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A review by pocketspine
Spark Joy: An Illustrated Master Class on the Art of Organizing and Tidying Up by Marie Kondo
5.0
Book Information:
I read a physical copy of Spark Joy. It’s a 291-page self-help book expanding on the KonMari Method of tidying. This book has fewer personal stories of Kondo’s life and experiences with tidying than The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up and goes into more detail about tidying – including specifics about different types of items and answering questions some may have had after reading Kondo’s previous book. This book also includes helpful diagrams and other visuals to enrich the reading experience and help explain her folding methods.
Potential book trigger warnings: N/A
Potential review trigger warnings: N/A
Other book content of note: helpful folding diagrams; index of topics
Other review content of note: N/A
(Let me know if I should add anything)
Style & Content:
Like The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, this book is easy to read with simple language and content split into small sections. The diagrams are also very helpful to the reading experience as they help the reader visualize Kondo’s teachings and techniques.
This book goes into more detail about going through one’s items and how to store the ones one decides to keep. In it, she also answers some questions such as what to do with “essential things that don’t bring joy” (21) – her answer basically being to appreciate them for what they do/what they are to raise the level of joy one has for such items. I think these aspects make it a very helpful book for those who read the first book but still find themselves a bit lost when it comes to putting the method into practice.
I think the goal of this book was to expand on the KonMari Method, going into more detail and answering questions readers may have had after reading Kondo’s previous book. I think it succeeds in this goal greatly and provides an excellent resource for anyone wanting to learn more about and/or utilize the KonMari Method.
Satisfaction:
I enjoyed reading this book and still believe in the potential of the KonMari Method. I found the diagrams helpful while learning to fold my clothes as Kondo describes, sometimes leaving the book open next to me and referencing it as I worked. Though I have not gotten particularly far in the process of using the KonMari Method with my own items, I will definitely put to use the ideas I learned in this book as I continue on that journey.
Personally, I’m glad I read The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up before Spark Joy. However, I don’t think that would be necessary to get something from this book, especially if one is already familiar with the KonMari Method from Kondo’s tv show or elsewhere. That said, I think it would be helpful to read the previous book before this one if one is unfamiliar with the method as while this book goes through specific strategies around different kinds of items, that book provides Kondo’s thoughts and background on her method.
In my review of The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, I mentioned my interpretation of Kondo’s potential thoughts on items that are necessary but that don’t spark joy as well as my thought that she would be happy for someone to still have many items as long as they truly bring the owner joy. In this book she addresses both ideas and I feel vindicated in my thoughts. On page 21 she discusses what to do with essential items that don’t inherently spark joy; though she uses different words, her philosophy on them comes down to what I had inferred: make time to be grateful for them and think about how they serve you in your life so that through this gratefulness, maybe they can get to the point where they bring you joy in the future. When it comes to prioritization of intentional joy over minimalism, on page 129 she mentions potentially having many books if they bring you joy. Similarly, on page 198 she discusses people still having kitchens still very full of items, but that as long as the items are stored visibly and intentionally, “you can still be proud of your kitchen”. These pages reinforce for me that the KonMari Method is not one focused on minimalism for the sake of minimalism, but one that just emphasizes owning things with intention and joy – something that I hope to do more in my life.
When it comes to delving deeper into the KonMari Method itself, I went into more detail on my thoughts in my review of The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, so I will refrain from doing so further here. Feel free to read over that review to see my thoughts on it.
Lastly, a piece of advice for anyone who may struggle when figuring out if they should keep something. I have come up with a small series of questions to ask myself about a given item that I’m stuck on: 1) Do you enjoy it?/Does it bring you joy? 2) Are you using it? and 3) What purpose does it serve in your life? I ask these of myself in that order – stopping along the way if I answer “yes” to either of the first two questions – and if I get to the final question and find that the item isn’t serving a purpose in my life, I take a moment to appreciate what purpose it has served me in the past then let it go.
Audience:
I think anyone who read Kondo’s previous book but still has questions on how to put her method into action could benefit from reading this book. I think it would be most helpful for those who are approaching the KonMari Method with an open mind and a willingness to work with it, even if one does not fully understand the necessity of aspects of the method. That said, I think that it’s possible that someone not trying to follow the method could gain something from the book as well, be that ideas about how to tidy their own space or just thinking a bit more about their own life.
Author:
Marie Kondo is a Japanese author and organization consultant who also has a tv show focused on her tidying methods. I don’t know anything else about her or her work.
