The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up- Mair Kondo

Title: The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up
Author: Marie Kondo
Pages: 213
Published: Jan 15, 2011 by Ten Speed
Source: Library
Links: goodreads

Despite constant efforts to declutter your home, do papers still accumulate like snowdrifts and clothes pile up like a tangled mess of noodles? Japanese cleaning consultant Marie Kondo takes tidying to a whole new level, promising that if you properly simplify and organize your home once, you'll never have to do it again. Most methods advocate a room-by-room or little-by-little approach, which doom you to pick away at your piles of stuff forever. The KonMari Method, with its revolutionary category-by-category system, leads to lasting results. In fact, none of Kondo's clients have lapsed (and she still has a three-month waiting list). With detailed guidance for determining which items in your house "spark joy" (and which don't), this international best seller featuring Tokyo's newest lifestyle phenomenon will help you clear your clutter and enjoy the unique magic of a tidy home - and the calm, motivated mindset it can inspire.

I have really been organizing and cleaning out my house.  I've been living in the same house for almost 10 years now and it's amazing how things just start piling up.  So I've been out on the internet looking for books to give me ideas on how to go through my items.  One book I kept running across was this book by Marie Kondo.  Prior to this I wasn't aware of the KonMari movement. Basically the KonMari method is pick up things in your house and asking yourself if that object brings you joy.  I think this is a really good concept.  It's true for me that many items in my house are clutter and don't bring me joy.  Then I got further into this book and just couldn't help but roll my eyes!

So I find it to be a little hard to treat my objects not as things but more like beings with feelings. You are supposed to talk to your clothes.  Tell them thank you for doing a good job and keeping you warm that day.  You are supposed to put any bookcases in your closet and if you don't have room in your closet for your bookcase then you have too much stuff.  WHA!  Other things in this book I could never do is fold my socks,  and throw away all paper (I'm notorious for saving anything important in a strict filing system).  There is some really crazy ideas in this book from someone who is very OCD I think.  Kondo was at home constantly tidying her room instead of hanging out with other teenagers.  She states that was doing it since the age of 5. Yikes. I suppose she did get a career out of it.

I did get a little good advice from this book.  I really love the idea of picking up something and looking at it and figuring out if it brings me joy.   I've donated and thrown out a lot of things this past month that really just don't bring me joy anymore. After living in the same house for many years I think I've just accumulated things.  I tend to think that I'll use something again one day (coasters, jackets) and thenrealize that I'm just not into it anymore which is why it ended up in the closet in the first place.

There have been a few things that have been hard for me to let go.  Things I know my parents spent hard earned money on, gifts from friends that just weren't for me.  Those are the hardest but really I just have to remember it's not like I am trashing these items just for kicks. After finishing this book I now hear about the KonMari movement in a lot of different places.  Most recently on the Simpsons and the show Sleepy Hollow.  Funny that it's kind of a pop culture reference now.  

Have any of you tried this or heard about it??  Have you found it helpful in your life?

Comic Adventures Issue #50

I read a lot of comics and rarely review them here on the blog. That's because I really don't have a lot to say for an entire post.  So I thought I would review several comics on one post.  I will still review graphic novels on their own now and then, but this is where I will talk about super-hero type comics (DC/Marvel) or sequels to some that I have already reviewed.

This issue I talk about New Suicide Squad Vol. 2, Star Wars vol. 2 The Showdown on the Smuggler's Moon,  Lumberjanes Vol. 5, and The Dark Knight Returns, The Last Crusade.

Well... I'm done with this series.  I think there is one more volume before Rebirth. This comic was good until it wasn't.  The story started off good.  Everyone in the Squad was getting bored with the same old day in and day out.  Harley was depressed, Deadshot lost his aim, Waller was trying to save Suicide Squad from the government trying to get rid of it. Then... Deadshot found out something about his dad and wanted to go and check it out.  Of course Waller said no so Deadshot goes rogue and we don't get to read anymore about that.  Story ends.  I'm guessing this continues in the Deadshot comics which I quit reading so I'll never know how that ends up.  Then there is some oddball story about Katana at the end of the comic. I didn't even bother to read that one to be honest. It's like DC didn't have a volume to throw those two stories in so they just tossed it into this volume.  Bleh. The art was only so so too. One panel I couldn't even tell what was going on.  I'm just glad Rebirth is coming because this run of Suicide Squad is getting awful.
3 out of 5

