My Boyfriend Barfed in My Handbag... and Other Things You Can't Ask Martha

My Boyfriend Barfed in My Handbag... and Other Things You Can't Ask Martha
Jolie Kerr, 2014

Premise: Learn how to clean all your things, with a dollop of motivation and a side dose of humor.

I wish I'd had this book years ago. As an aspiring Clean Person (to use the author's somewhat tongue-in-cheek terminology), I had to muddle through figuring out how, how often, and with what to clean various surfaces and appliances over my adult life. (Seriously, there was way more trial and error in those early days than there should have been.)

I do okay these days, but I still found good tips and knowledge here. I especially like the balance between basics and exceptions. She features some of the wild questions she received as an advice columnist, but the solutions to most of them build on the fundamental advice about types of stains, types of methods, and types of cleansers.

The book also features the same mix of gentle shame and funny encouragement that I loved in her online writing. She distinguishes between things you maybe should do, things that will be nice, and things you must do.

On fighting bugs in the pantry: "You have my permission to wear one of those plastic horned Viking helmets if it will make you feel better about things."

On "hairbleweeds": "the best cure I can prescribe is a combination of a handheld vacuum and constant vigilance."

I definitely think I would have gotten more out of this if I had spent less time working out my own preferred solutions to general cleaning conundrums, but it was still an enjoyable and informative read.

4 Stars - A Very Good Book