Reviews with content warning for Ableism - How to Keep House While Drowning: A Gentle Approach to Cleaning and Organizing

This book is short and sweet, with ideas for reframing how we see “care tasks” (aka chores) as morally neutral and should be considered only when functioning for our lives. It was written with neurodivergence in mind, but as a neurotypical person (or am I?) I found this book so helpful to help me start to think differently about the state of my life and home when I am juggling a full time job, parenthood, being a life partner, and all my other obligations. I think my husband, who is neurodivergent, would benefit from this quick read also. I’m looking forward to talking about it with him once he reads it! I love short books and feel like anyone would benefit from this one.

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gwenswoons's review against another edition

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hopeful informative inspiring relaxing fast-paced

5.0

I loved this book so much. It’s way outside my usual reading palette, and I’m so grateful Storygraph’s 2024 Genre Challenge helped nudge me to read it! A non-fiction book about psychology?!? Would never have found my way to this on my own, and I already feel the huge impact it will have in my life. I was struck again and again by the author’s ability to both do necessary reframing for us - like separating care tasks from moral successes/failings, as they’ve been societally framed for us - and to simultaneously reassure us, letting us know that changing these patterns in our brains will take time, and giving us inspiring achievable ideas to begin that work. I also deeply appreciated Davis’s acknowledgment of different needs and circumstances - so many conversations about self care and self help ignore forms of oppression and challenge, like systemic racism, financial inequity, neurodiversity, and mental health struggles: factors that can quite literally change and affect people’s abilities to do the same tasks others find easy and accessible. This book explores these things honestly and gently, and as someone who’s had serious struggles with anxiety and depression I felt seen and reflected in this book in a way I haven’t in many modern takes on related topics (whether in books or on social media, journalism, etc.). I’m short, I can’t recommend this book highly enough - truly helped me and I hope it might do the same for you. 💜

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modernhobbitvibes's review against another edition

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informative inspiring fast-paced

4.0

I feel like it's important to keep in mind the "while drowning" part of the book's title. This really is designed for those who are in the thick of it and meant to help them decide what's most important and reframe unhealthy viewpoints into something that can actually get them through their shit. If that's not you, you'll probably not get much out of it. If that IS you, I think this book is really compassionate and has some good tips for getting "back to basics" with care tasks and getting you through whatever is going on.

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amandadelbrocco's review against another edition

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fast-paced

2.0

For me personally, this book was a rehash of so many things that I have learned through other avenues and was kind of misleading in regards to the marketing. For years I have followed UFYH (originally on tumblr, now on reddit) and recently started following Dana K White on Youtube and they have very similar styles to cleaning and organizing to this author, which I think are better mediums for this than a book. This author has a popular tiktok account so perhaps this comes across better on that medium. While the advice seems to have been helpful for many, there was a tone present that I found very off-putting and in some cases, harmful. That being said, I think that it has some good advice for when you are struggling for short periods of time.

I originally interpreted the drowning in the title to be times that you have too much on your plate and you just can't get all the things that you think you need to done, but that's not really what the author was talking about. Most of the advice was targeted toward people who take care of children and there was one short chapter in the middle where the author seemed to remember that non-guardians were also reading her book, which prompted her to say that we are people too that can benefit from her advice. I would have preferred she had forgotten me entirely.

I am glad that others have found it helpful but I'd probably follow the tiktok account instead.

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leighwitz's review against another edition

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hopeful informative lighthearted fast-paced

3.0

I’m sad to give this 3 stars because I adore KC Davis and this what she has to say is fantastic. The book just didn’t do it for me, probably because I’ve followed her on TikTok for years and have already gotten the gist. I guess what I mean to say is that there just isn’t enough material here for a book. The concept of care tasks as morally neutral is wonderful and has been life-changing for so many people, but it’s a short and sweet concept that I think works best on a platform like TikTok. That being said, I’m glad this book exists and I think people who don’t follow KC on other platforms will get a lot out of it.

Some things I loved: the neurodivergent accessibility with bite-sized chapters, bringing in a Black writer to speak on protective hairstyles, and explaining metaphors as an access tool.

Some things I didn’t love: the bit of the book felt disjointed. I didn’t think the part about exercise and food really fit into the book which was about home care tasks. It’s not that I disliked what was being said (in fact k wholeheartedly agree with her points) but for me it serves as a friendly reminder because these are things I know and have thought about a lot. I worry that someone who really needs to hear these messages about food and exercise as morally neutral may need something more in depth.

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bi_n_large's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful reflective fast-paced

4.0

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