For those of you who don't already know - I love to shop. Books certainly, but I also have a weakness for shoes, clothes, shoes, bags and shoes. I wouldn't go so far as to say I have an addiction - but there is a definite fondness there. My partner and I have been on a savings plan for our overseas trip later in the year and so some of the shopping joy has had to be cut back - painful but necessary. So, when I saw How To Give Up Shopping (or at least cut down) I thought this was the perfect read for me.
The author is an Australian woman working in the media industry and she is candid and open throughout the book about her shopping experiences. Tisaj states from the outset of the book that she is not a psychologist or a financial expert - the expertise she brings to the book is her experience of over-shopping and where that has led her. I found the book honest and easy to connect to - I identified with quite a few of Tisaj's stories and anecdotes (scarily so!) and the narrative style of the book made it quick and easy to read. I can't say that I felt that any earth shattering or new advice was put forward in relation to cutting back on shopping habits but then maybe that's not the complete point of the book. It did make me think about my shopping and the place and space it takes up in my life - and what I could be spending my money on if I didn't have so many pairs of shoes!
