The Reading Room

I will try to keep up with what I am reading here.

Monday, November 16, 2015

#45, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, by Marie Kondo

"Does it spark joy?" is the question Ms. Kondo says to ask when deciding whether to keep something or not.  She recommends tidying up all at once, by category:
  1. Clothes
  2. Books
  3. Papers
  4. komono (miscellany)
  5. Mementos
She uses this order because it is in inverse order of difficulty.  Clothes tend to have the least emotional attachment and rarity, and also difficulty in storing.
Once discarding is done, storing comes next.  She recommends folding every piece of clothes that can be folded, and hanging only what must be hung.  Place folded items vertically in a drawer, not horizontally stacked.  I  tried this on my pants, shirts, socks,and even underwear, and it is  actually a pretty good way to store things in drawers.  Everything is readily visible, and actually fits better in the drawer.  I'm ready to tidy!!!

#44, The Nature of the Beast, by Louise Penny

This is a Chief Inspector Armand Gamache mystery.  The first one I read was see tin a emote monastery; this one is set in a small town in rural Quebec.  It was decent but awfully long.  Read it if you are truly bored.