One of my new year's resolutions was to write 12 book reviews this year. The plan was to average one review per month, but as you can see, it's the end of March, and this is my first book review. I've been reading lots of books; I just haven't been writing about them. (I guess I'm still like my elementary and middle school self - the bookworm who didn't like writing book reports.)
My first review of the year is The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo. This book has taken the world by storm with its simple method of de-cluttering. Called the Kon-Mari method, the book advocates sorting belongings by category, holding each one individually, and deciding whether or not it "sparks joy". Readers are instructed to keep the joy inspiring items. Everything else should be thanked for its service and then bid goodbye.
I got the book because I had too much stuff. I had been carrying around boxes from move to move to move that somehow never got unpacked. I would often dream of my apartment catching on fire and burning to the ground to give myself a fresh start (while I and the cats were safely away and the blanket my late grandfather made for me somehow in the trunk of my car). When my apartment got flooded last year and half my belongings were destroyed, I was, very temporarily, annoyed that the flood didn't get the other half as well. Clearly, I had a problem, and it needed a solution.
