Book Reviews
My love-hate relationship with Marie Kondo
I thought I was done, I did, really I did. And then my love-hate relationship with Marie Kondo flared again, when a client gifted me her spare copy of the life-changing manga of tidying up. My yo-yoing sentiments towards Ms. Kondo have been my struggle for years: Marie Kondo: the life-changing magic of tidying-up:…
Read MoreHoarder Homes Piles of Hazards for Firefighters
Hoarder Homes Piles of Hazards for Firefighters, written by Charleston Battalion Chief Ryan Pennington, is a book that everyone who knows anyone who serves as a fireman needs to gift to that courageous and selfless soul. Mr. Pennington gave a talk at the 2025 Chicagoland Hoarding Task Force Virtual Learning Expo and I immediately bought…
Read MoreTimeless Advice from Harold L. Taylor
Harold L. Taylor is a revered member of the professional organizing community, a recipient of the National Association of Productivity and Organizing Professionals‘ Founder’s Award. A retiring colleague gifted her books to my NAPO chapter, WA State, and I grabbed Harold’s Making Time Work for You. The “new revised edition of the classic time management…
Read MoreLooking for rags in all the wrong places
I’ve just twisted a great song into a pretzel, but I couldn’t resist. H&M, a clothing retailer often cited for contributing to staggering rates of global pollution by producing “fast fashion,” also tries to be a part of the solution. I was excited by that, but then started poking around, and found a compelling rebuttal…
Read MoreThe C.H.A.O.S. Cure – Marla Cilley speedread
I read The FlyLady Marla Cilley‘s Sink Reflections a looooooong time ago (my review is here). And I enjoyed it. I frequently recommend it, her techniques and her community. I got my hands on her book The C.H.A.O.S. Cure a couple of weeks ago and enjoyed it just as much. The C.H.A.O.S. Cure is half…
Read MoreMessie Condo’s books
Messie Condo is good at organizing. If you can get past the cursing. Dis native Nu Yawker can get past the cursing. I simply read da books in a Brooklyn accent. And ya gotta get past the sarcasm. I tought Messie’s funny, even if Messie is from Jersey. Since I write a family-friendly (not THAT…
Read MoreI AM NOT SICK I Don’t Need Help!
I AM NOT SICK I Don’t Need Help! My clients, my colleagues, my friends, my family and I sometimes slam into the steel wall of those words, spoken by someone we love, and we stagger away battered and stunned. I AM NOT SICK I Don’t Need Help!, a book by Xavier Amador, Ph.D. teaches a…
Read MoreTerry Matlen The Queen of Distraction
Terry Matlen, an ADHD-abled ADHD coach and psychotherapist wrote a marvelously multi-purposed book The Queen of Distraction. It’s an excellent compilation of techniques for women to successfully adapt to a wide variety of the possible symptoms of ADHD. It’s an eye-opening introduction to the symptoms. It’s confirmation that women with ADHD aren’t imagining their symptoms.…
Read MoreDo I Need This? Kate Schermerhorn
Do I Need This? Kate Schermerhorn, an award-winning photographer and filmmaker, big-heartedly gave my NAPO Washington State Chapter an 11/1/2022 private screening of Do I Need This?, her documentary about her keeping instincts, intertwined with and reinforced by her time as a witness to her mother’s decline in dementia. This post is way so many…
Read MoreBeautiful Oops
Beautiful Oops! and My Book of Beautiful Oops! – a scribble it, smear it, fold it, tear it journal for young artists are beautiful nonsense, masterpieces championing the idea that imperfection and mistakes are OK. Not only OK, but inspiring. Nothing to be afraid of. Marla Cilley, on pages 14 – 15 of her lovely…
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