The Year of Less by Cait Flanders

The Year of Less: How I Stopped Shopping, Gave Away My Belongings, and Discovered Life Is Worth More Than Anything You Can Buy in a Store by Cait Flanders
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This is more of a memoir about Flanders overcoming addictions by becoming a minimalist. In my opinion, it's not a self-help book- though Flanders did self-help to overcome her challenges. While it is about minimalism and rejecting consumerism, it's also not really an "organization" book in that it doesn't provide a guide. That said, it's an interesting memoir, well-written, and even helpful, especially if part of your issue is that you're mired in sadness or having trouble starting big life changes.

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Cinderella Ate My Daughter by Peggy Orenstein

Cinderella Ate My Daughter: Dispatches from the Frontlines of the New Girlie-Girl Culture by Peggy Orenstein
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Interesting look at how marketing is affecting very young girls and how recent these developments have been. My daughter is 4 and she's obsessed with pink and princesses. We didn't have any idea where it was coming from. My favorite color as a child was crayon green and I was obsessed with Smurfs and Gummi Bears. My mother actively hated pink as a child. We don't even have television shows with commercials in our home since the kids mostly just watch Netflix. She also always got her brother's hand-me-down toys in addition to some more girly toys her family gave her. I think she just got signals from her toys and other little girls?

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Goodbye, Things by Fumio Sasaki, Eriko Sugita (Translator)

Goodbye, Things: The New Japanese Minimalism by Fumio Sasaki
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Short quick read. Has a lot of interesting thoughts. Equal parts: Marie Kondō, Minimalism, behavioral economics research, Fight Club quotes. Doesn't pack the life-changing punch of Marie Kondo, in my opinion, (and here's another minimalist without children), but certainly has more information and advice than MK.

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Sugar: The World Corrupted by James Walvin

Sugar: The World Corrupted: From Slavery to Obesity by James Walvin
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

While it did get better starting around chapter 11, there was not a lot of new information here. I didn’t think the time regarding slavery was appropriate. The author discussed it in a very matter of fact way. If you’re going to discuss how sugar contributed to an increase in slavery then you better discuss the horrors and the long-term consequences of that horror otherwise the entire point of discussing it is lost. To a lesser degree, the author also did this with the nutritional effects of sugar. Okay we know it contributes to obesity but what about the medical horrors of diabetes, kidney disease, and cancer?

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Status Anxiety by Alain de Botton

Status Anxiety by Alain de Botton
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I enjoy most books with an anti-consumerist bent, and this was no exception. Alain de Botton also talks a lot about great books that try to understand the meaning of life without reference to empty status. I'd read some of them and added the rest to my to-read list.

The problem of status, particularly with regards to consumer items is a bit unresolved. If we all lost interest in buying things, I'm afraid of what would happen to the economy. In this though, I am my own comfort, because however much I turn up my nose at the empty accumulation of "stuff" it keeps magically appearing in my house and needing to be decluttered. I suspect that the economy will be just fine for now.

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The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan

The Feminine Mystique by Betty Friedan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I finally read this feminist classic. The first half was super interesting both from a historical perspective and for the eerie feeling that it was describing my current life despite the fact that I have complete freedom to go back to work. Regarding the latter issue, I wonder how much housewife despair is actually the luxury and time to contemplate the lack of objective meaning in life. Is the distraction of work really the answer? Sooner or later we have to come to terms with meaning or lack thereof- may be at retirement or on our deathbed. I suppose if there is no answer, distraction is an adequate enough solution.

I especially liked how Friedan tied the oppression of women to the overall issues of labor and corporate abuses.

The second half the book suffered from a number of problems. As a number of other reviewers mentioned the comparison to Holocaust camps (to demonstrate the negative feelings of lack of control over one's own life) is inappropriate. Couldn't Friedan just have studied or discussed the effects of lack of control on regular prisoners? Or even on dependent elderly adults? The second half also had a lot of dated and strange views about homosexuality the book would have been better without. Finally, it got really repetitive.

Overall, well worth reading and contemplating how far we have and haven't come.

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We Were Feminists Once by Andi Zeisler

We Were Feminists Once: From Riot Grrrl to CoverGirl®, the Buying and Selling of a Political Movement by Andi Zeisler
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a great collection of examples of the corporate co-opting of feminism for decidedly unfeminist goals. I enjoyed reading it and zipped through it very quickly.

