Unf*ck Your Habitat: You’re Better Than Your Mess by Rachel S. Hoffman
Reviewed by: Sylvia Shults, Circulation
Genre: Nonfiction, Life Advice
Suggested Age: Adults
What is the book about?: We all struggle with mess. But cleaning your home doesn’t have to be this huge, intimidating chore. Hoffman gets it. Keeping a tidy home kind of sucks, but it has to be done. Hoffman is here to walk you through this. If you’d like to have a clean (okay, clean-ish) home, but you think Marie Kondo is a bit weird, this is the book for you.
My Review: I honestly thought twice and three times about doing this review, because it’s not usually my nature to review books with swear words in the title. (Read ’em? Sure, no problem. Review them? Um…) But this is such an important book, I would feel guilty NOT telling you about it. I am an indifferent housekeeper at the best of times. Do I wish my house didn’t look like I’ve been battling a poltergeist for the past six days? Of course I do. But life happens. And sometimes, I don’t feel like cleaning. Get this — the author of this book says It’s okay. It’s okay to not feel like cleaning. As a matter of fact, the author points out that there can be mitigating circumstances that mess with your ability to clean. You could be depressed, and not give a toss about having a super-clean house. You could have trauma left over from childhood, when you were maybe forced to clean and told you hadn’t done a “good enough” job, or weren’t told when you could stop. (Raises hand. Yeah, that’s me.) Hoffman explains this quietly, respectfully, and absolutely without judgement. Then she explains how to have a cleanish house in spite of yourself. One of her most valuable suggestions, one that really resonated with me, is the 20-10 rule. Instead of wading into a marathon cleaning session (which will probably just lead to getting burned out halfway through and abandoning the whole project), clean for twenty minutes, then take a ten-minute break. Or make a 30-10 rule. Or 5-15. Whatever works for you. Another thing I found incredibly helpful is the suggestion to clean one flat surface. Just one. A kitchen counter. A desk. Just. One. If you can do one, you can do more. And that kind of gentle encouragement is worth overlooking a swear word.
Three Words That Describe This Book: Compassionate, Firm, Nonjudgmental
Give This a Try if You Like… The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, by Marie Kondō, The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning by Margareta Magnusson
Rating: 5/5
About FDL Reads
Welcome to FDL Reads, weekly book reviews from Fondulac District Library. Librarians (and possibly some other guest reviewers) review all types of books, from children’s picture books, young adult favorites, to the latest adult thriller, and share their thoughts each week at fondulaclibrary.org. If the book is owned by Fondulac District Library (or another local library), you’ll see a direct link to the catalog entry and whether or not it is available. If it is checked out or at another local library, you will be able to place a hold as long as you have your library card and PIN numbers. As with any book review, these are our opinions…we disagree amongst ourselves about books frequently. We all have different likes and dislikes, which is what makes the world an interesting place. Please enjoy, and keep on reading!