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Marie Kondo: How Bookworms Can Make the KonMari Method Work

Image by danuta niemiec from Pixabay

For the new year, Netflix blessed us with the charming new series Tidying Up With Marie Kondo, a reality show based on the KonMari method and hosted by Marie Kondo herself, that sees clutter-hoarders transform their spaces (and themselves) by clearing everything out. The series may have a simple premise, but it’s been winning hearts with its sweet approach to tidying, including greeting the home and focusing on joy. However, one aspect that has been bringing bookworms more anxiety than joy is the idea of clearing out their bookshelves — because bookworms are hoarders, and there is little more satisfying than gazing out on a wall of neatly stacked shelves. It’s enough to make any reader feel all warm and fuzzy inside…but Marie Kondo believes that at least some of these have to go.

Of course, she’s not a book-hater. The simple fact that Kondo devotes an entire section of her method to books (and only one to a combo of kitchen, bathroom, garage, and miscellaneous) shows that she has real respect for the bookworms among us and how daunting the idea of clearing out a bookcase can be. However, we’ve got some ways for you to understand some of her more controversial opinions, clear the shelves and still feel good about it.

Posted by Rose Moore

Tips from Manfried: How to Dress Up Your Man

It's National Dress Up Your Pet Day, and we couldn't be more excited about all the adorable costumes gracing our social media feeds. If you're like us, you know dressing up your pet can be the cutest, funniest, and most precious thing in this world. But what about in another world, like the one where Steve Catson and his pet man Manfried live? In Manfried the Man, the roles of cats and humans are reversed, putting humanoid felines in charge of tiny, dim-witted little man-pets. In honor of Dress Up Your Pet Day, we're giving a how-to lesson on dressing up your man.

Have you read Manfried the Man? Read it before the second book, Manfried Saves the Day, hits bookshelves this May.

Posted by Quirk Books Staff

Least Threatening Villains in Lit and Pop Culture

Looking for more villains like these? Check out The Legion of Regrettable Supervillains or The League of Regrettable Sidekicks by Jon Morris!


The best villains are the ones that are truly scary. The bad guys who make us quake in our boots, who leave us terrified and truly convinced that becoming their enemy would be the worst possible scenario. Take Amy in Gone Girl, a woman who isn’t at all physically threatening, but whose meticulous scheming and total lack of a conscience make her utterly terrifying. Or consider Thanos, the recent big bad of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. There’s a villain who may be bright purple, but who is physically intimidating and emotionally unperturbed by wiping out half the living things in the universe in a single snap.

These are the villains that are true nightmare fodder, that all other villains aspire to emulate. Of course, there are also the truly sympathetic villains — the cool kids, the guys who may want to raise hell, but are so charming that we’d probably just let them do it. And then…there are these guys. The ones who may dream of being true villains, but who barely make it out of laughing stock level who couldn’t make a chihuahua tremble if they tried.

Posted by Rose Moore

Frankenstein’s Support Group for Misunderstood Monsters: Chapter 18

Last time: In Which Frankenstein Already Knows How to Get to Almond Avenue

Next time: Titania's First Support Group Meeting

New to the group? Meet the monsters.

Posted by Jadzia Axelrod

Benign Situations That Could Easily Turn into Horror Films

Escape Room is the latest movie to take an innocuous pastime and turn it into a horror film (see also Truth or Dare). While escape rooms are horror-based to begin with—otherwise, there would be no reason to, y’know, escape—it is worth imagining what harmless life event could next be mined for horror fodder.

Posted by Jadzia Axelrod

The Literary Roles of Eddie Redmayne

Happy birthday, Eddie Redmayne! We’re obsessed with the fact that you keep starring in literary adaptations. We like to imagine you sitting on set with the original novel – dog eared and filled with marginalia. In honor of your special day, we’re diving into every single literary adaptation that bares your name. Even the rumored ones.

Posted by Danielle Mohlman