The Hoarder in You

The Hoarder in You: How to Live a Happier, Healthier, Uncluttered Life by Robin Zasio (2011) 222 pages

As a daughter helping a parent downsize living quarters, I have been hearing the siren call from beloved items from my childhood home.  Serendipity brought this book my way! Psychologist Robin Zasio handles the challenges from both extreme hoarders, who have homes that are unsafe, to those who have piles of clutter that are hard to get under control.

There are lots of helpful charts throughout the book, and lots of hand-holding, helping us try to figure out why it's so hard to pass up a great deal. Zasio's refrain is to look for the greater good: Holding onto something that we think has value, but which doesn't have a "home" in our home, may actually cause us more stress than not accepting it into our home at all. I found this book helpful.

The missing treasures of Amy Ashton

 

The missing treasures of Amy Ashton / Elanor Ray, 305 pgs.

Amy Ashton has had a tough 11 years or so.  Her boyfriend ran off with her best friend and she has not recovered.  In fact, she sank into a funk so deep, she became a bit of a hoarder and gave up on anything she enjoyed doing.  Now, some new neighbors have moved in and Amy is engaging in new social activities.  She finds something that might be a clue to the disappearance and is in touch again with the police and old friends who knew the situation.  Where will this lead?  Will she get closure?  Will she change her lifestyle?  Read and find out.

The Missing Treasures of Amy Ashton

The Missing Treasures of Amy Ashton by Eleanor Ray, 305 pages

Years ago, Amy Ashton's best friend and boyfriend vanished on the same day. While the police concluded that they ran off together, Amy's convinced that her two favorite people in the world would never do that to her. As investigators, family, and friends moved on, Amy became stuck, staying at the same "temporary" job she had when they disappeared and gathering lost "treasures," that include discarded bottles, plant pots (but not the plants), newspapers, and a veritable flock of ceramic birds. Now, Amy's treasures have overtaken her home, and the pressure of meddling neighbors and rambunctious children next door is beginning to make Amy's collection, and her mental health, crumble.

This is a very real and humane look at hoarding, mental health, grief, and the relationships that make up our lives. I loved the way Ray treated Amy's many issues with kindness and empathy, particularly as hoarding has become such a sensationalized issue in much mainstream media. I absolutely loved this book, and recommend it to those who enjoyed Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine.

Truly Madly Guilty

Truly Madly Guilty by Liane Moriarty (2016) 415 pages

Australian author Liane Moriarty, author of Big Little Lies, The Last Anniversary, Nine Perfect Strangers, and more, brings us three couples whose lives have changed because of an incident that occurred during a backyard barbecue. Clementine, a cellist preparing for an audition with the Sydney Royal Chamber Orchestra, is married to Sam, who has just gotten a new job marketing energy drinks. They have two small children. Erika and her husband Oliver are both accountants, enjoying the rigor of jobs that make up for the uncertainty they each experienced as children of dysfunctional parents. Vid and Tiffany love to entertain, and have plenty of money to do so with relish. The reader is kept in suspense about the barbecue for what seems like too long as Moriarty weaves the story, going back and forth through the past two months, with a few stops at the childhoods of Clementine and Erika, who've known each other for many years. But as the story unwinds, it turns out that all the details gleaned during the lead-up to the incident contribute strongly to the story's impact. Great multi-layered story incorporating marriages, friendships, children and secrets.

Mess

Mess: one man's struggle to clean up his house and his act / Barry Yourgrau 276 pgs.

Always willing to judge a book by its cover, this one really spoke to me. The piles of newspapers making up the word "Mess" reminds me of the challenges I read about in Stuff: compulsive hoarding and the meaning of things by Randy O. Frost and Gail Steketee.  This book, however, is better because it is a first person account of a very challenging living arrangement that prevented the author from having things fixed in his apartment and threatened his romantic relationship one day when his girlfriend stopped by and he wouldn't let her in his abode.  I could relate to almost all of the reasons the author kept the things that he did and have a lot of empathy for his situation.

This book is funny, endearing, and very readable.

check our catalog

Homer and Langley

Homer and Langley by E.L. Doctorow  208 pp.

Homer and Langley Collyer were real people. In 1947 the eccentric brothers were found dead in their N.Y. mansion filled with old newspapers and the other detritus of their bizarre habits. Doctorow created a fictionalized version of the story narrated by Homer, the brother who loses his eyesight as a teenager. Langley goes off to fight in WWI and is severely injured by mustard gas. He returns home changed both physically and mentally to find his brother living alone in their Fifth Avenue mansion with the servants. Their parents died during the Spanish flu epidemic. Their home becomes a haven for tea dances, Langley's cockeyed projects, musicians, gangsters, hippies, a Model T in the dining room, and others who wander through the lives of the brothers. Fights with the health department, utility companies, and banks cause an increased sense of paranoia in the brothers who end up shuttering their house and booby trapping it to stop unwanted invaders. Doctorow takes liberties with the story by having the brothers live long past 1947. Their lives in the story are marked by the succession of wars up through Vietnam. Who knows what made the real Collyer brothers live like they did? Doctorow's speculation makes for a good story.

Stuff: compulsive hoarding and the meaning of things

Stuff: compulsive hoarding and the meaning of things/Randy Frost & Gail Steketee 290 pgs.

Boy does this hit close to home. I have gotten pretty good about not getting things but still have a hard time getting rid of what I have. Family on both sides are more obviously troubled and certainly a few hoarders there. Very interesting book as I recognized many of the reasons I keep things. It scared me into getting rid of some "treasures" this morning. Hopefully it will motivate me to continue. - Christa