The problem is, who is this book for exactly? She talks at length about how the younger generation does not understand the complexities of feminism. This is very true, I'm only recently starting to grapple with and understand all the issues related to feminism and I still don't have much of a complete picture. I can't really recommend this book to my many friends that are clueless about feminism. On the other hand, if you're already deep into the feminist weeds, the stuff in this book is probably fairly obvious to you? So I also can't really recommend this book to my friends that have been grappling with feminism for years now. I'm as close to the target audience as possible I suppose in that it provides just one small piece of the puzzle for me even though I still lack a foundational understanding.

Zeisler also doesn't provide a lot of direction in terms of what we can do to de-corporatize feminism or utilize the co-opting as a weapon, or even any other feminist action to take. By comparison, Gloria Steinem's essay collections discuss community organizing at some length.

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Brave New World by Aldous Huxley

Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

A lot of interesting things to consider, but I can’t swallow the reduction and even near-banishment of suffering as synonymous with slavery. The first clue is when you consider pure slavery is synonymous with suffering. The second clue is that Huxley’s world isn’t a real improvement in suffering, as for example, when we cured polio. No one would legitimately claim we were in any way better off with polio. Instead, Huxley’s world is devoid of true joys like parenting and full of things that bring momentary pleasure like sexual encounters devoid of intimacy and drugs. So in that regard, he fails to sell me.

On the other hand, the Brave New World is more similar to the current world in 2017 than it was in the 1930s when it was written. The dogma of capitalism and positivity as religions does appear to rule our society for the worse. So as pure prediction Brave New World succeeds.

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Lady Chatterley's Lover by D.H. Lawrence

Lady Chatterley's Lover by D.H. Lawrence
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

At first, I loved this book, and it felt very modern, but as it continued it was just too much sex and conversations about sex. The first few conversations about sex were interesting in that the woman seemed so real and I was impressed with Lawrence's grasp of a modern woman. But later conversations about sex left me feeling like maybe Lawrence was actually missing the boat entirely. Also, it just became overplayed. The over-emphasis on sex made it feel decidedly not modern.

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The Traveler by John Twelve Hawks

The Traveler by John Twelve Hawks
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

The writing was not good, but it's full of interesting ideas and I think it might make a great movie.

I enjoyed the exploration of dataism versus living off the grid. And I'm always a fan of anticonsumerism. The author introduced me to some interesting ideas about quantum computers.

I wasn't into the fantasy element of the travelers. I didn't see the benefit of it or the tie into the other concepts.

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An Ideal Husband by Oscar Wilde

An Ideal Husband by Oscar Wilde
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

A hilarious comedy of errors full of thoughtfulness about ethics, politics, love, and marriage. I recommend it.

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The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin

The Dispossessed by Ursula K. Le Guin
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I don't know. It's well-written. It's an eloquent and complete answer to Ayn Rand about the possibilities of cooperation- not perfect even if set-up perfectly, but better than greed and selfishness. At the same time, the characters are real and moving people. This isn't an empty allegory.

Unfortunately, there wasn't a lot I actually enjoyed in this book. I more or less just powered through it.

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The Limits of Power by Andrew J. Bacevich

The Limits of Power: The End of American Exceptionalism by Andrew J. Bacevich
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is an old-school conservative view on America's foreign policy and its direct connection to our economic self-interest. Bacevich attributes blame for our failed and costly national security strategies on Republican presidents, Democratic presidents, Congress, Special Interests, military leadership, but most of all to the American people for being unwilling to sacrifice excessive consumption.

Bacevich provides an easy-to-understand summary of American economic and foreign policy since WWII to back up his thesis. He also discusses the role of a number of important executive and military leaders as well as civilian organizations. He doesn't pull any punches.

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The Art of Happiness by Dalai Lama XIV

The Art of Happiness by Dalai Lama XIV
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Howard C. Cutler is the actual author of the book. Basically, Cutler has an outline of topics and questions he asked the Dalai Lama and then there are the Dalai Lama's answers to the questions. The Dalai Lama answers are excellent (obviously) but I don't love the organization of the book. I've read better and clearer books on both Buddhism and on mindfulness. I do love the Dalai Lama though.

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Jennifer Government by Max Barry

Jennifer Government by Max Barry
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

A slightly silly but a fun dystopian action book. Also, this book is a fun liberal revenge on allegorical books by Ayn Rand. It is certainly more enjoyable than Ayn Rand.

