The Simplicity Reader: Simplify Your Life: 100 Ways to Slow Down & Enjoy the Things That Really Matter

by Elaine St. James and Athena Dixon

A trio of popular inspirational self-help guides--Simplify Your Life, Inner Simplicity, and Living the Simple Life--explains how to rid one's life of unnecessary clutter and offers practical advice on... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0765116766
• ISBN13: 9780765116765
• Release Date: January 1999
• Publisher: Smithmark Publishers
• Length: 872 Pages
• Weight: 2.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 2.2" x 6.0" x 8.6"

Customer Reviews

Simplify Now

I love simplify-your-life books. Them, and etiquette manuals. This book is an excellent source of tips for simplicity. I keep it on my (now purged) bookshelf in my (vastly de-cluttered) living room, and it's something I thumb through regularly. St. James presents a hundred common-sense simplicity tips that anyone with an overscheduled life could use--whether or not they're rich and ready to retire off the grid. Of course the author writes from her personal experience. But her 1980s out-of-control yuppie lifestyle can be swiftly translated into the out-of-control soccer mom lifestyle of the 1990s and now the divorced-single-parent-midlife-change-re-entering-the-social-shpere 2000s lifestyle. While some of her suggestions are not applicable to every life situation, I really don't believe they are contingent upon having extra money and hours and hours of free time. I'm a teacher. I certainly haven't either money or time to be slinging around on impractical psycho-babble: that's why I like this book so much! It's totally practical and an excellent starting point for more personalized simplification. Go. Read. And make some changes in your life. Give stuff away. Go on, it's good for you!

Worth every penny

I don't know why so many people reacted negatively to this book. I've borrowed it so many times from the library that I'm finally getting my own copy this week. Basically, St James shares with us her wonderful ideas and methods for simplifying her own life. My husband and I, as we progress on our walk with Jesus, have implemented so many of these that our lives are forever changed. From how to painlessly "Declutter" your garage without missing things to ideas for comfortably sleeping without having a bed that takes an hour to make, every single piece of advice in here is worth the read. My husband and I sleep, eat, and live better thanks to alot of these common sense ideas, and though we came to many of the same conclusions on our own, it's wonderful to have a book to refer to when in doubt! I recommend this to everyone who asks us "how come you guys always seem to have it together?"

Only for enlightenment seekers...

This book changed my life. It allowed me to focus on what is truly important in life. Once I started following just a few of her easy to implement ideas, a shift on priorities occured. Most all the simplifying books available suggest such complicated things. Elaine is to the point, with great insite and full of real experience. As a reader you understand how her life changed and how to change yours. One glance at any number of ideas, and you will understand the power in this book. You read it on your own time, let it unfold as you are ready. All the suggestions are practical and potent. Only a person who has a true desire to find peace and enlightenment will appreciate this book. I have given it to several people has gifts, and watched their life change before my very eyes.