The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning by Margaret Magnusson

 When you die, do your really want your children or others to have to clean up your mess?  That is the driving question behind this charming little self-help book.  Ms Magnusson tells us she is "between 80 and 100) and would like to share with us the important practice of "death cleaning". Death cleaning is going through your things, getting rid of many and deciding what will happen to the rest after you die.  She has some wonderfully practical advice for dealing with clothes, photographs, pets and keepsakes.  She also gives tips about what to tackle first, and suggestions like starting early so that you won't feel rushed at the end. 

The book is incredibly charming.  It is as if the reader has flown to Sweden, and sat down in a small, clean sitting room to chat with a wise and lovely octogenarian. The writing is completely free of pretence, and Magnusson states things frankly, but with sensitivity.  As an example, when talking about pets, she says something like, "if you want a pet for your final years, choose an elderly dog or cat that won't need a lot of exercise, and is unlikely to outlive you.  If you can't be sure you will be able to care for the pet until the end of your life, you should consider not getting one at all."  I think everyone who has aging parents would like their parents to read this book. It gives the reader permission to respectively discard things that are usually hard to get rid of.  It also depicts preparing for death, not as a drugary, but as an opportunity to review your life-long memories and serve your surviving family members. One charming thing about the book is occasionally Magnusson goes off on a memory tangent. The little stories she tells of her life make the whole book feel personal and friendly. This book is quite popular right now.  It is a more palatable approach to dejunking and organizing than Marie Kondo's book, The Life-changing Magic of Tidying Up, and one I hope I will remember as I move deeper into senior citizenship. (2020, 144p)