Book Review: Love People, Use Things by Joshua Fields Millburn & Ryan Nicodemus

Love People, Use Things: Because the Opposite Never Works.  Joshua Fields Millburn & Ryan Nicodemus. Celadon Books (2021). 336 pages. Genre: Non-fiction.

First Line of Preface:  "The streets are erumpent with uniformed men wielding titanic assault rifles."

Summary:  After doing the hard work of removing physical clutter from your life, what comes next? In this book Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus, also known as The Minimalists, explore what it might look like to remove excess clutter from your inner life by looking at seven relationships in our lives.  These essential relationships make us who we are: stuff, truth, self, values, money, creativity and people.  Removing clutter in these areas can help us live more intentionally. 

My thoughts:  This is the third book written by this duo known as The Minimalists.  I have read all three.  Love People, Use Things is well written and researched.  But, it is my least favorite of the three.  

The book begins with a preface written after the book was finished, pointing out how the pandemic put things into perspective for a lot of people.  Many who had never lived intentionally were suddenly realizing that they needed more meaning and less stuff in their lives.  Joshua realized that the hard work he had been doing to remove excess from his life had left him better prepared for a pandemic than those who had not done this work.

The introduction tells a brief version of their lives before they became the Minimalists.

The rest of the book is divided into seven chapters, one for each relationship.  The chapters contain a deeper look at some of the personal stories the authors have told in their other books and some that have never been told.  In addition, they contain research or information from an expert in a field related to the relationship being explored.  At the end of each chapter is a Coda that includes questions to answer to get you to think deeper about this area in your life.  

Sometimes when I got a few pages into a chapter, I would go back to the beginning to remind myself what the chapter was supposed to be about because it wasn't clicking for me.  I couldn't remember what the chapter was supposed to be about based on what I was reading.  I did enjoy hearing more of the authors' stories.  Like I said, the book was well written, or maybe it was overwritten.  Unfortunately, this book just did not resonate with me.  However, it might be just what someone else needs.