Ponder: How to Manage Your Home...

It feels like a long time since I have read a book. My most recent Wander or Ponder post that was a book review was dated over a month ago, on March 17, 2020.

The previous day – Monday, March 16, 2020 – our county of Alameda was one of five counties in California mandated to shelter in place to avoid spread of the coronavirus COVID-19. This was the same Monday Frank and I were supposed to travel to Oklahoma but had canceled our plans a few days before as a health precaution. So we were sheltering at home. This was a perfect opportunity to curl up safe with a book while the world around succumbs to an unprecedented madness. I was reading – but reading all the notices and cautions on the internet, reading the news and science articles about the economic and health impact of the pandemic raging around us. I was watching TV. Somehow my interest was not held in reading any books for pleasure.

So when, a few days ago, I did venture forth toward my towering pile of library books I've been unable to return because the library is closed, I picked a book that had no plot, no characters, and a setting that was quite a messy one. The title was How to Manage Your Home Without Losing Your Mind; Dealing with Your House's Dirty Little Secrets by Dana K. White, creator of a blog titled A Slob Comes Clean.

Initially a Pinterest note with its polka dot image and paradoxical lure of decluttering advice from a slob had attracted me to this reference. I had requested the book from my local library via interlibrary loan and checked it out on March 3. It had lain untouched on my pile for over two weeks. I thought since I was stuck home and wanted to use the time judiciously to declutter, it might be a mindless read, giving advice and perspective on placing order within my inner, now pretty confining, world. The author had a humorous and self-deprecating tone that made the book a fun read. Dana K. White reminded me a bit of Erma Bombeck. Each chapter began by comparing fantasy with reality.

I read, but then ignored her chapters on laundry, but her chapters on container and shelf limits were valuable to keep in mind. I read this book quickly but gleaned many useful ideas from it. I did more than skim, but neither did I digest each and every word. It was worth the modicum of time I invested. I rate it three stars, which equates to Better than average; not a waste of time.