Need inspiration for spring cleaning?

Spring will be here soon, and we’ll be gearing up to wash windows, scrub floors and clean out living spaces, including overstuffed bookshelves. One read that’s worth making room for is Dirt: The Quirks, Habits and Passions of Keeping House.

No, Dirt doesn’t refer to dishing on friends or the latest tabloid gossip. The essay collection, edited by Mindy Lewis, tackles the topic of keeping house.

For example, best-selling writer Ann Hood shares how she found peace with her mother’s love of trinkets, despite her own disdain for them because their nooks and crannies collect dust. And author Rebecca Walker talks about letting go of her longtime obsession with tidying up clutter. She vowed to tone down her neat-freak ways the day her son “burst into tears after I put his train set away before he had finished playing with it.”

These 38 stories give readers a sneak peek into other people’s closets and cabinets, as well as insight into how scouring a house can cleanse the soul. Dust bunnies may be a quirky topic, but they’re a fact of life to which we all can relate.