On the other hand, now that there are daily news stories about the President-elect mixing his business interests with his government duties, are we plummeting more quickly toward the Jennifer Government world?

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Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life by Barbara Kingsolver
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book is excellent. It's not just another eat-real-food book to make us feel bad about the horror of the food industry in our country. This book is inspirational, scientifically accurate, apolitical, and beautifully written. She practices what she preaches too (though she's not very preachy), so the book is full of her own challenges and reflections on eating locally. Her daughters have clearly gained a lot from this way of life as well. This is a new nonfiction favorite for me.

It remains to be seen if I can implement some of the changes she's inspired, but I'm very optimistic I'll at least make some small but meaningful changes thanks to the book.

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The World Without Us by Alan Weisman

The World Without Us by Alan Weisman
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I'm of a very mixed mind about this book. I'll break it down by what I liked and what I didn't like.

What I liked:

Weisman covers the past, present and future of the planet- if in the future humans are extinct.

He gives a lot of background about how humans have damaged the planet and caused the extinction of species from our very earliest history.

Weisman does a pretty good job of highlighting how complicated and awful the things that we're doing to the planet are. These things are harming animals (and presumably us) and might ultimately lead to the extinction or aggressive evolution of many species.

In the future, our extinction, whether or not caused by this damage (probably not- our extinction is unlikely because we're basically cockroaches of survival) will not fully heal the planet. In fact, some of what we do is monitor our own damage by fighting invasive species or keeping the nuclear facilities/gas refineries/other scary factories from melting down.

He also discusses the benefits of population control.

Terrifying.

What I didn't like:

This book is super disorganized and boring. The three parts and chapter headings claim a certain organization that doesn't hold up as you read. The effect is that you feel like you're just reading a bunch of examples of awful things we've done, and how this might play out in a humanless future. I think this is because the idea for the book/title was a gimmick for sales.

His discussion of population control is very irreverent and doesn't seem very professional.

Here's an important thing he didn't discuss. What if we don't all disappear (unlikely) and in a more plausible situation a huge number of us die of a modern epidemic. How do the survivors take care of and protect all the nuclear facilities/gas refineries/other scary factories from melting down? How do we avoid some terrifying doomsday political takeover? How do we simply deal with all the bodies and trash that's left behind?

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The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey

The Total Money Makeover: Classic Edition: A Proven Plan for Financial Fitness by Dave Ramsey
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This is good advice for people who aren't succeeding on their own. I know lots of people who are doing well on their own, and doubtlessly they would disagree with a lot of Dave Ramsey's advice. That's fine. If they're doing fine, then they're fine following their own wisdom. Unfortunately the vast majority of Americans are not doing well financially by following the standard "wisdom." A lot of people are doing worse than even they realize. For these people, (um me too), this book is great. I've already addressed a lot of financial issues I was dealing with. Things are not perfect, but they are much improved because I've followed the advice in this book.

I'm on a big self-help kick!

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Declutter your Home Now! by Sophia Grace

Declutter your Home Now 2nd Edition! The simple guide to tips and tricks for simplifying your home and maximizing your space by Sophia Grace
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

I got all excited after I started to Konmari and I thought it would be interesting to find more tips, but this isn't very helpful. I would recommend The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondō instead.

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The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondō

The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up: The Japanese Art of Decluttering and Organizing by Marie Kondō
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Clothing/Bedroom
So I finished the book on March 17th, and I finished eliminating and organizing my clothing, purses, and jewelry before that, on March 16th. I also cleared out my bedroom of nonsense, and cleared off my desk in there, and the bedroom and desk are both a pleasure now. We were gone on vacation from March 17-22.

Books
I did my books pretty quickly when I got back because I was so excited to pick up where I left off. I got my nonfiction down to 45 + 3 borrowed books, and my fiction to 70 + 2 borrowed books. I broke the konmari rules a little and kept a bunch of books I have not yet read, and could probably still weed them down a little, but I'm happy with how little space they take up currently.

The only problem is that I have hundreds of my dad's books from when he passed away, so even though I made a lot more progress on those than in the last 4 years of slowing sorting them, they are a big project and they are kind of a cross between books and mementos.

Next up paper...
I suspect that most people do their clothes and then get stuck, based on the plethora of youtube videos about konmari and clothing items. But I'm resolved to through all the categories and all the rooms in my home.


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