Kiki and Jax The Life Changing Magic of Friendship

Kiki and Jax The Life Changing Magic of Friendship by Marie Kondo 40 pages

Jax is a tidy owl, Kiki is a messy squirrel. They are great friends but sometimes Kiki's untidiness can get in the way of their friendship like when she can't find her soccer ball or her swimming suit. Jax teaches Kiki how to tidy up and then her life and their friendship is much better for it.

I am a huge Marie Kondo fan, so I think this book is an adorable way to introduce children to keeping only things that spark joy to them.

Spark Joy

Spark Joy by Marie Kondo 291 pages

Spark Joy is the sequel to Marie's first best selling book "The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up." This book goes into more details of storage and folding of items. It also has more examples and stories of her various clients journeys to tidying up their life.

This was a reread for me in preparation of Windsor's upcoming event in January. I loved it just as much the second time around. I particularly love the folding graphics. I had been folding my clothes this way but didn't bother with my children's clothing. However, now I started and I love the way it looks and how easy it is to find everything!

Life Changing Magic of Tidying up

The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo 206 pages

Marie Kondo is a Japanese tidying expert, best selling author, and now has her own Netflix series. Her major advise is to tidy by category not by room, to only keep items that "spark joy," and to properly thank your discarded items before letting them go. By following her book she promises you will not rebound and the result will truly be life changing.

I read these books back when they first came out and decided to reread them before the event at Windsor coming up in January. It was a good refresher, but she was right, the first time truly was life changing. I did not have to completely turn my house upside down like I did years ago, just maintain it and check in with myself if things still sparked joy. I would recommend this book to everyone.

The Life-Changing Manga of Tidying Up : A Magical Story by Marie Kondo

The Life-Changing Manga of Tidying Up: A Magical Story by Marie Kondo - 187 Pages

"Marie Kondo presents the fictional story of Chiaki, a young woman in Tokyo who struggles with a cluttered apartment, messy love life, and lack of direction. After receiving a complaint from her attractive next-door neighbor about the sad state of her balcony, Chiaki gets Kondo to take her on as a client. Through a series of entertaining and insightful lessons, Kondo helps Chiaki get her home--and life--in order. This insightful, illustrated case study is perfect for people looking for a fun introduction to the KonMari Method of tidying up, as well as tried-and-true fans of Marie Kondo eager for a new way to think about what sparks joy. Featuring illustrations by award-winning manga artist Yuko Uramoto, this book also makes a great read for manga and graphic novel lovers of all ages."

The manga is an interesting take on how Marie explains her tidying up method, but for those that watched the reality episodes, let's just say that Marie's personality isn't reflected well. It's not a bad thing, but even though her "manga version" reactions were fun to see, she's way more calm in the episodes versus the book.

The Life-Changing Manga of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo

The Life-Changing Manga of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo, 187 pages

If you read Marie Kondo's Magic of Tidying Up, you should definitely give this book a read.  I loved the fact that it had awesome illustrations to go with her steps to organize your life.  I did not care too much for the bestseller book, but the manga I would definitely read again. 

Heather's March Reads

Kiss of the Rose Princess by Aya Shouoto
 Vol. 7 180 pages
 Vol. 8 178 pages
The final showdown begins between Anise and her father who is more than he appears to be.

Clamp School Detectives by Ray Yoshimoto
 Vol. 1 192 pages
 Vol. 2 192 pages
 Vol. 3 192 pages
A little series of cute short mysteries being solved by bored rich children!

The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo
 213 pages
 Some of the tips and techniques go a little too far with de-cluttering but I have a lot less junk piling up because I can't figure out if I need/want it or not.

Fire Touched by Patricia Briggs
 342 pages
 Mercy puts Adam and the pack in another difficult situation, this time against the homeland of the fae. With some help from new friends and old Mercy again pulls off the impossible to stop an all out war between the wolves and fae that would make them the targets of all humans.

Wedding Cake Murder by Joanne Fluke
 304 pages
 Hannah finally says yes to marriage and everything seems perfect until one of the judges in the Food Network Bake Off turns up dead in Sally's walk in freezer. Now Hannah needs to solve the murder while competing for first place and helping plan her wedding.

Vampire Academy 352 pages
Frost Bite 352 pages
Shadow Kiss 464 pages
 by Richelle Mead
 Set in the boring back woods of Montana we are introduced to a world of vampire killing, light lovey dovey stuff, teen angst, and sarcasm galore. I can't wait to get to the next three books.

Spark Joy by Marie Kondo

Spark Joy by Marie Kondo, 291 pages

Spark Joy is the follow up book to the bestselling book, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up.  This book is basically just a more detailed version of the first book with illustrations.  In the book, she describes how people should only keep items that bring them joy and get rid of everything else. She describes the five areas people should work on tidying and in that particular order.  That part of the book made sense. She writes to sort photographs and sentimental items last.  What I find difficult with her concept is that everything brings me joy.

The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo

The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo, 213 pages

I am not sure why, but I found this book annoying.  I felt Marie was not telling us what we did not already know.   Her words of wisdom include keep only the things that bring you joy in life.  Other books teach us to clean room by room.  The one thing this books does teach you when you do go through your things, go through them category by category not room by room.  So, all clothes throughout the entire house should be brought together for sorting.  I also found it annoying that when she was growing up, when she was done going through her personal items, she then would get rid of other family member's possessions.