Spark Joy

An Illustrated Guide to the Japanese Art of Tidying

By: Marie Kondo

Narrated by: Sumalee Montano

Random House presents the unabridged, downloadable audiobook edition of Spark Joy by Marie Kondo, read by Sumalee Montano. This edition includes a bonus PDF of reference materials.

Spark Joy is an in-depth, line illustrated, room-by-room guide to decluttering and organising your home. It covers every room in the house from bedrooms and kitchens to bathrooms and living rooms as well as a wide range of items in different categories, including clothes, photographs, paperwork, books, cutlery, cosmetics, shoes, bags, wallets and valuables. Charming line drawings explain how to properly organise drawers, wardrobes, cupboards and cabinets. The illustrations also show Ms Kondo’s unique folding method, clearly showing how to fold anything from shirts, trousers and jackets to skirts, socks and bras.

The secret to Marie Kondo’s unique and simple KonMari tidying method is to focus on what you want to keep, not what you want to get rid of. Ask yourself if something ‘sparks joy’ and suddenly it becomes so much easier to understand if you really need it in your home and your life. When you surround yourself with things you love you will find that your whole life begins to change.

Marie Kondo’s first book, The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying, presents her unique tidying philosophy and introduces readers to the basics of her KonMari method. It has already transformed the homes and lives of millions of people around the world. Spark Joy is Marie Kondo’s in-depth tidying masterclass, focusing on the detail of how to declutter and organise your home.

Critic reviews

Its strength is its simplicity. (Richard Lloyd Parry)

All hail the new decluttering queen Marie Kondo, whose mess-busting bestseller has prompted a craze for tidying in homes across the world ... one proper clear out is all you need for the rest of your life.

Do I love it? If not, chuck it. Marie Kondo promises that by following her KonMari Method I will be a neatnik, forever ... I decide The Life-changing Magic of Tidying will become my bible. (Brigid Moss)

[It is] enough to salute Kondo for her recognition of something quietly profound: that mess is often about unhappiness, and that the right kind of tidying can be a kind of psychotherapy for the home as well as for the people in it.

The tidiness regimen prescribed by Japanese author Marie Kondo is a great idea. It’s so great that maybe we need to expand its reach

Marie Kondo is definitely life-changing

I recommend her first book first, The Life-changing Magic of Tidying, which honestly couldn't be better named. It is excellent at giving the general how to with every category and is also short and easy to get through. It's the crash course you need.

This book builds on the original, brings some clarity on the finer points, adds lessons learned over the years since writing it and answers a lot of questions raised by her many clients. The tidying journey is a personal one based on your own individual personality and values and so having more clarity for those of us who may have different systems is definitely helpful.

The first book definitely did change my life. This one has been helping me navigated some of those trickier decisions as I work towards finishing my tidying marathon and gave me that encouragement and inspiration I needed to continue through the last and most difficult parts - confronting sentimental items.

I've been listening to it while meditating on finding a place for those things I couldn't bear to part with and have been finding its advice very helpful in guaging my feelings around those objects and their purpose to me. Remember, after discarding comes finding your possessions a home, which she also touches on more in this book as well. I found this book helpful for adapting my space more to my own style while still giving practical advice on what measures to use for joy check and how to store them.

Before & After

Read this before or after the other KonMari books and enjoy your joyous journey, through tidying, to the lifestyle you want.

Effective and Useful

I felt for this book as a spiritual book simply because if you follow the steps and put it to use in your life, you will connect to yourself with more clarity and in turn, will have better relationships with people around you.

I loved the book and the storytelling and found many useful tips for my already clean and tidy home and closet. The only thing I felt missing during the entire book was the need for subtitles along with the audio recording.

a new beginning

This was a master piece for me. I have never thought about my possessions like this before. The JOY feature makes it easy to decide what to keep and what to discard. The method is well described, it makes sense and is easy to implement. I do not need any other work/book on this topic.

Game-changer

It is an amazing invitation to explore kindness through all the aspects of life. To be respectful and mindful of the things we surround ourselves with as they are a reflection of our minds and souls.