I've enjoyed the Star Wars comics the most out of the run of the new Star Wars comics (Leia, Vader, Chewbacca and all the other titles).  This is set between A New Hope and the Empire Strikes Back. This comic follows Luke on his own little adventure and Han and Leia on a different one.  Luke has found Obi Won's journal and is learning a lot from it. Like the fact that Obi Won watched Luke for like decades?  Yikes I found that odd. Luke goes out in the universe trying to figure out how to become a Jedi. There is some sort of Jedi artifact collector we get introduced to while Luke is out looking.  I thought this part was neat. The collector has so many objects he's collected.  The collector wants to actually collect Luke and his lightsaber as an addition.   Chewbacca and C-3P0 get an exciting appearance in the comic. Han Solo and Leia run into another smuggler who claims to be Han Solo's wife while looking for a planet the rebels can use as a home base. Really quite enjoyable overall. 
4 out of 5

I love the Lumberjanes so much.  I just can't get over how much fun I have reading this comic! The comic is about a group of girls who are at a summer camp.  It truly makes me want to have friends like this. I've found friends don't stick around long, especially as you get older.  So to read about his group of friends makes me envious.  This issue introduces us to merpeople. Cool merpeople.  They dress like humans, and even have electricity under water.  I like the fact that one of the girls in the group just doesn't understand how that works and neither did I but it didn't matter.  The girls end up going to the local lake and accidentally get the merpeople in trouble. It is their mission to help them out. The only thing I was disappointed about was there was nothing in the comic about the main story line.  It was like the whole book was a side quest.  I would like to know more about the magic camp. The comic does need to move more in the direction of giving the readers more answers about what is really going on at camp. 
5 out of 5

I really like Frank Miller's writing but have yet to read his Batman run. This is a prequel of the 1984 comic The Dark Knight Returns. In the Dark Knight Returns Batman has retired because of the death of Robin, Jason Todd.  This comic tries to explore the relationship between Bruce and Jason.  In reality, all it does is show that Jason is not exactly what Bruce intended him to be. After reading this.. it's almost like Jason is just like the Damian we read about in the New 52.  Doesn't want to listen, rebellious.  The only difference is Jason seems to enjoy hurting people. I'm not really sure why the Joker is on the cover?  Yes he is the one who kills Jason but other then that, he doesn't do much else. I'm not sure why Miller felt the need to write a prequel. I think when this story started to get good and really make you start to care about what was happening then the comic ended. Really it ends in a cliffhanger the reader has to figure out themselves, but to see Batman unravel would've been the ultimate prequel.  I'll be reading the whole Dark Knight series soon so I look forward to see how they all compare to one another.  I think there are four volumes.  
                                                        3 out of 5

This counts for 9 comics towards my 2017 Graphic Novel Reading Challenge

Heartless by Marissa Meyer

Title: Heartless
Author: Marissa Meyer
Pages: 453
Published: November 8th 2016 by Feiwel & Friends
Source: Owned
Links: goodreads

Catherine may be one of the most desired girls in Wonderland and a favorite of the unmarried King, but her interests lie elsewhere. A talented baker, she wants to open a shop and create delectable pastries. But for her mother, such a goal is unthinkable for a woman who could be a queen. At a royal ball where Cath is expected to receive the King’s marriage proposal, she meets handsome and mysterious Jest. For the first time, she feels the pull of true attraction. At the risk of offending the King and infuriating her parents, she and Jest enter into a secret courtship. Cath is determined to choose her own destiny. But in a land thriving with magic, madness, and monsters, fate has other plans.

Ok... I'm sorry for the lack of posts but seriously this too me forever to read. Like since Christmas! I've just been doing so much and not squeezing books in. I think maybe I've been playing too many video games especially with the new Zelda out. I had to read this book because I've read all of Meyer's other books and just love her way of doing fairytale retellings. This book was no disappointment.

This book is a retelling of Alice in Wonderland, the Queen of Hearts to be exact. It reminded me a little of Meyer's book Fairest which is about the Evil Queen in Snow White and what causes her to become evil.   Meyer's fantastic detail and story telling is so amazing in this book.  I would really like there to be a book about Alice in the future.  How does Alice come in and get mixed up in the land of Hearts.  I don't think that will ever happen because Meyer has said this is going to be a stand alone novel... but we can always hope!

The characters were well developed but this is one of the things that makes this novel really long. Cath Pinkerton is the daughter of a marquess and wants to become a baker. She ends up being pushed into a love interest of the King of Hearts. He wants to marry her and she wants nothing to do with it. She falls for the court joker named Jest though and wants nothing to do with the King.  So the story is basically about how Cath ends up dealing with all of this.  The Mad Hatter could've been a little more crazy but since this is all happening before Alice ends up in Wonderland so it is before he goes mad. But I did want to see him be a little more like the Johny Depp character.

This is a long book.  A long plot.  Be ready for lots of words and lots of describing everything.  I like that sometimes in books and it worked in this book for me. I do like Meyer's other books a lot more then this one but it was still really good. If you enjoy a fairytale retelling go and read this !