3.4 out of 4 stars.

Please keep in mind that this is a very hard book to rate! Of course in all my book reviews it is just my opinion but with self-help books (which I would call this) it is specifically difficult because it all depends on your own priorities in life and in this case tidying up is not one of mine. This is due to the fact that I am naturally not prone to clutter. I absolutely love throwing items away (or recycling). I get a high off having minimal amount of items in my purse at the end of a long day.

I feel as though I do not have to go into much detail about what this book is about because the title pretty much sums it up. However, the gist is that Marie Kondo, a Japanese cleaning consultant, gives you an in-depth look at what makes her organizing, storing, and simplifying business a success for a nation known for their gluttony.

In my case, a psychologist would say my lack of need for material belongings is because my parents are stage one hoarders. I am rebelling against my childhood of going to yard sales and flea markets picking up “chachkies ” that serve no real purpose. For example, in my family we will have a cabinet of pottery but it is just to look at and not to hold flowers. Again, for me this does not work but the main point of this book is that you are allowed to keep whatever gives you joy. In this case, the unused pottery to look at supposedly gives my mother happiness and thus that is why she is allowed to keep it. Unfortunately, jewelry, clothes, magazines, shoes, etc. also give her a smile so those get to stay in the home as well. This book is supposed to get at that idea that one can save nice items but one cannot COLLECT them. In this case my mother loses value in her life when her items start to multiply.

I absolutely love to read and appreciate each and every author and line on a piece of paper. Unfortunately, Kondo looks at books as another thing that you can read and move on from. This hurt my feelings because I look at the books I read as an art form. I absolutely feel pride when I sit in my bed and can see all my books stacked up and know that I have read them all. I also love when guests walk in and it is a conversation starter for them to pick one up and ask how it was. It is my passion and unfortunately it is something that could also be looked as “clutter”. I wish Kondo was able to draw the line at certain things because weeding out something that is so sentimental to someone seems to take away from why we started this in the first place.

My goal is not to live in a bare room that reminds me of an insane asylum. I would like to keep items that bring me a smile. In this case all one hundred of my books do that because they each taught me something in their own way. I am fortunate that I like books and not cars (takes up less space)! I am sure someone that loves collecting photos feels the same, can’t I just keep this little itty bitty thing if it is of my grandchild?

I agree with this book until I feel it becomes too extreme. I would hope that most of the people that pick this book up understand that they need to pile up trash bags of excessiveness and get rid of it. However, I do not know if I recommend tossing a picture your child did in first grade because you don’t look at it everyday.

Again, self help books are tough to rate. Similar to Elizabeth Gilbert’s “Big Magic” that I read earlier this month, what might be a miss for me is a slam dunk for someone else. All in all I feel like if you are reading and educating yourself to different perspectives it wasn’t a waste to pick up any book!