An Edited Life by Anna Newton
Written by Ashley Kelmore, Posted in Reviews
Three Stars
Best for:
People looking for another guide to organizing their lives.
In a nutshell:
Author Newton offers detailed suggestions for organizing one’s life.
Worth quoting:
Not quotes per se, but there are definition a bunch of suggestions that I’ve underlined and will be incorporating into my life.
Why I chose it:
I’m a sucker for a organizational book, especially one that’s visually attractive.
Review:
I do love me a good home and life organizing book. As I’ve probably said before, at this point its usually good not for wholesale overhauls of how I run my work and home life, but I always get some interesting tips. I’ve been reading enough of these books to have my own opinions about suggestions that may or may not work (and at this point I pretty much always skip money/budget sections — YNAB or GTFO). Usually there are also whole sections about organizing related to children or pets, but the author has neither, is open about that, and so doesn’t venture into that area.
I enjoyed Newton’s conversational style – the overall tone was less user manual and more blog, and I mean that in the best way possible. Organizational books can lean too far into dry tips, or conversely feel overly familiar or even emotional. Newton strikes a good balance there. I don’t think there was anything life-changing (no immediate Marie Kondo-ing my house), but lots of little things that might help improve the daily business of living.
I have to end with the first thing I said when I picked up this book and started flipping through it. It has fairly tiny type, is a tall book, and runs over 250 pages. “An edited life? Maybe start with an edited book.” It’s a dad joke but it applies. It’s pretty to look at, but I did at times have a hard time actually reading the book, because there is color text, and that color is pale blue. That is not easy on the eyes; by the end there were whole sections that I just couldn’t read without straining, so I just skimmed.
Keep it / Pass to a Friend / Donate it / Toss it:
Keep it
