I have been following The Minimalists for a little while and was excited to read this book. Listened to it on audio and read along with the print. There was a lot of great information on how to minimize your life of unnecessary physical and emotional clutter, as well as the back story of the Minimalists themselves. If you have been on a minimalism journey for a while, this information might not be new, but it is interesting and I learned from it.

Thank you to the publishers for the gifted copy.

This is not my genre!!!


I’m sorry, but I did not enjoy this book whatsoever. I can definitely understand why people love it and honestly I would still recommend it because it’s very eye opening - just not my read!

I enjoyed this audiobook and the physical copy of this book so much. I wrote all over this book. Taking notes & underlining all the things. I loved how resourceful and helpful this book was. It was extremely eye opening that with less gave me more! More time and space for all the things that make my heart happy, all the things that spark joy. I highly recommend this one!!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my advance copy in exchange for my honest review!

I initially thought this book would just teach me to throw out possessions I don’t need. It touches on getting rid of possessions but more so teaches how getting rid of things we don’t need, including toxic relationships, gives us value to our own lives and allows us to focus more on what we need mentally, emotionally, physically so we can enjoy what we do have. I don’t know about you but I’m all for less stress in my life!

I also liked that this book was part self-improvement and part memoir. I need a little memoir to keep me into nonfiction so I don’t get fact overload. This is a happy medium.

I was fortunate to receive a copy from @celadonbooks but also listened to it on audio and then went to my physical copy for note taking. The audio is great and read by The Minimalists themselves. Highly recommend this one if you’re looking for self-improvement, de-stressing, and getting out of debt.

Many thanks to @celadonbooks and @macmillan.audio for the print copy and audio version of this book!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an electronic copy to listen to and review.

I've been a follower of the Minimalists for a while. I enjoyed the new information and thoughts shared in this book. There are some good action items to help you on your journey.

Great audiobook. The narration is easy to listen to. The book is like a compilation of their most important podcast topics. Very enjoyable.

Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus have been around for a while now in the minimalism world.
If you have seen their "Minimalism" documentary on Netflix (which I recommend), the first part of the book may be a bit redundant, but a good refresher. This book isn't just about the piles of "stuff" taking over your life. It's also about your relationship with that stuff and why you have it, why its invading your life and causing such stress. Its about losing the stuff so you can regain yourself. Its not about getting rid of all of your possessions. Its about keeping the possessions that you truly love and bring fulfillment to your life. Its simple...Love People, Use Things.

(I also requested and read along an ebook while listening to this audiobook. I got the ebook first, but when I saw that the audiobook was read by the authors, I had to request that too.)

DNF at 33%. I was very excited for the premise of this book, but the execution left something to be desired. I appreciated that the authors made it clear that minimalism is not just throwing out all your possessions, and that some possessions are more valuable to one person than they would be to another. I also liked that they tried to use personal stories to get their point across.

While the authors advocate minimalism, the narrative felt very bloated - Milburn loves to wax poetic about various stories and read long lists of the items people buy or then throw out. I can't count how many times the book contains the word "stuff". He also interjects unnecessary information like the Latin origins of words - these don't make the text more powerful. Nicodemus interjects at the end of some chapters with tips for the reader - this style threw me off. This book straddles the boundaries of memoir and self-help, and in the 33% I listened to, it didn't accomplish either goal.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.