The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up by Marie Kondo; This book is ridiculously popular right now, which really speaks to something I do not understand at all. I am very clean and neat by nature, so I read this as a fellow tidier and really agreed with everything Kondo writes about. There are definitely some things that get lost in translation -- such as the need not to hold on to too many charms from shrines, not a problem for many messy Americans. The thrust of the book is basically to get rid of as much of your stuff as possible and only keep the essentials. When you get rid of a sweater that you never wore, you shouldn't feel guilty, you should thank it for teaching you an important lesson about what doesn't work in your wardrobe, and then you should wish it well as you put it out into the world where it will find a new owner. Since finishing this book, I have packed up ten boxes of stuff to donate, which felt amazing. This book is a delight but it will not change your life and if you are intrigued by the thought of getting rid of everything, I'd advise skimming it. Under no circumstances is this a book you should own.
It's All Good by Gwyneth Paltrow; Not a self-help book per se, but a GOOP publication about eating healthy, so close enough. Those damn freckles on her nose were what convinced me to get this book. I will eat anything that gives me adorable freckles like that. So there are some legitimately good recipes in here, but I'm not someone who needs recipes for things like smoothies. Also, she gives a lot of weird pseudo-medical advice about cutting everything out of your diet in order to self-diagnose food allergies or pseudo-allergies, and I find that highly suspect. All things in moderation, including Gwynnie. I should maybe mention that I am generally very pro-Gwyneth and I find her particular brand of highly aspirational authentic living to be as close to a religion as I can muster. She got me to drink almond milk and do Pilates, two things I don't regret.
Lean In by Sheryl Sandberg; This book got way too much attention for the wrong reasons. It's a great book of career advice, for men or women, and it also makes a very deliberate point of illustrating the ways in which the American political and economic systems in place are generally impeding women's careers. Some people are mad that she's rich and wrote this book, which makes no sense because I don't want career advice from anyone who isn't rich...? She never asserts that being rich is the solution to anyone's problems -- I think she just felt the need to qualify over and over again how lucky she is/was to have a support system that allowed her to accomplish everything that she did, and to further contrast her experience with that of so many women who lack her resources. I feel the same way about this as I do about Lena Dunham -- if you're going to have an opinion anyway, at least read the book/watch the show.