"The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying" by Marie Kondo

I decided to read this book as I seem to have a lot of clutter in my little flat that has accumulated after moving house multiple times in the last 10 years. As my current place doesn't have a lot of cupboard space I've decided the time is right to finally sort through things properly and have a clean out, and really set my place up in a way I'm happy with. Which might include some more space for bookshelves rather than boxes of stuff I haven't opened in years or cabinets full of papers. The idea of de-cluttering has been a bit overwhelming for a while (which is why I haven't done it yet) and it will involve taking a hard look at what I need and want to keep, and being fairly ruthless in getting rid of/donating/trading things I do not actually need or want but have been keeping for whatever reason.

I thought that maybe reading this book would give me some inspiration/motivation to actually start the de-cluttering process rather than just thinking about it. It has succeeded in that aspect, and I have started sorting through and discarding items, so that is great. However I have mixed feelings about the book itself. Some parts of the book really made sense to me and gave me new approaches on how to tackle my de-cluttering, e.g. sorting by category of items rather than by room, but as the book progressed I started to realise that the author and me would not see eye to eye on many things. Her attitude to books...basically, if you've read it, you wont need to read it again so throw it out, if you bought it but didn't read it and have bought other books since then you missed your chance to read it and should throw it out, if you half read a book, throw it out...there's no point to a book being on your bookshelf unless it sparks joy when you hold it...(this is my paraphrasing of the chapter called "Unread books - sometimes means never"). The summary was 'the moment you first encounter a particular book is the right time to read it. To avoid missing that moment, I recommend that you keep your collection small". Not going to happen in my flat, most of my books "spark joy" whether unread or read. I enjoy reading them, re-reading many of them and just looking at and remembering them. Part of my desire to de-clutter was to make more space for bookshelves haha.
Then there was the anthropomorphising of inanimate objects. E.g. socks:
“Never, ever ball your socks. I pointed to the balled up socks. ‘Look at them carefully. This should be a time for them to rest. Do you really think they can get any rest like this?’ That’s right. The socks stored in your drawer are essentially on holiday. They take a brutal beating in their daily work, trapped between your foot and your shoe…The time they spend in your drawer is their only chance to rest…”
Hmm alrighty then. At first I wasn’t sure if this was due to the translation from Japanese to English, but as the book went on it really seemed to be something the author was seriously concerned with. She also on numerous occasions has conversations with inanimate objects…e.g “I return to my bedroom, put my empty handbag in a bag and put it on the top shelf of the wardrobe, saying ‘You did well. Have a good rest.’…”
While the author’s style and attitude do not match with mine, I did learn a few useful new tips for ways to approach a big de-cluttering of my flat. But it was either entertaining or ridiculous in many ways in my opinion.


Started: 20th May 2015
Finished: 31st May 2015
My Score: 5/10

"The Housekeeper & the Professor" by Yoko Ogawa

This book was recommended to me by the same friend who also recommended "The Rosie Project", "The Book Thief" and "The Boy with the Striped Pyjamas" - all of which I have loved! So I had fingers crossed this would be another wonderful book.


According to wikipedia "The story centers around a mathematician, "the Professor," who suffered brain damage in a traffic accident in 1975 and since then can produce only 80 minutes' worth of memories, and his interactions with a housekeeper (the narrator) and her son "Root" as the Professor shares the beauty of equations with them."

This book was recommended to me by Shelley, who also recommended the Book Thief, the Rosie Project, and the Boy in the Striped Pyjamas - all of which I have loved.

I'm not quite sure why I loved this book so much. It is not action packed, no big dramas take place, nothing much actually "happens" in it. If I try to describe it, I'm sure it will sound dull. But it's not. It's very different to many other books I've read. It is written by a Japanese author and translated into English..I think it's the first book by a Japanese author I have consciously read. It's also quite short, so if you are unsure whether to read it or not, you might as well take a chance.
Anyone who knows me knows I struggle with maths (despite being a scientist), it is not one of my strong points and it doesn't interest me...I prefer to give the maths issues to people who have talent in that area. Sometimes I am forced to use maths as a tool, but it is not beautiful. However, reading this book ignited a tiny spark about how cool and beautiful maths can be. I was fascinated by the excitement and beauty of some of the maths puzzles brought up in the book, and the way the beauty of maths and human love evolved and existed between the Professor, the housekeeper and her son and that it has no pretentiousness and is simply wonderful. It is sad and uplifting. It's not exciting, but I think if you read it you will have a new perception of another aspect of life which you might not have otherwise. At least that's what I felt.
:-)
Started reading on my kindle: 30th December 2013
Finished: 5th January 2013
My score: 8.5/10