imagine your house with a kitchen table you can actually eat on, without having to move anything. See your stuff for what it is and don’t let it hold you back anymore.
Once you’ve finally got your place looking tidy, use the practices in this book to keep it that way. Don’t just let papers fall back onto the clean surfaces. Don’t look at all this empty space and think of how you can fill it. This book wants you to read it, use it, and then never need it again. It’s okay if you hit and quit this book. We won’t tell. But your newly clean house just might.
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Amy Cornwell
