Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

I wish I had this book 8 years ago and glad it exists now.

How to Keep House While Drowning: A gentle approach to cleaning and organizing. by KC Davis, lpc

by Leave a Comment

This past July, I read KatSings review of How to Keep House While Drowning and immediately put it on hold at my library.   Eight years ago I was drowning.  I was a SAHM who was deeply depressed and feeling very worn down with a sickly four year old and a neurodivergent eight year old.  When every day is physically, mentally, and emotionally exhausting it’s hard to keep house to the level of “clean” that we often feel morally compelled to do.  And because we can’t […]

The Only Self Help Book I’ve Ever Recommended

how to keep house while drowning by kc davis

by 5 Comments

  Hello and welcome back to me! I haven’t reviewed a book since March of 2021, so you know this book was really something if it finally got me back on here and posting. It isn’t enough to simply recommend to my IRL friends, I need to share the joy of it over CBR, too. I also bought a physical copy of my own to access whenever I need it. A little understanding of me – I hate self help books. I’m thrilled they help […]

“Laundry is morally neutral.”

How to Keep House While Drowning by KC Davis

by 1 Comment

My biggest problem with chores, cleaning, and housework is procrastination fueled by misguided perfectionism. And now that I’m married and live in a real house of adequate size, with a cute but messy dog, my workload has increased substantially. I do realize that I still have it significantly easier than many others. I do not have kids to further muck things up or disabilities that hinder me, but I still feel that I am far from accomplishing what I want. So, when I saw How to […]

Pura Satis

How to Keep House While Drowning by KC Davis

by 3 Comments

Someone on Pajiba recommended How to Keep House While Drowning by KC Davis and when I looked it up I saw a lovely YouTube video by the author that was so warm and smart and inclusive that I immediately put the book on hold with my library system. Truth be told I have become an unabashedly mediocre housekeeper over the years and share that task pretty equally with my husband and teenage daughter. Our family motto is “Pura Satis” which my cousin, who has a Masters degree in […]

Lessons in Self-Care

Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus

How to Keep House While Drowning by KC Davis

by 6 Comments

This weekend I finished two books that felt like generous hugs. The first is the extremely popular Lessons in Chemistry. This book tells the story of Elizabeth Zott – a chemist who quietly and fiercely determines that she will not be relegated to all things feminine because she is a woman (and though the book says it doesn’t matter, it points out on multiple occasions that not only is Elizabeth Zott a woman, she’s a beautiful woman). She’s brilliant but also incredibly immune to societal stereotypes about […]

Dishes don’t think. Dishes don’t judge. Care tasks are morally neutral

How to Keep House While Drowning: a gentle approach to cleaning and organizing by KC Davis

by 8 Comments

I read KC Davis’ self published How to Keep House While Drowning in January 2021 and since then I have recommended it to many many people and bought it for a few. I was delighted to see that Davis’ book is being republished by a Simon & Schuster imprint, Simon Element. I hope it gets in the hands of more people. I consider this an essential book. I value this book on several levels. One: my ability to stay on top of multiple care tasks […]



Help Our Mission

You can donate to CBR via:

  1. PayPal
  2. Venmo