Rating:
4.5-5/5 stars (rounded up to 5 stars for the goodreads rating system)
I read a physical copy of Spark Joy. It’s a 291-page self-help book expanding on the KonMari Method of tidying. This book has fewer personal stories of Kondo’s life and experiences with tidying than The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up and goes into more detail about tidying – including specifics about different types of items and answering questions some may have had after reading Kondo’s previous book. This book also includes helpful diagrams and other visuals to enrich the reading experience and help explain her folding methods.
Potential book trigger warnings: N/A
Potential review trigger warnings: N/A
Other book content of note: helpful folding diagrams; index of topics
Other review content of note: N/A
(Let me know if I should add anything)
Style & Content:
Like The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, this book is easy to read with simple language and content split into small sections. The diagrams are also very helpful to the reading experience as they help the reader visualize Kondo’s teachings and techniques.
This book goes into more detail about going through one’s items and how to store the ones one decides to keep. In it, she also answers some questions such as what to do with “essential things that don’t bring joy” (21) – her answer basically being to appreciate them for what they do/what they are to raise the level of joy one has for such items. I think these aspects make it a very helpful book for those who read the first book but still find themselves a bit lost when it comes to putting the method into practice.
I think the goal of this book was to expand on the KonMari Method, going into more detail and answering questions readers may have had after reading Kondo’s previous book. I think it succeeds in this goal greatly and provides an excellent resource for anyone wanting to learn more about and/or utilize the KonMari Method.
Satisfaction:
I enjoyed reading this book and still believe in the potential of the KonMari Method. I found the diagrams helpful while learning to fold my clothes as Kondo describes, sometimes leaving the book open next to me and referencing it as I worked. Though I have not gotten particularly far in the process of using the KonMari Method with my own items, I will definitely put to use the ideas I learned in this book as I continue on that journey.
Personally, I’m glad I read The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up before Spark Joy. However, I don’t think that would be necessary to get something from this book, especially if one is already familiar with the KonMari Method from Kondo’s tv show or elsewhere. That said, I think it would be helpful to read the previous book before this one if one is unfamiliar with the method as while this book goes through specific strategies around different kinds of items, that book provides Kondo’s thoughts and background on her method.
In my review of The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, I mentioned my interpretation of Kondo’s potential thoughts on items that are necessary but that don’t spark joy as well as my thought that she would be happy for someone to still have many items as long as they truly bring the owner joy. In this book she addresses both ideas and I feel vindicated in my thoughts. On page 21 she discusses what to do with essential items that don’t inherently spark joy; though she uses different words, her philosophy on them comes down to what I had inferred: make time to be grateful for them and think about how they serve you in your life so that through this gratefulness, maybe they can get to the point where they bring you joy in the future. When it comes to prioritization of intentional joy over minimalism, on page 129 she mentions potentially having many books if they bring you joy. Similarly, on page 198 she discusses people still having kitchens still very full of items, but that as long as the items are stored visibly and intentionally, “you can still be proud of your kitchen”. These pages reinforce for me that the KonMari Method is not one focused on minimalism for the sake of minimalism, but one that just emphasizes owning things with intention and joy – something that I hope to do more in my life.
When it comes to delving deeper into the KonMari Method itself, I went into more detail on my thoughts in my review of The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, so I will refrain from doing so further here. Feel free to read over that review to see my thoughts on it.
Lastly, a piece of advice for anyone who may struggle when figuring out if they should keep something. I have come up with a small series of questions to ask myself about a given item that I’m stuck on: 1) Do you enjoy it?/Does it bring you joy? 2) Are you using it? and 3) What purpose does it serve in your life? I ask these of myself in that order – stopping along the way if I answer “yes” to either of the first two questions – and if I get to the final question and find that the item isn’t serving a purpose in my life, I take a moment to appreciate what purpose it has served me in the past then let it go.
Audience:
I think anyone who read Kondo’s previous book but still has questions on how to put her method into action could benefit from reading this book. I think it would be most helpful for those who are approaching the KonMari Method with an open mind and a willingness to work with it, even if one does not fully understand the necessity of aspects of the method. That said, I think that it’s possible that someone not trying to follow the method could gain something from the book as well, be that ideas about how to tidy their own space or just thinking a bit more about their own life.
Author:
Marie Kondo is a Japanese author and organization consultant who also has a tv show focused on her tidying methods. I don’t know anything else about her or her work.
Rating:
4.5-5/5 stars (rounded up to 5 stars for the goodreads rating system)