This was a neat concept, and some of the advice was practical, but I couldn't get over the sweeping Orientalism and fetishizing of the Japanese way of life. ( )

Some great advice mixed between page filling rubbish and a world view I question. Telling people to do more activities or exactly what should be owned, saying that homeless women doing exercise is still admirable seems odd; why not not admire them and help that culture change to remove homelessness. Quite disappointing ( )

This is something you read with glee because there's someone more pretentious than you and you can have a giggle about them. This lady has no self-awareness. To be a minimalist you have to obsess over every single item you own. Each one has to be perfect or your life is worthless. And remember some items are bad and some are necessary and the only way to tell them apart is to ask this lady who uses water dowsing as scientific backing (also believes in homeopathy, acupuncture and anything newagey). Dimmable lights are a must (actually in the book!), rugs are a no-no. Basically, your house needs to be empty save for the few items she happens to enjoy. List of things achieved by people with nothing in their houses:

...

Everything else was invented by people who's workshop looked like a rat's nest. Yes, if you do nothing all day other than lounge around and listen to opera on your feng-shui compliant gramophone then you can probably live like a nun in a cell like this lady self-proclaims she does. ( )

CBR 10 BINGO Square: Brain Candy

Best for: People interested in some fun home and beauty tips (but only if you skip the section related to health and food, because it is awful). If you’re really interested in a fun minimalism book, just get the Marie Kondo one.

In a nutshell: French author has ideas on how to live a minimalistic life, mostly borrowed from her view of Japanese culture.

Worth quoting:
“Life is far more enjoyable when we cultivate the habit of losing ourselves in our own thoughts: this is a precious gift that brings great happiness.”

Why I chose it:
I love shit like this (usually). I like organizational tips.

Review:
This book is equal parts useful and dangerous. On the one hand, Loreau offers some great points about being present in the moment, about minimizing our possessions, and about the need to focus on one thing at a time. Given the fact that I’m currently writing this review while listening to a podcast and eating breakfast, I can obviously use some help on the latter at least. If that were the entirety of the book, then this would probably be a three-star book for me.

But it’s not. Loreau also jumps into the discussion of physical and mental health, and hoo boy, does she get it super wrong. I mean yes, of course, less sugar is probably a good thing (for most, but not all, people), but her obsession with getting the reader to want to be slim (skinny) is just bizarre. There’s a whole section of affirmations focused on this idea, as though one cannot be fat and happy or “overweight” and healthy. It’s insulting. And if someone had a history of body image issues or disordered eating, it could be triggering.

And then there’s her flippant ideas about mental health and human relationships. She literally says that we should “swap our therapy sessions for a case of champagne.” The fuck? She also thinks we should never be critical of others or complain. Her solution is we should write a lot (good!) but never share our writing. Yes, I’ve seen and understand the thinking of, if you’re upset with someone, writing them a letter to get it all out and then burning the letter. But this feels different. I think that if Loreau were in charge of the world, there would be no negative or critical analysis of anything.

So, this book failed as a Brain Candy read because it wasn’t just fun and fluffy. But I chose it for that, so I’m stuck with it. ( )

This book is an excellent read packed full of advice. I have dog-earred it, written all over it, made notes to myself, etc.

I feel as if [a:Dominique Loreau|1015513|Dominique Loreau|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png] is giving advice specifically to ME. I'm not kidding, there are so many things I can use from household (i.e., keep each complete set of bedlinens inside one of its pillowcases) to life lessons (i.e., never accept something you don't want).

This is one of the best things that has come my way in a LONG time!

Note: My copy is a paperback, Advance Readers' Edition, an uncorrected proof. I will be purchasing the final edition for friends as soon as it's available 1/03/2017. ( )