SOCIAL SCIENCES

Spark Joy: An Illustrated Master Class on the Art of Organizing and Tidying Up

Ten Speed: Crown. 2016. 304p. illus. ISBN 9781607749721. $18.99; ebk. ISBN 9781607749738. SELF-HELP
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Best-selling author Kondo (The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up) has written a companion book that delivers additional instructions for "tidying up." Essentially, the key criterion to keeping a specific object is that it brings joy. Not only does Kondo advise readers about what to keep/discard, but she discusses storing items happily and offers an encyclopedia of tidying clothes, books, papers, sentimental items, and so on. Focusing more on the spiritual than the material, the author suggests that restoring order brings relationships into focus and causes one to concentrate less on others' faults.
VERDICT Kondo presents not a decluttering manual but a way to look at the relationships and things that are meaningful in life.
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